Permanent Insurance Overview

Various Permanent Life Insurance Types

You may find one of the many permanent insurance policies to your liking. When buying life insurance your choices are many. You can buy term or permanent. If you choose permanent insurance you can select whole life, universal life, variable life or variable universal life insurance.

• Whole Life InsuranceWhen you buy a whole life insurance policy policy you will own a policy that will last for as long as you live even if you should live to age 100. Some insurance companies may limit the time you can keep the policy to, for example, age 90… if they do so, however, they usually call the policy something life to age 90 but it is really a whole life policy.Upon your death the full face amount of your policy is paid in full to your beneficiary. In many instances the amount of the death benefit is more than the face amount of the policy…this depends on the dividend option chosen.
• Modified Whole Life InsuranceWhole life insurance premiums are level except for what is usually referred to as modified whole life policies..there are different types of modified policies. In some cases the premium at the beginning is very low and increases every year for 5 or 10 years then levels off and remains so for the rest of your life. In some cases the premiums begins lower and remains lower if there are sufficient dividends each year to purchase a combination of term insurance and paid up additions. Dividends are not guaranteed.
• Universal Life Insurance PoliciesAnother type of permanent insurance policy is the universal life insurance policy. This type of permanent life insurance is actually a combination between term insurance and a savings plan. It is attractive because of it’s flexibility.You may increase or decrease the amount of premium applied to saving at will. You may also do the same with the death benefit for as long as you remain insurable.
• Variable Life Insurance Policies Variable life insurance is a permanent life insurance policy with a whole life base. It is a combination of whole life insurance and investments. The investment portion of your premiums are applied stocks, bonds or money market funds selected by you. This type of insurance must be sold by prospectus and the agent is required to have an NASD license.
• Variable Universal Life Insurance PoliciesA fairly new type of permanent insurance policy is the variable universal life insurance policy. It includes the best aspects of the universal life policy as well as the variable life insurance policy. This must also be sold by prospectus.

These are the permanent insurance options.