Life Insurance

---

Of all the purchases you’ll ever make, the most important may be life insurance.  

When tragedy strikes, benefits paid by life insurance could cover bills, support the family business, provide for future expenses such as a child’s education, and ensure that your spouse’s retirement options remain intact. 

If you’ve thought about protecting the financial future of your family and yourself, we would be pleased to evaluate your present situation and suggest some ideas to protect it!

A few types of life insurance policies are summarized below.

Term insurance is offered to cover temporary financial needs. It’s usually the least expensive type of life insurance, protects only for a certain timeframe (the “term”), and usually only pays out if you die while the policy is in force. 

Term insurance makes sense if you desire coverage that ends at a definite point in time. For example, you may only need life insurance until a certain debt like a mortgage is paid off, or your kids’ complete college.

Whole life insurance offers level premiums and contains investment and insurance components. The investment side builds cash value upon which the policy owner can borrow or withdraw.  Many policies also offer "Living Benefits" which allow the beneficiary to use cash value to pay for institutional nursing care.   Upon death of the policy holder, the insurance component pays a pre-defined amount (less any cash value previously withdrawn).  

Whole life insurance is the most basic form of life insurance, and a great way to build wealth. Regular premiums both pay insurance costs and build tax-deferred equity growth in a savings account as interest or dividends.

Designed to be more flexible than whole life insurance, universal life insurance includes certain savings components that allow the policy holder to transfer money between the insurance and savings. The premiums are variable and contribute to both insurance and savings. This enables the policy owner to modify contributions between insurance and savings based on their specific needs. 

For example, if the return on the savings portion decreases, it can be diverted to paying the insurance premiums instead of using other funds. While whole life insurance provides a specified amount upon death, universal life enables cash value of the investment component to grow at a monthly-adjusted variable rate. 

Final expense insurance minimizes the financial stress felt by a family when someone dies. It is usually used to pay for final expenses such as funeral and burial.