what is term life

by jjmartinez » Sat Oct 23, 2010 10:02 am

what is
Term Life
Value-added whole life
Level Term

Total Comments: 3

Posted: Sat Oct 23, 2010 10:07 pm Post Subject:

Term Life/Level Term is a type of life insurance policy that provides a death benefit for a stated period of time, but not longer, such as 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years.

"Level" term, specifically, refers to a term policy in which the death benefit (aka: face amount of insurance) does not change. It is not a description of the premium staying the same, unless the policy is described as "Level Premium Level Term". And even then, one must look at the guarantee pages to know if the level premium is the same in all years. Some 20-year level premium level term policies only have a level premium for the first 10 years. A bit misleading, if you ask me.

"Value-added whole life" -- That could mean anything. It's not standard life insurance terminology. It might mean a policy with certain riders attached at no additional cost (such as a long term care rider or an accelerated death benefit provision for a terminally ill insured.

Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 10:13 pm Post Subject:

Term life policies offer death benefits only, so if you die, you win (so to speak). If you live past the length of the policy, you (or, more specifically, your family members) get no money back.

Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2010 06:27 am Post Subject:

If you live past the length of the policy . . .



. . . then you win.

You could also pay the 30% or more in additional premium for a return of premium rider/policy, in which case you WOULD receive a check for the value of the premiums you paid over the life (10-20 year or more) of the policy if held to the end of term.

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