Life insurance is a contract that’s designed to reassure you that your loved ones will have a financial cushion to fall back on in case you pass away. The policy owner pays a premium to an insurance company throughout their lifetime, which guarantees that the insured person’s beneficiaries get a certain sum of money in the event of their death.
A life insurance application requires the insured person to disclose their current and previous health conditions and any high-risk activities they might indulge in.
Different kinds of life insurance policies
You can find many different kinds of life insurance policies to meet your specific preferences and needs. It’s important to consider whether you should choose permanent or temporary life insurance, depending on your long or short-term needs.
Term life insurance
If you’re looking for life insurance that only lasts for a certain amount of time before it ends, you should consider getting term life insurance. Common terms include 30, 20, or 10 years, and good policies usually balance long-term financial strength with affordability. Some different forms of term life insurance include:
- Renewable term life insurance, where the premiums increase yearly. These are comparatively inexpensive in the beginning compared to others.
- Convertible term life insurance, where policyholders can convert to permanent insurance at their behest.
- Decreasing term life insurance has a decreasing coverage according to a specific rate determined beforehand.
Permanent life insurance
Permanent life insurance will last your entire life unless you stop paying the premium or surrender your policy. It’s usually more expensive than term insurance. These include:
- Universal life insurance, where you can get flexible premiums that can get adjusted over time. The death benefit increases over time as well.
- Whole life insurance, where you accumulate cash value to source your loans or pay premiums.
- Indexed universal life insurance, where you can earn an equity-indexed or fixed rate of return on the accumulated cash value.
- Variable universal life insurance, where you can invest the cash value into another account and get increasing death benefits through flexible premiums.
What’s the difference?
There are many differences between term and permanent life insurance. Term life insurance usually only lasts for a certain period and provides a death benefit to the policyholder’s dependents if they die before the term expires.
Permanent life insurance stays in effect for as long as the policyholder is alive and paying the premium. This makes permanent life insurance a lot more expensive since you need to build a cash value.
Analyze your finances and figure out how much money you need to meet your beneficiaries’ needs or to maintain your family’s standard of life. For example, a primary caretaker with two young children will want to get enough to cover their custodial responsibilities so that they can live easily until they grow up.
This requires researching the cost of a housekeeper, nanny, and education. Include your spouse’s retirement needs and any outstanding payments for a mortgage as well. Add up the costs for the next decade or so, consider inflation, and buy the death benefit that matches those numbers—if you’re able to afford it.
Benefits of life insurance
Life insurance can provide you with many benefits. Many people use it to help their beneficiaries get money to overcome any financial hardship they might face upon the insured person’s death. Many wealthy people also use it for tax advantages, such as tax-free death benefits, tax-free dividends, and tax-deferred cash value growth.
A life insurance policy’s death benefit is usually free from taxes. Permanent life insurance can help their beneficiaries pay their estate’s taxes upon their passing. This helps maintain the estate’s value for the heirs. It’s a law-abiding technique that can minimize your tax liability and shouldn’t be confused with tax evasion.
Who should get life insurance?
Some people who might require life insurance include:
- Parents who have minor children
- Parents who have adult children with special needs
- Adults who co-own some sort of property
- Seniors who want to leave money for their adult children
- Stay-at-home husbands or wives
- Businesses with important employees
- People with preexisting conditions
Looking for top-notch life insurance services in California?
Covered California Certified Agent has got your back. Life insurance can be availed by anyone, but the premium or cost level depends on the individual’s risk level—their lifestyle, health, and age. You need to get a medical exam and provide your medical history and records to get insurance.
It’s best to talk to a reliable health insurance agent to figure out the best life insurance policy for you and your loved ones. We aim to help individuals and businesses find affordable term life insurance in CA according to their preferences. We also provide dental insurance, group insurance, and employee insurance.
Reach out to us today by dialing 800-771-7653.