Term Life
Term Life insurance offers protection for a limited time period (most commonly 20 years) and generally pays a benefit only if you die during the term. Term life insurance coverage is pure protection. Simply put, if you die while your term life insurance policy is in effect and all of the required premiums have been paid up to that point, your beneficiaries receive the exact benefit amount you selected.
This is the best insurance for you if you are:
- A young adult who will be sending your children to college
- Paying off a mortgage or other debt
- A surviving spouse looking for income replacement
- On a budget and need coverage at the best possible price
Return-of-Premium Term Life
Plan for tomorrow and protect it with Return-of-Premium Term Life insurance. Also known as ROP, this term life insurance pays your loved ones a death benefit if you are taken from them, but it will return the amount you paid in premiums if you’re not.
Permanent Insurance
This category of insurance provide lifelong coverage and also has the potential to build up tax-deferred cash value. Permanent insurance stays in force for as long as you pay the premiums.
Permanent life insurance is advantageous if you are:
- An older adult with grown children
- A business owner
- Financially secure
- In need of a policy that builds cash value
Universal Life
Unlike whole life insurance, universal life allows you to adjust the benefit amount up or down without buying a new policy. Its flexibility allows you to choose to pay a lower premium for coverage over a shorter time period or a higher premium for lifetime coverage. Universal life insurance may be the right choice if you need long-term financial protection. As long as premiums are paid as required, your beneficiaries will receive the death benefit.
Universal Life benefits and features
- Lifetime premium guarantees coverage and cash value
- Flexibility: pay for short-term or long-term coverage
- Short-pay guarantee: consolidate and complete payments over 10 to 15 years to guarantee coverage for life
Whole Life
Whole life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance coverage that provides a guaranteed death benefit along with guaranteed cash values. Part of each premium payment is applied to the policy's cash value account, which grows on a tax-deferred basis (based on current federal tax laws).
- Premiums are set at a certain amount and don't change.
- Premiums are partially determined based on the age of the insured. The younger the insured is, the less expensive the annual premium.
- There are guaranteed cash values or dividends that are dependent on the specific terms of the policy.
- The insured can borrow against cash values.
- Current federal income tax law allows for deferred tax advantages for some insurance policies.
- Whole Life Insurance provides coverage for the entirety of the insured's life, generally to age 100, as long as the policy is in force.
No Medical Exam Term Life
You may have wondered why life insurance companies ask for a physical exam as part of the process in securing a medically underwritten term life insurance policy. The reason is simple. If the insurance company can verify your health with a medical exam, they can rate you according to your actual health status. If everyone, in every health situation, paid the same rate for insurance, that rate would have to be higher because of the mortality risk.
If you have a medical exam, it often saves you money on your policy. Should you choose to forego a medical exam, you can usually receive same day coverage by answering a few health questions. Even without a medical exam, you can apply for up to $150,000 in coverage.
Life Insurance for Business
Just as a personal life insurance policy protects your family if you should die or become disabled, so can life insurance help your co-owner or colleagues secure your business and keep it going in your absence. If you’re the sole business owner and your family inherits your business, life insurance can protect them against being rushed into selling the business in a distressed situation.
Buy-sell agreement
Upon the death of a co-owner, this policy provides funds for the remaining owners to buy the portion of the business held by the deceased co-owner, at a previously agreed-upon price. The buy-out money goes to the deceased’s family, or to the person(s) who inherited the business shares.
Individual Life Insurance
This is insurance for your family and a defense against a distressed sale. Your family may need to sell the business to pay the loan obligations, which could pressure them to sell the business for less than it is worth. An individual life insurance policy for an amount equal to obligations can help protect your family from this situation.
Voluntary Term Life Insurance
This policy is available as an add-on option to an employer-paid program and provides coverage up to $500,000. Portability options allow employees to retain coverage after leaving their jobs.
Worksite Benefits
Worksite Benefits offer multiple products and a variety of plans on a voluntary, employee-paid basis. Coverage options include:
- Universal Life
- Term Life
- Cancer and Specified Disease
- Long and Short Term Disability
- Dental
- Accident
- Hospital Indemnity plans
- Critical Illness
- Major Medical Complement (Deductible or GAP plans)