Life Insurance
Life Insurance
If you have dependents or other people with whom you share your life, life insurance can play a vital and valuable role at virtually every stage of your life. It’s not just for the young, nor is it only for parents or guardians of young children.
Why buy life insurance? The main reason for insuring your life is to replace an income you are generating that someone else relies on. The most common case is a one- or two-earner family with young children. If an earner dies, life insurance can enable the survivors to go on without having to make financial sacrifices.
Life insurance can also pay for one-time costs that are connected with death, such as funeral and burial costs, administration costs (e.g., for probate and transferring title to property to the heirs), estate and inheritance taxes, and outstanding debts (such as final medical expenses not covered by health insurance)....
Why should I buy life insurance?
Many financial experts consider life insurance to be the cornerstone of sound financial planning. It can be an important tool in the following situations:
- Replace income for dependents
If people depend on your income, life insurance can replace that income for them if you die. The most commonly recognized case of this is parents with young children. However, it can also apply to couples in which the survivor would be financially stricken by the income lost through the death of a partner, and to dependent adults, such as parents, siblings or adult children who continue to rely on you financially. Insurance to replace your income can be especially useful if the government- or employer-sponsored benefits of your surviving spouse or domestic partner will be reduced after your death. - Pay final expenses
How much life insurance do I need?
In most cases, if you have no dependents and have enough money to pay your final expenses, you don’t need any life insurance. However, if you want to create an inheritance or make a charitable contribution, you should buy enough life insurance to achieve those goals.
If you have dependents, you should buy enough life insurance so that, when combined with other sources of income, it will replace the income you now generate for them, plus enough to offset any additional expenses they will incur replacing services you currently provide (for example, if you do the taxes for your family, the survivors might have to hire a professional tax preparer). Also, your family might need extra money to make some changes after you die. For example, they may want to relocate, or your spouse may need to go back to school to be in a better position to help support the family.
Most families have some sources of post-death income besides life insurance....
What are the principal types of life insurance?
There are two major types of life insurance—term and whole life. Whole life is sometimes called permanent life insurance, and it encompasses several subcategories, including traditional whole life, universal life, variable life and variable universal life. In 2003, about 6.4 million individual life insurance policies bought were term and about 7.1 million were whole life.
Life insurance products for groups are different from life insurance sold to individuals. The information below focuses on life insurance sold to individuals.
Term
Term Insurance is the simplest form of life insurance. It pays only if death occurs during the term of the policy, which is usually from one to 30 years. Most term policies have no other benefit provisions.
There are two basic types of term life insurance policies—level term and decreasing term.
How is life insurance sold?
How is life insurance sold? You can buy life insurance either as an “individual” or as part of a “group” plan.
Individual Policy
When you buy an individual policy, you choose the company, the plan, and the benefits and features that are right for you and your family. You might be able to buy the policy from the same agent or company representative who sells you property and liability insurance for your home, auto or business. And although you won’t qualify for any discounts by buying your life insurance and other insurance from the same representative, working with a single advisor for all your insurance needs can make your financial life simpler.
Individual policies are typically sold through insurance agents...
What is a beneficiary?
A beneficiary is the person or entity you name in a life insurance policy to receive the death benefit. You can name:
- One person
- Two or more people
- The trustee of a trust you’ve set up
- A charity
- Your estate
If you don’t name a beneficiary, the death benefit will be paid to your estate.
Two “levels” of beneficiaries
Your life insurance policy should have both “primary” and “contingent” beneficiaries. The primary beneficiary gets the death benefits if he or she can be found after your death. Contingent beneficiaries get the death benefits if the...
What are the types of term insurance policies?
Term insurance comes in two basic varieties—level term and decreasing term. These days, almost everyone buys level term insurance. The terms “level” and “decreasing” refer to the death benefit amount during the term of the policy. A level term policy pays the same benefit amount if death occurs at any point during the term.
Common types of level term are:
- yearly- (or annually-) renewable term
- 5-year renewable term
- 10-year term
- 15-year term
- 20-year term
- 25-year term
- 30-year term
- term to a specified age (usually 65)
What are the different types of permanent policies?
This is the most common type of permanent insurance policy. It offers a death benefit along with a savings account. If you pick this type of life insurance policy, you are agreeing to pay a certain amount in premiums on a regular basis for a specific death benefit. The savings element would grow based on dividends the company pays to you.
