Many people think life insurance is useful only for a specific period in life: those twenty to thirty years when a person is married with children living at home. The assumption is that should a breadwinner die once the children are grown, the surviving spouse will be able to support himself or herself on a single income. In such a scenario, life insurance is necessary only a 10- or 20-year period. Those who share this outlook believe that term life insurance, which provides coverage for a limited number of years, provides all the protection they need. Because the coverage is closed-ended, term life is the least expensive kind of life insurance available.

Other consumers are not so optimistic. What happens, they wonder, if the surviving spouse becomes disabled? Even after the children grow up and move away, a disabled person will not be able to support himself or herself if the breadwinner dies. If the term life insurance has expired, the disabled spouse will have no safety net in the event of the death of his or her spouse. Similarly, a child may become disabled and unable to move out and support himself or herself like other children. With a disabled adult child living at home, the surviving spouse might not be able to meet all the expenses on his or her own.

Divorce can factor into life insurance decisions as well. A term life insurance policy might cover a “first” family, but many people divorce, remarry, and start new families. The number of people having or adopting children in their forties and fifties is increasing steadily. A term policy taken out in a breadwinner’s twenties or thirties will expire just as the new family is getting started, unless he or she has “renewable” term life. Even then, costs will go up.

It is possible for an older person to buy a new term policy, of course. The problem is that insurability is not guaranteed. If a person is in poor health or has had a serious illness, such as cancer, insurance companies can and will deny coverage. Even in ideal health, a person will pay much more for term life over the age of 50 than he or she would have much earlier, erasing some or all of the savings realized during the term of the first policy. For example, a 55-year-old woman will pay 6.8 times more for a 30-year, $500,000 policy than she would have at age 30–$2,210 a year compared to just $325 a year. Prices will increase by as much as 30 percent if the insured is just 10 pounds above the insurance company’s ideal weight. If the person weighs even more, rates will skyrocket.

Some term life policies are renewable without needing a physical exam. These policies cost more than standard term policies, but they allow the coverage to continue. The premiums rise with each renewable period, reflecting the greater risk of death as a person ages.

The best way to guarantee insurability and control insurance costs into middle age is to buy permanent life insurance, such as whole life insurance or universal life insurance. Permanent life insurance does not expire until the insured does. In addition, the premiums will not go up based on the health, weight, or age of the insured. If a permanent life insurance is taken out while a person is in his or her twenties or thirties, the premiums are much higher than those of a term life insurance. Because the premiums remain constant, however, they are lower than those of a term life policy taken out later in life.

Permanent life insurance also provides a way for consumers to generate savings, something that term life insurance does not. Term life is pure insurance in the sense that it insures the policyholder’s life and nothing else. Permanent life insures a life, too, but it also includes a mechanism for saving money. When the permanent life insurance policy is new, the cost of insuring the life is lower than the premium amount. The insurance company deposits the excess amount (minus the company’s fees and profits) into savings account. This money, known as the cash value, increases each time a premium is paid. The insurance company invests these funds in the open market. The returns on the investment are credited to the account. These gains are tax-deferred, meaning that they grow, untaxed, as long as the money is in the account. If the cash value is withdrawn or used to pay the premiums after the insured reaches retirement age, no taxes are paid on the gains.

The policyholder can access the accumulated cash value by withdrawing it, borrowing it, or using it as collateral for a loan. The insurance company also agrees to pay the cash value to the policyholder, if he or she cancels the policy.

There are basically two types of permanent life insurance: whole life and universal life. Both offer permanent coverage and cash value. They differ in the amount of flexibility they offer policyholders. Whole life offers set-it-and-forget-it simplicity. The death benefit, premium amount, and rate of cash value accumulation are fixed at the outset. Universal life allows the policyholder to modify the original contract, based on changing circumstances and needs. For example, if the policyholder loses his or her job, he or she can decrease the premium to make it more affordable. By contrast, if the policyholder receives a promotion, gets a better paying job, or enjoys growth in their own business, he or she can increase the premium amount to accumulate cash value more quickly. If the policyholder marries, has more children, buys a larger house, or for any reason needs a larger death benefit to sustain his or her family, he or she can increase the death benefit of the universal life insurance policy.

Universal life insurance accumulates cash value in a different way than whole life does. With whole life, the rate of accumulation is low, around 3 percent, but it is guaranteed and unchanging. With universal life, cash value accumulates at varying rates, depending on the performance of the insurance company’s investments. Typically, universal life outperforms whole life, and accumulates cash value more quickly. It is possible, however, for the opposite to happen. Many universal life policies offer a guaranteed minimum return, but it is lower than the return for a comparable whole life policy.

Permanent life insurance is a practical solution for consumers who worry about coverage and insurability later in life. Those who are happy with a simple, unchanging, guaranteed plan may opt for whole life. Those who want the option of adjusting the premium amount or the size of the death benefit may find that universal life offers the perfect combination flexibility and security.



