Buying life insurance is not on the top of everyone’s priority list. It makes us think about dying and how we have to plan for it when we leave family members behind. Morbid, yes. Necessary, absolutely. Life insurance is the best present you can give your family. There are two main options when buying life insurance – Term Life Insurance and Permanent Life Insurance.

As the name implies, Term Life Insurance is for a specified term or time period. Policies can range from 1-30 years for a term. This type of life insurance is relatively inexpensive because it does not build any cash value and it just ends when the term expires. The payments are at a fixed rate until the end of the term. If future life insurance is needed, the rate will most likely go up because the person buying it is now older (an influence on the rate of a policy) and could have health issues that were not present when first buying the term insurance. If the purchaser does die during the term of the policy, the beneficiary will receive full payment of the policy. This type of life insurance can be used for the purpose of covering a mortgage. If you have a 30 yr mortgage, you may buy a 30 yr term policy just to cover your mortgage payments if you die within that time period.

Permanent Life Insurance, sometimes called Whole Life, will initially be more expensive. However, the rate on the policy will not change regardless of any changes in health or occupation, as long as timely payments are made. A significant difference from Term Life Insurance is that Permanent Life Insurance will build up cash value. Over time, the policy value will be increasing by more than the actual premiums. The owner will have access to this cash if so needed. In the end, Permanent Life Insurance will be more cost effective and provide a better solution to family planning.

If you have any questions about life insurance and family planning, please call us! mancuso-nowak.com