This type of policy offers you more flexibility than whole life insurance. You may be able to increase the death benefit, if you pass a medical examination. The savings vehicle (called a cash value account) generally earns a money market rate of interest. After money has accumulated in your account, you will also have the option of altering your premium payments – providing there is enough money in your account to cover the costs....
Why should I purchase permanent insurance?
A permanent life policy provides lifelong insurance protection. The policy pays a death benefit if you die tomorrow or if you live to be a hundred. There is also a savings element that will grow on a tax-deferred basis and may become substantial over time. Because of the savings element, premiums are generally higher for permanent than for term insurance. However, the premium in a permanent policy remains the same, while term can go up substantially every time you renew it.
There are a number of different types of permanent insurance policies, such as whole (ordinary) life, universal life, variable life, and variable/universal life. In a permanent policy, the cash value is different from its face value amount. The face amount is the money that will be paid at death. Cash value is the amount of money available to you. There are a number of ways that you can use this cash savings. For instance, you can take a loan against it or you can surrender the policy...
How do I pick a life insurance company?
Roughly 1,000 life insurance companies sell life insurance in the U.S., but many are members of groups of companies and so aren’t really competitors with each other. Having separate companies enables a group to offer its products through separate distribution channels, to more efficiently meet the regulatory requirements of particular states, or to achieve other organizational goals. There are an estimated three hundred company groups.
Moreover, not every group has a company licensed to operate in each state. As a general rule, you should buy from a company licensed in your state, because then can you rely on your state insurance department to help if there’s a problem. And if the insurance company becomes insolvent, your state’s life insurance guaranty fund will help only policyholders of companies it has licensed. To find out which companies are licensed in any state, contact that...
How should I choose a life insurance agent?
When you’re considering buying life insurance, it’s important to choose an agent or broker who can help you. Buying life insurance can be complicated or confusing. The key to buying the right amount and the right type of policy at a good rate is a good agent or broker. You should choose one who:
- Understands your financial situation, including your attitudes about risk, your income and estate tax “brackets,” and your other financial assets and obligations, as well as your personal situation (that is, your age, marital status, dependents, etc.)
- Explains, in terms you can easily understand, issues, options and planned use of life insurance in your financial program
- Provides you with a personalized written document that
- records...
How can I save money on life insurance?
There are ways to save money when buying life insurance, but they don’t always entail paying a lower premium immediately. As your top priority, look for a policy that meets your needs. Buying the wrong benefits for a low premium is a waste, not a saving. Beyond that, here are some ways to maximize your life insurance dollars.
Before you buy
Once you’ve determined what type of life insurance product to buy:
- Focus on financially sound companies.
Dozens of companies sell life insurance. Limit yourself to companies with high ratings from two or more independent rating agencies. A low premium from a shaky company isn’t a good buy. See How do I choose a life insurance company? for more details.
- Shop around to...
Do I need life insurance after my kids are grown?
Quite possibly. Here are 10 reasons to own life insurance after your kids have left home:
- To meet goals
If your children are in college and/or not completely financially independent, life insurance can help “finish the job.” Although you may have saved enough for tuition, the kids’ living expenses (e.g., room and board, laundry, entertainment/activity costs, etc.) continue, but not Social Security benefit payments for the surviving spouse and children—they stop when the kids leave high school. - To support other dependents
If you have parents, disabled adult children, or others who depend on you for financial support, life insurance would continue this support if you die before they do. - To cover the Social Security...
How should I organize and store my life insurance records?
The last thing you want to happen after you die is for your beneficiaries to be unable to locate and submit a claim on your life insurance. To prevent this, you should have copies of your life insurance records in at least two places. This is to make it less likely that you’ll lose them (to fire, flood, accidental discarding, etc.) and more likely that, after your death, your beneficiaries will find them.
What information should I keep?
For each individual life insurance policy on your life, you should record the following information:
- The full name of the life insurance company that issued the policy
- The city and state of the home office of the company that issued the policy
- The name and U.S. headquarters of the group,...
How often should I review my policy?
You should review all of your insurance needs at least once a year. If you have a major life change, you should contact your insurance agent or company representative. The change in your life may have a significant impact on your insurance needs. Life changes may include:
- Marriage or divorce
- A child or grandchild who is born or adopted
- Significant changes in your health or that of your spouse/domestic partner
- Taking on the financial responsibility of an aging parent
- Purchasing a new home
- A loved one who requires long-term care
- Refinancing your home