Life insurance

Life insurance addresses a variety of financial needs by providing an immediate, tax free death benefit that can be used to:

 

  • Replace income lost due to the death of a wage earner.
  • Pay off debts.
  • Address final expenses including estate taxes and probate costs.
  • Provide money for the transfer of business or property interests.
  • Fund long term financial concerns such as education and charitable bequests.
  • Provide a cash transfer to heirs. 
  • May advance policy benefits for long term care expenses.   

If you'd like a quote, go to the tab and select "Request a Quote" for Life Insurance.

Life insurance is offered under different plan designs with differing plan characteristics. Although life insurance is available under different variations, there are generally two basic forms: Term & Permanent.

Term Life insurance: Remains in effect for a specified number of years (or term), after which the coverage expires and/or the premium is scheduled to increase. Common policy durations are available up to twenty years with some companies offering plans with longer policy durations. 

Term policies often include a "conversion" feature to allow you to convert the policy to a permanent policy without proving insurability. This can very advantageous since anyone can become uninsurable at any time, without warning.The advantages of converting a term policy include:

  1. Stopping the increasing premiums by establishing a level premium for the life of the converted policy.
  2. Providing you a “savings” element through the accumulation of cash values.
  3. While premiums for permanent insurance are based on your attained age at the time of conversion, it may be at the more favorable underwriting class of the original policy.
  4. Permanent policies extend coverage from just a term of years to your lifetime. 

Term insurance policies are commonly renewable up to a maximum age. When a term policy is renewed, the premium is adjusted upward based on your age at the time. At younger ages premium increases may be small; but as you grow older premiums can increase sharply.

Advantages of Term Life Insurance

  1. A larger insurance benefit at a lower initial cost.
  2. Term can be combined with permanent insurance for a cost effective mix of coverage.
  3. Term may allow for conversion to a permanent policy without proving insurability.

Disadvantages of Term Insurance

  1. Term insurance does not build cash values - there is no "savings" element.
  2. Premiums increase each time the policy is renewed, rising as you grow older.
     

Permanent life is offered under various policy forms as: Universal Life or Whole Life.  

Universal Life Insurance

Current Assumption Universal Life 

  • Premiums and death benefits can be targeted to meet changing financial goals. 
  • Policies offer interest rates that are closely aligned to current market rates.
  • The current interest rate is established by the insurer for a specified period of time.
  • A guaranteed minimum interest rate is included and paid if current market interest rates fall below the policy guaranteed minimum rate.
  • Interest earned in life insurance cash values are not subject to current income taxes (tax deferred).

Current Assumption Universal life policies also allow you to access policy cash values.

  • You can borrow cash values income tax free and repay the loan at lower interest rates than many conventional loans. 
  • You can make withdrawals from the cash value, however withdrawals may be subject to current income taxation if they are above your basis (premiums paid in).
  • Your death benefit is reduced by the amount of withdrawals and outstanding loans. 

Current Assumption Universal Life policies may also offer flexible premiums.

  • A minimum premium is required to keep the policy in force.
  • If you choose to pay a higher premium, the excess will be applied to the cash value account and earn tax deferred interest.
  • The IRS limits the amount of premium you can pay into the policy to retain its tax-favored status. 

Current Assumption Universal Life policies may allow you to pay reduced premiums or skip them entirely if there is sufficient cash value to keep the policy in force.

  • Although stopping premiums may reduce your cash value, this can be a significant benefit if you are experiencing financial hardships which would otherwise result in losing your  insurance coverage.
  • Some policies have no limit on the number of times (or the amounts) you may reduce or skip the premiums; as long as the cash value is sufficient to keep the policy in force.

Current Assumption Universal Life policy death benefits may also be flexible.

  • If you need additional coverage you can request an increase the death benefit.
  • This eliminates the need for mutliple permanent policies.
  • The cost for added coverage is often less than obtaining a new permanent policy.
  • The insurance company will still require insurability before providing additional benefits.
  • If your needs change and you require less coverage, you may reduce the policy benefit.

Advantages of Current Assumption Universal Life Insurance

  1. Potential for faster growth of cash values.
  2. Flexibility of premium payments. 
  3. Flexibility in the amount of the death benefit.
  4. Opportunity access cash values via policy loans or partial withdrawals.

Disadvantages of Current Assumption Universal Life

  1. Policies are designed with increasing costs of insurance and if not properly funded can lapse in later years.
  2. The flexibility that allows premiums to be skipped or reduced can lull policyholders into inattention to catch up on skipped premiums and create policy lapses.
  3. In a low interest rate environments more premium is needed to properly fund policies.
  4. Insurers premiums are based on current expenses and interest rates which can change over time resulting in higher premiums needed to maintain coverage in later years.

Guaranteed Universal Life 

Guaranteed Universal Life plans are designed to offer a guaranteed death benefit to a stated age (ex. age 105) or throughout your lifetime with a specific guaranteed premium. 

  • These plans often generate little (or no) cash values.
  • Premuims schedules can be customized to your needs (ex. 13 years, to age 80, etc.). 
  • A guaranteed premium schedule can provide a lifetime death benefit.
  • Lifetime death benefits can be maintained at premiums below policies designed to accumulate cash values.
  • Policies can lapse if premiums are not made. 
  • Critics refer to these platforms as "Term for Life" due to their lack of cash accumulation.
  • Proponents like their lifetime death benefits at lower guaranteed premiums.
  • These plans may be offered with options to advance policy benefits due to terminal illness or to reimburse long term care expenses. 
     

Whole Life Insurance

Whole Life insurance is permanent insurance with significantly different features:

  • Protection continues for the insured person’s lifetime as long as the premiums are paid.
  • Under an alternative premium variation called “limited pay”; policies are only payable for a stated number of years (ex. 10 pay, Paid up at age 65, etc.)
  • Premiums are established at policy inception and remain level throughout the payment period and do not increase as the insured ages.
  • Portions of each premium are applied to the cash value which is guaranteed to increase over the life of the policy assuming premiums are made.
  • Cash values are available to you at any time in the form of policy loans or withdrawals.

Advantages of Whole Life Insurance

  • The policy never has to be renewed.
  • Whole life policies may be eligible to receive tax free dividends.
  • A portion of your premium is allocated to accumulating cash values.
  • Policy options allow you to retain benefits even if you are unable to continue paying premiums.
  • Policies offer predictable, level premiums throughout the premium payment period.
  • Policies provide a stated, guaranteed death benefit. 

Some whole life policies are eligible to receive non-guaranteed dividends. 

If you receive policy dividends you may elect payments:

  • In cash.
  • To pay all or part of the policy’s premium.
  • To purchase additional amounts of life insurance—called paid-up additions—without evidence of insurability.
  • To purchase added (extended) term insurance.
  • To accumulate with the insurer and receive interest.

Permanent life insurance policies also include guarantees called nonforfeiture provisions to ensure you do not lose (forfeit) all of the money spent for the policy to date if you're unable to continue premiums.