Thanks to Bradley Steffens for contributing this article to our Annuities blog:

Life Insurance Annuity Rates

Can you answer mommy-to-be’s question about Annuities?:

We recently found out we are expecting a baby and need to open a life insurance policy in case something would happen to him so we’d be taken care of. We have insurance that is paid for by his employer. How do we go about getting life insurance? Is it added to our existing medical insurance, or can we get it separately?

Compare Fixed Annuity Rate

Life insurance is a great way to protect your family financially should anything ever happen to you. You may want to consider getting a life insurance policy if you are married, have children, or other people depend on your income for support. 

There are a number of different types of life insurance policies available, and finding which one is the best for you and your family can be a challenge.  Here are some of the different types of life insurance policies out there.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is perhaps the simplest and cheapest type of life insurance available.  This type of life insurance is considered temporary and provides protection for a certain period of time, usually 1-30 years.  If the insured dies before the end of the term, his beneficiary receives the face value of the policy.  If he does not die by the end of the term, he does not receive anything.  At the end of the term life insurance period, you can choose to extend your policy or convert it in to a permanent life insurance policy.  If you choose to renew, your life insurance premium will most likely go up.  Most people argue that term life insurance gives you the most value for your money. You can compare free term life insurance quotes at ELifeInsuranceSaver.com

Whole Life Insurance

Whole life insurance, also called permanent life insurance, is basically term life insurance with an investment component that allows your policy to build cash value that you can borrow against.  The investment could be in stocks, bonds, money markets, etc.  Whole life insurance is very expensive because of the investment commissions and fees you are charged, and there is no guarantee that your investment will even make any money.  As with term life insurance, your premium will be the same over the life of the policy.  Three common types of whole life insurance policies are universal life, variable life, and traditional. 

Universal Life Insurance

Universal life insurance is a form of permanent life insurance policy that combines a term life insurance policy with a tax deferred interest accumulating savings account.  People that feel they need life insurance into their 70s and 80s would benefit from this policy because it allows adequate time for substantial savings growth.  It takes a while for this type of policy to build considerable value, and you might not be able to save much in a shorter amount of time.  If you feel that you do not need life insurance for that long, you should consider getting a term life insurance policy and finding another way to save for retirement and the future.    

There are lots of different life insurance options out there.  This is a very important decision for you and your family, so take your time.  You can compare free life insurance quotes from various companies for different types of policies to see which one is best for you.  The more research you do, the more knowledgeable you will be, and the better chance you will have at finding the perfect life insurance policy.



Thanks to Michelle Sky for contributing this article to our Annuities blog:

Fixed Tax Deferred Annuity

plest terms an annuity is an agreement to pay out a regular sum in return for a one-off investment. For example, if you could gave me £100 I could agree to give you back £10 a year for a set number of years.

In practice, annuities are a little like a ‘reverse life insurance’ policy and act as a way for you to release the value in your pension fund when you retire.

You spend your working life building up a nice fat pension pot. When you retire you hand that over to an insurance company by purchasing an annuity. In return the company selling the annuity agrees to pay out a set percentage of that amount each year for the rest of your lifetime (lifetime annuity). At the end of your lifetime whatever is left over is pocketed by the insurance company.

So, if you bought an annuity for £500,000 at 7%, then the provider would then have to pay out £35,000 a year for either an agreed number of years or until you pass away - in effect, giving you a regular income of £35k for life.

The longer you live the more you get.

You Don’t Have to Buy Your Annuity from Your Pension Provider

Many people are under the mistaken impression that they have to buy their annuity from the company that provides their pension - you don’t. Just like any other insurance product you can, and should, shop around to find yourself the best annuity rates available. If you make a mistake or enter into an annuity blindly you could be unnecessarily reducing your annual income in retirement - for the rest of your life.

You can even personalise your annuity to suit your own personal income requirements. For example, you may choose to have the amount paid out increase with inflation - especially useful if you plan on enjoying a good long retirement - or run for a maximum or minimum number of years.

Of course they still need to make money so the amount you are paid annually will be based on factors such as age, sex and the current bond rates (i.e. how much they can earn from investments). It’s not the nicest thought, but the insurance company ‘wins’ if you die sooner rather than later. Therefore, buying an annuity at 60 will almost certainly mean that it pays out less each year than one bought at 70 (but you do get an extra 10 years of income).

Is your annuity the single most important personal finance question in your retirement?

It could be, yes.

Annuities are certainly one of the most secure ways for you to provide yourself with a guaranteed income for life. However, once an annuity is purchased it cannot be moved or changed in any way. With that in mind, it is hugely important that you find an annuity that suits your needs.

In other words you need to get annuity advice to get the best annuity rates.

Shop around, get expert advice and speak to an independent financial adviser - but whatever you do, don’t just take the first annuity that’s put in front of you by your pension provider. Whatever you choose, you’re going to have to live with it.

Thanks to Gareth Flanagan for contributing this article to our Annuities blog:

Tax Deferred Variable Annuity

Can you answer Christine OKelly’s question about Annuities?:

My great aunt and uncle have been exploring options to letting their life insurance policy lapse. We’ve been researching the option of a life settlement. However, I can’t seem to find a clear answer on the amount of an average life settlement. Does anyone know?

Tax Deferred Variable Annuity