What is life insurance?
THINK OF LIFE INSURANCE AS A DEAL YOU MAKE WITH AN INSURANCE COMPANY. YOU PAY THEM REGULARLY, CALLED A PREMIUM, AND IN RETURN, THEY AGREE TO GIVE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MONEY TO YOUR FAMILY OR THE PEOPLE YOU CHOOSE (BENEFICIARIES) IF YOU PASS AWAY. THIS MONEY IS KNOWN AS A DEATH BENEFIT.
What Kinds of Life Insurance Can You Get?
TERM LIFE INSURANCE
This is a straightforward type of life insurance. You pick how long you want the insurance for and how much money you want the insurance to cover. If you die within that time, the insurance pays out to your chosen people. If you don't, there's no payout and you don't get the premiums back. Term life insurance comes in three flavors:
Level Term: Pays a fixed amount if you die during the policy's term.
Decreasing Term: The coverage amount decreases over time. It's good for debts that get smaller, like a loan you're paying off.
Increasing Term: The coverage amount goes up over time to match rising costs due to inflation. It’s useful for debts that don't shrink, like certain types of loans.
FAMILY INCOME BENEFIT POLICIES
This is a special kind of decreasing term insurance. Instead of giving your family a big sum of money at once, it provides them with a regular monthly income if you die, until the policy ends.
WHOLE OF LIFE POLICIES
These policies last your whole life and pay out whenever you die. Since it's certain that everyone will die at some point, these policies are more costly than term insurance, which only covers you for a specific period.