Universal Life Insurance: What It Is and How It Can Benefit You
Universal life insurance has been called one of the most flexible insurance products available, and that’s no exaggeration.
This type of policy combines an investment account with traditional life insurance, allowing you to choose how to invest your premiums and how much coverage you want at any given time.
If you’re interested in learning more about how this product can benefit you, check out this guide to universal life insurance policies.
We’ll cover what they are, how to choose a policy that’s right for you, and some additional pros and cons to keep in mind before signing on the dotted line.
Universal life insurance offers lifelong protection
Universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that has both a cash value account, which grows tax deferred, and the death benefit, which pays a lump sum.
Unlike term life insurance or whole life insurance, universal life insurance does not have an end date. As long as you keep paying your premiums for universal life insurance, it will continue to grow in both value and benefits.
This means that if you need the money for retirement at age 65, but die at age 45 instead, your loved ones can still get some financial help from the money saved by investing in universal life insurance.
Additionally, since there are no limits on how much cash value you can earn through interest payments or dividends from stocks or bonds purchased within the policy’s investment option(s), this type of life insurance offers unlimited growth potential.
The death benefit is paid out tax-free to your beneficiaries
Universal life insurance is a type of life insurance that combines a death benefit with an investment account.
This product is typically used as a retirement savings vehicle, with most of the money in the account being used to fund the purchase of lifetime income benefits.
The death benefit is paid out tax-free to your beneficiaries. In addition, universal life insurance provides riders for protection against events such as disability or critical illness.
These riders are also often used for funding long-term care expenses. As you age, the premiums will increase because this type of insurance is based on longevity and other factors.
That’s why it’s important to keep an eye on the premiums so they don’t become prohibitively expensive. If you do find that they’re too much, consider another form of life insurance such as term life or whole life policies.
Your premium payments are flexible, so you can make adjustments as needed
One of the great benefits of universal life insurance is that your premium payments are flexible, so you can make adjustments as needed.
These adjustments can happen for any number of reasons, such as if you change jobs or get divorced.
Furthermore, unlike term life insurance policies, which typically have a set time period in which they are active (such as 10 or 20 years), universal life insurance has an indefinite term.
That means that the coverage will be available to you for the rest of your life. Another benefit of universal life insurance is that it offers tax-free savings on interest earned on cash value accounts.
And finally, another thing to keep in mind is that there are no health questions required with this type of policy, so it’s easier to qualify than some other types of life insurance.
The cash value of your policy grows tax deferred, providing you with a source of emergency funds
Universal life insurance is a policy that combines the features of both term life insurance and whole life.
When you purchase universal life insurance, the premiums are set to cover your potential losses for a specific time period.
The cash value of your policy grows tax deferred, providing you with a source of emergency funds. Like other types of life insurance policies, you can borrow from it in the event of an emergency or use it as collateral for a loan.
If your health declines or if you have lost interest in maintaining the policy due to changes in family circumstances or because retirement has arrived, there are ways to turn it into an annuity or receive other benefits as well.
You can use the cash value of your policy to help pay for long-term care expenses
Universal life insurance is a long-term savings vehicle that can be used to save for retirement, pay for long-term care expenses, and provide tax advantages.
In some cases, the cash value of your policy can even be used to help pay for your funeral costs. The cash value of the policy builds over time as the premiums you’ve paid are invested in stocks, bonds, money market funds or other investment vehicles.
For many people, this type of coverage provides more flexibility than whole life insurance policies because it allows you to use the policy’s cash value when needed.
Plus, with universal life insurance there’s no limit on how much cash value your policy can accumulate (unlike whole life).
There are no health exams required to qualify for coverage
Universal life insurance is a type of permanent insurance that provides coverage for your lifetime.
However, unlike term insurance, it doesn’t provide a payout after a certain number of years. Instead, universal life insurance builds cash value over time as you pay premiums, which can be used to help accumulate money for retirement in the event that you pass away before age 65.
While there are no health exams required, people who are in poor health or have chronic illnesses may not qualify for this type of policy.
The minimum amount of coverage starts at $100,000 but most people choose amounts ranging from $250,000-$1 million to protect their family’s financial future.
You can obtain a policy regardless of your health status
Universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that doesn’t have a specific term or expiration date.
Your coverage will never run out, which means you’ll always have protection for your family’s future. There are no medical questions to answer, so it doesn’t matter if you’re in perfect health or not.
Universal life insurance policies are designed to cover your premiums regardless of how healthy you are when you purchase the policy.
If you happen to get sick later on down the road, this won’t change anything with regards to your premiums.
As long as you pay your premium each month, even if there is a lapse in between time periods, this won’t affect the size of the death benefit paid out to beneficiaries either.
This means that even if there are gaps in between paying premiums, this won’t cause any lapses in benefits from occurring either.