Life & Health Insurance

Life Insurance is peace of mind.  That’s what you are buying.

These are just examples of the most common types of Life Insurance. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us for a LIFE INSURANCE NEEDS ANALYSIS.

Types of Life Insurance:  Life insurance may be divided into two basic classes – temporary and permanent or following subclasses – term, universal, whole life and endowment life insurance.

 

 

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Term Insurance
Term assurance provides life insurance coverage for a specified term of years in exchange for a specified premium. The policy does not accumulate cash value. Term is generally considered "pure" insurance, where the premium buys protection in the event of death and nothing else.

There are three key factors to be considered in term insurance:

  1. Face amount (protection or death benefit),

  2. Premium to be paid (cost to the insured), and

  3. Length of coverage (term).

Various insurance companies sell term insurance with many different combinations of these three parameters. The face amount can remain constant or decline. The term can be for one or more years. The premium can remain level or increase. Common types of term insurance include Level, Annual Renewable and Mortgage insurance."

Permanent Life Insurance 
Permanent life insurance is life insurance that remains in force (in-line) until the policy matures (pays out), unless the owner fails to pay the premium when due (the policy expires OR policies lapse). The policy cannot be canceled by the insurer for any reason except fraud in the application, and that cancellation must occur within a period of time defined by law (usually two years). Permanent insurance builds a cash value that reduces the amount at risk to the insurance company and thus the insurance expense over time. This means that a policy with a million dollar face value can be relatively expensive to a 70 year old. The owner can access the money in the cash value by withdrawing money, borrowing the cash value, or surrendering the policy and receiving the surrender value.

The four basic types of permanent insurance are whole
life
universal lifelimited pay and endowment.

Whole life coverage 
Whole life insurance provides for a level premium, and a cash value table included in the policy guaranteed by the company. The primary advantages of whole life are guaranteed death benefits, guaranteed cash values, fixed and known annual premiums, and mortality and expense charges will not reduce the cash value shown in the policy. The primary disadvantages of whole life are premium inflexibility, and the internal rate of return in the policy may not be competitive with other savings alternatives. Also, the cash values are generally kept by the insurance company at the time of death, the death benefit only to the beneficiaries. Riders are available that can allow one to increase the death benefit by paying additional premium. The death benefit can also be increased through the use of policy dividends. Dividends cannot be guaranteed and may be higher or lower than historical rates over time. Premiums are much higher than term insurance in the short term, but cumulative premiums are roughly equal if policies are kept in force until average life expectancy.
 
Universal life coverage
 
Universal life insurance (UL) is a relatively new insurance product intended to provide permanent insurance coverage with greater flexibility in premium payment and the potential for greater growth of cash values. There are several types of universal life insurance policies which include "interest sensitive" (also known as "traditional fixed universal life insurance"), variable universal life (VUL), guaranteed death benefit, and equity indexed universal life insurance.

A universal life insurance policy includes a cash value. Premiums increase the cash values, but the cost of insurance (along with any other charges assessed by the insurance company) reduces cash values. However, with the exception of VUL, interest is credited on cash values at a rate specified by the company and may also increase cash values. With VUL, cash values will ebb and flow relative to the performance of the investment subaccounts the policy owner has chosen. The surrender value of the policy is the amount payable to the policyowner after applicable surrender charges, if any.

Option A is often referred to as a level death benefit. Generally speaking, the death benefit will remain level for the life of the insured and premiums are expected to be lower than policies with an Option B death benefit.

Option B pays the face amount plus the cash value. If cash values grow over time, so would the death benefit which is payable to the insured's beneficiaries. If cash values decline, the death benefit would also decline. Presumably option B death benefit policies require greater premium than option A policies.

Limited-pay
Another type of permanent insurance is Limited-pay life insurance, in which all the premiums are paid over a specified period after which no additional premiums are due to keep the policy in force. Common limited pay periods include 10-year, 20-year, and paid-up at age 65.

Accidental Death
Accidental death is a limited life insurance that is designed to cover the insured when they pass away due to an accident. Accidents include anything from an injury, but do not typically cover any deaths resulting from health problems or suicide. Because they only cover accidents, these policies are much less expensive than other life insurances.
It is also very commonly offered as "accidental death and dismemberment insurance", also known as an AD&Dpolicy. In an AD&D policy, benefits are available not only for accidental death, but also for loss of limbs or bodily functions such as sight and hearing, etc.

Health Insurance:

As a first step in our effort to make sure that you, the consumer, are well informed we want to provide you with the following facts that you should consider when making your buying decision. As you read through these facts, remember that we are here to assist you and would like to earn your business.

Some things to consider are:

Not all health insurance companies are the same. 

Not all health insurance companies cover pre-existing conditions.

Some health insurance companies do not cover every doctor.

Some health insurance plans may not travel well.

Contact us today, and we will review our companies plans with you to find one to fit your needs.