Life Insurance 101

Term Life Insurance

Life insurance is a way to protect your family in the event of your death. The money your beneficiaries receive can be used to pay your final expenses, take care of debt and cover the mortgage or rent.

Term Life provides protection for a specific period of time, or term. It is most often sold in 10, 20 or 30 year terms. The premium stays the same throughout the term. If the insured dies during this term, the beneficiaries receive the proceeds tax-free. At the end of each term the insured may renew the policy (at a higher cost) up to age 95. Find out more in our 5-Minute Guide to Term Life Insurance.

Universal Life Insurance

Universal life insurance provides permanent life insurance protection and access to cash values that grow tax-deferred. The major advantage of UL is flexibility: you can change the protection level of the policy (within bounds) and you control the amount and frequency of payments (again, within bounds).This life insurance offers protection for your family and strategies for leaving a legacy to them. It can also help small business owners with continuation planning. Find out more in our 5-Minute Guide to Universal Life Insurance.

Whole Life Insurance

Whole life is the most common type of permanent life insurance. With whole life insurance, your premium payments remain the same over the life of the policy. You can choose how often you’d like to make premium payments, too – annually, semiannually, quarterly or monthly. Some whole life policies can be paid up after a certain number of years. When you purchase a policy, you’ll know how the cash value will grow over the life of your policy. Find out more in our 5-Minute Guide to Whole Life Insurance.