Whole life is the most common type of permanent life insurance. It can provide you with a guaranteed death benefit and rate of return on your cash values. Whole life offers predictability and your premium will never increase. It also offers flexibility, allowing you to choose how often you'd like to make premium payments. You have the opportunity to earn dividends for an enhanced death benefit and cash value growth. These dividends can more than offset the eroding effects of inflation on your coverage amount.
Variable life insurance is a good option if you’re comfortable with assuming investment risk for the potential for greater returns. Variable life provides death benefits and cash values that vary based on the performance of your portfolio. It’s offered via a prospectus and you can allocate your premiums among a variety of investment options that offer different degrees of risk and reward. You can use the policy for many of your planned financial needs, such as supplemental retirement planning solutions, business planning solutions, long-term care and education funding.
Universal life insurance provides permanent life insurance protection and access to tax-deferred cash values and adjustable premiums. You also can reduce or increase the death benefit more easily than under a traditional whole life policy. Most universal life policies will also provide a guaranteed rate of return on your cash values, unless administrative expenses increase, mortality assumptions are changed, the insurance company’s investment portfolio underperforms, or premium payments are insufficient. One of the most attractive things about universal life policies are that they provide lifelong coverage at rates that can be considerably lower than other forms of permanent insurance.
Long-term care insurance can help offset the cost of medical expenses that you need to maintain your quality of life if you become ill or injured and need assistance for an extended period of time. Paying for care out of pocket isn’t practical or cost-effective for many people. With the right long-term care coverage, you can use the benefits to cover home health care to ease the stress on family members. Some coverage options even allow you to use the benefits to pay a family member to provide care.
