Whole Life Insurance

Whole life insurance is so called because it provides the insured with permanent protection for the "whole of life.  Whole life insurance is generally used when the need for life insurance is lifelong, or permanent.

Insurance

If you don’t know about whole life (cash Value) Insurance, you might have been sold on it because they claim it has an "investment" feature and it "builds cash value" Well it does.  The average rate of return the banks and insurance companies are getting is about 12% (S&P 500 over any continual period of 30 years has averaged 12. 

However, it’s important to note that if you would ever need to use this cash value, the insurance companies have a right to hold that money and not release it to you for up to 6 months.  Whole Life insurance has minimum guaranteed interest on cash value.

Policy

Policy owners can often choose from many options including adding another person to the policy, managing their own investments or using the savings to cover the costs of premiums.  Policy dividends and excess interest payments are NOT guaranteed.

Premiums

Premiums for whole life insurance can be much higher than premiums you would pay initially for the same amount of term insurance, but they are smaller than the premiums you would eventually pay if you were to keep renewing a term insurance policy until the insured's later years.  Premiums for whole life policies generally remain level. 

Premiums generally are level and payable for life.  Since premiums are level, the younger you are when you purchase a whole life policy, the less expensive the annual premiums will be.

Benefits

Benefits will never be cancelled or reduced for the life of the policy if premiums are paid on time.  Benefits may also be free from estate tax with proper planning.

Whole life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance and unlike a term life policy, a whole life plan offers you a guaranteed benefit.  Whole life insurance is designed to last an entire lifetime, usually to age 95.

Be sure to contact a top rated insurance company for a free quote.  You will find the top whole life insurance companies on this page.  They really have great rates!