You've finally decided to buy life insurance. You know that you want a little extra money available to help take care of your burial expenses, help your family adjust to the loss of your income, or take care of your children's education expenses. You may also have other considerations, such as leaving money for your heirs, maintaining a business, or giving to charity. However, even if you know what you want to do with the money, it can still be hard to know what to buy, or how much you should pay.
You are faced with decisions like whether to get term life insurance or a whole life policy that won't expire. You must make determinations about the amount how much life insurance you want, and how much you can afford.
Also consider which type of life insurance you'll need: term, whole, or universal life. Term only lasts for a specified amount of time - usually 10 to 30 years. You can choose the term, and the amount of coverage, but remember: the longer the term, the higher the price; the higher the value, the higher the price. Term life covers you if you pass away during the term of the policy. However, if you do not, no insurance will be paid out and there's no accumulated cash value. Although this sounds like a bad deal, term tends to be the cheapest form of insurance and is a good option for those who cannot afford whole life.
If you get whole life insurance, though, you'll have insurance that works the opposite way. This policy will remain in effect for your entire lifespan so long as you make your payments properly. Since this insurance is more reliable for the customer than term insurance, it costs a bit more.
These policies aren't mutually exclusive. You can, if you're a family man with plenty of responsibilities, take out a long-duration term policy, and then also get a smaller whole life policy as well. This will keep you covered for both the short term in case of disaster and the long term once the term insurance expires.
When shopping for life insurance, remember to keep in mind what type will work best for you, or f you'll be best served by a combination of insurance types. Also remember to balance the policy amount with the cost of the premium to be sure that you get the best deal.
Universal life insurance is like whole life insurance in that it does not expire as long as the policyholder keeps the policy. It differs from regular whole life insurance in that it places the life insurance and the cash value in separate accounts, whereas regular whole life insurance keeps them together. Largely due to tax considerations, this type of life insurance is attractive to many people as a way to unite life insurance and savings. You can withdraw or borrow against the policy once it accrues enough cash value. You may even see an increase in the face value of the policy. This explanation of universal life insurance is very barebones, since a full explanation of it would require another article.
Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Life Insurance provider. For more information visit: http://life.insurance123.co.za/
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