What type of life insurance is right for me?

Permanent and term life insurance are the two main types of individual life insurance. When choosing between the two, consider how long you want coverage, the purpose of the coverage, and how much you want to pay. Here’s a brief overview of each to help you decide which one may be the best fit for you and your family.

THE BASICS

  • Covers you for a set amount of time

  • Some policies have premiums that never increase

  • The most affordable

  • Can be converted to whole life with some policy features

Term Life

  • Covers you for your entire life

  • Can earn you dividends

  • Builds cash value that's guaranteed to grow over time, even in down markets

  • Lets you use your policy's cash value for anything, anytime

Whole Life

  • Many of the same benefits as whole life

  • Covers you for life and builds cash value over time

  • Flexibility to change your coverage amounts

  • Control over when and how much you pay

Universal Life

TERM LIFE

Term life or term insurance is simple: You determine the right amount of coverage you need (with the help of your advisor), then you figure out for how long you need coverage for and choose from the available periods. Once that time is up, so is your coverage.

WHOLE LIFE

This type of permanent life insurance gives you lifelong protection and has features you can use along the way. As you make payments, your policy will build cash value. It's guaranteed to grow (typically tax deferred) regardless of market ups and downs, and you can use the cash value to pay for whatever you want or need. You can also earn dividends that can be taken as cash, used to pay premiums, or buy more coverage.

UNIVERSAL LIFE

Universal life insurance is a flexible permanent life insurance policy that also builds cash value. What makes it unique is that it lets you decrease — or increase — how much you pay toward your monthly or annual premiums over time. If you decrease how much you spend on premiums, the difference is withdrawn from your policy’s cash value.

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