Sunday, February 21, 2010

Whole Life Insurance vs Term Life Insurance - Which to Buy?

Whole Life Insurance vs Term Life Insurance - Which to Buy?

The purchasing of a life insurance policy typically confuses the buyer with choices. They don't know which would be better for them, a term policy or a whole life policy. If you fall into this category of individual, we will provide you with guidance. The following article will analyze and compare the complexities of term life insurance and whole life insurance, and we will cover the pertinent questions.

Term life policy:

This type of product is designed to cover a definite time interval, and it is limited strictly to death benefits. The coverage generally has a face value which is your exact amount of coverage. Upon your death, all designated beneficiaries are paid off. Therefore if your coverage is $300,000 over 20 years, it is mandatory that you keep up the required payments for that time period. If you die at any time during that interval, $300,000 will be paid.

The problem with this type of life insurance product is that you will receive nothing back if your lifespan exceeds the terms of the policy coverage. Thus, you would have to buy an additional policy to provide coverage over a further desired time period in order to maintain coverage. When people compare the whole life policy benefits to that of the term life policy, generally this is considered a negative of a term life policy.

Whole life policy:

This policy, as you would suspect from the title, covers your entire life span. This type of policy features two separate objectives, both included in your premium payment. A portion of the premium payment goes to life insurance protection, and the remainder is deposited into an interest bearing escrow account. As you continue to remit on the policy, the escrow deposit account compounds.

You are free to tap into the account dividends at your discretion. Upon your death, your loved ones will receive the face value of the policy. As you stay alive, you will receive all the funds in the escrow account. This is a point to keep in mind when comparing the whole life policy to the term life insurance policy.

Whole life policies are generally more expensive than the term life product. Of course, the price is definitely a negative factor. Also, the interest rate you receive is low. Therefore, many think that this is a foolish type of investment to make.

That about covers the main points. I sincerely hope that this information has been beneficial. You should now have a pretty good understanding of the differences between the two insurance products, and a reasonable basis by which to make your buying decision with an eye towards your requirements.

No comments:

Post a Comment