The goal of life insurance is to provide a measure of financial security for your family after you die. A life insurance policy will help them meet the financial needs that your income would have normally covered. Life insurance can be purchased on an individual or group basis. Most group life insurance is purchased through an employer group and is usually term coverage that
is renewed yearly. Show Assessing Your Needs Before purchasing a life insurance policy, you should consider your financial situation and the standard of living you want to maintain for your dependents or survivors. For example, who will be responsible for your funeral costs and final medical bills? Would your family have to relocate? Will there be adequate funds for future or ongoing expenses such as daycare, mortgage payments, or college? You should reevaluate your life insurance policies annually or whenever you experience a major life event such as marriage, divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, or purchase of a major item such as a house or business. Following are examples of factors you may want to consider at various stages of your life:
Types of Life Insurance Policies There are two basic types of life insurance policies:
Term Life InsuranceTerm life insurance is coverage you buy for a specific time period, such as 1, 5, 10, or 20 years, or up to age 60 - 65. Term life insurance has five key features:
Whole Life Insurance
Whole Life Policies with Investment Features
Mandatory Provisions All types of individual life insurance policies sold in Illinois must contain the following provisions:
Which type of life insurance has the highest premium?Permanent life insurance typically comes with a cash value and has higher premiums.
Who usually pays more for life insurance?Men typically pay more for life insurance than women. This is because statistics show that women have a longer lifespan than men. According to data from the U.S. Census, the projected average life expectancy for a female in 2020 was 81.9 years old, and for men, the projected average was 77.1 years old.
What determines the premium of life insurance?The premium rate for a life insurance policy is based on two underlying concepts: mortality and interest. A third variable is the expense factor which is the amount the company adds to the cost of the policy to cover operating costs of selling insurance, investing the premiums, and paying claims.
Which person should most consider purchasing life insurance?Generally, you need life insurance if other people depend on your income or if you have debt that will carry on after your death. However, the older you get the more expensive life insurance costs. A healthy non-smoking 20-year-old will pay less than someone with the same health profile but who is 20 years older.
|