Whole life, term life, universal life insurance and more…the options seem mind boggling. Yet the differences do not have to be confusing, and understanding the differences can make getting the right insurance policy a little easier for you. Whether you are looking for a permanent insurance like whole life and universal life insurance or something temporary like term life insurance, you need to do your research to know what will work best for you.
The first thing you need to decide is if you want a permanent or temporary insurance policy. If you only want your life insurance to cover you while your children are in school, then you may want to consider a term policy over a whole life or universal life insurance policy. The premiums may be a little less, but the term life policy will only cover you for that specific term.
If you are looking for a permanent policy where your premiums can be more stable, then you may want to consider a whole life or universal life insurance policy. With a whole life insurance policy, you pay premiums to your insurance company for a specified death benefit. Earnings above the amount needed to cover the death benefit go into a cash reserve from which the policyholder can borrow.
With a universal life insurance policy, you get a permanent policy with more flexibility than whole life can offer. With a universal life insurance policy, you are able to set both your premium and your death benefit, so you will be able to have a permanent policy with a lower premium than a regular whole life policy. Plus, higher interest rates mean that the money in your universal life insurance policy does not have to work as hard to reap a good return.
Another difference with a universal life insurance policy over a whole life policy is that a universal life insurance policy will adjust the interest paid on a monthly basis while interest paid on a whole life policy is adjusted annually. Therefore, when interest rates start to increase, universal life insurance policyholders will see the cash values of their universal life insurance policies increase more rapidly.
However, it is important to note that if you are considering a universal life insurance policy, you will want to make sure you are working closely with your universal life insurance provider. As interest rates drive the value of your universal life insurance policy, sharp decreases in interest rates can create problems with your universal life insurance policy. However, your universal life insurance provider should be notifying you of any foreseeable problems.
Therefore, you should make sure you are getting a universal life insurance policy from a reputable company. Make sure that you get a variety of universal life insurance quotes so that you have several companies and rates to choose from. Then check into each universal life insurance company to find out both financial ratings and customer service ratings. After all, you want to find a company that will not only provide you with the flexibility in a universal life insurance policy, but also the service to make sure your universal life insurance policy is doing the right things for you financially.
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