Term Life Insurance Explained

By Erin Garcia


Life insurance such as term life insurance is designed to protect your loved ones and other people who might depend on you for monetary support. In case you die and lose your revenue, people who are relying on your own monetary support will lose that cash flow, therefore life insurance will help cover some or all that loss depending on the policy you choose. But you'll find situations where life insurance may be advantageous even if you have no dependents, like your own need to cover your own personal funeral costs.

Term life insurance offers an cost-effective solution to individuals who need a significant amount of life insurance protection on a modest budget. Term life offers temporary coverage, usually for terms which range from 10-30 years. Unlike whole life insurance, term insurance doesn't build cash value over time, nor will it serve as an investment tool. However, when a term policyholder dies, his/her beneficiaries get the entire amount of the policy's death benefit, normally tax-free.

But what occurs if you buy a term policy only to realize after the term you still have a need for life insurance? Well, it's sort of great news, bad news story. The good news is that lots of policies provides you with the option to renew your policy when you reach the end of the term. The bad news is that you'll most likely encounter higher costs because age is among main reasons used to figure out life insurance premiums. To be able to renew the particular policy, you also might have to present proof of insurability. If perhaps you're still an excellent specimen with healthy living habits, you can re-qualify at a reasonable rate. However if your health has worsened, you might find that it's too expensive to renew your own policy or you might not even re-qualify.

So if you're thinking about a term policy, be sure you carefully consider how long you'll need the coverage. In case you're fairly certain that your requirements are temporary, then term insurance is possibly the answer you're looking for. But if you think there's a possibility that you may require the coverage for a long time, then keep in mind that if you wish to renew your own term policy right after it expires or buy a new term policy at that time, your age, health status and other factors may make coverage extremely expensive.

When it comes to a term life insurance purchase, one thing to keep in mind is that not all term policies are the same. Some may include specific provisions as standard features, while some may need you to pay extra to add these features as "riders" to your own policy. So if you're comparing term policies, keep in mind that cost is not the only real aspect to take into account. Consult your own agent regarding provisions such as: accelerated death benefits that allows a terminally ill individual to collect a significant part of their policy's death benefit though that individual is still alive; disability waiver of premium which waives premiums when a policy owner suffers a long-term disability, typically one lasting six months or longer; accidental death benefits which doubles or triples the actual benefit in the case of death by accidental means.




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