Term insurance

Life insurance shoppers often grapple with a big choice at the start of their decision-making process: Should I buy term life or whole life insurance? The answer should be based on why you need But if your need for life insurance stretches indefinitely, it’s time to look at the lifelong coverage provided by permanent life insurance policies. Whole life insurance is one form of permanent life insurance. Universal life insurance can also offer lifelong coverage and can be a much cheaper alternative to whole life. Term life insurance Whole life insurance Lock in level premiums for a specific period, such as 10, 15, 20 or 30 years Lock in fixed premiums for life Coverage for the length of the term (after which you can renew at a higher rate) Coverage for as long as you live, as long as you pay premiums Most affordable life insurance option Significantly more expensive than term life insurance No cash value Builds cash value you can access while you’re alive Guaranteed death benefit Guaranteed death benefit, but the amount can be reduced if you’ve taken out some cash value What is term life insurance? People buying term life insurance must decide on the length of the policy and the coverage amount. Term life insurance policies come in multiple types: • Level term: A • Annual renewable term: A person with an annually renewable term life policy must renew it each year from the start, and will see higher rates as they age. • Decreasing term: Premiums stay consistent with a decreas...

• Term life insurance guarantees payment of a stated death benefit to the insured's beneficiaries if the insured person dies during the specified term. • These policies have no value other than the guaranteed death benefit and don’t feature a savings component (as is found in permanent life insurance products). • Term life premiums are based on a person’s age, health, and life expectancy. • Depending on the insurance company, it may be possible to turn term life into whole life insurance. • You can purchase term life policies that last 10, 15, 20 years, or more, and can usually renew them for an additional term. If you die during the policy term, the insurer will pay the policy's face value to your beneficiaries. This cash benefit—which is not typically taxable—may be used by beneficiaries to settle your healthcare and funeral costs, consumer debt, mortgage debt, and other expenses. However, beneficiaries are not required to use the insurance proceeds to settle the deceased's debts. When you consider the amount of coverage you can get for your premium dollars, term life insurance tends to be the least expensive life insurance. Check our recommendations for the Example of Term Life Insurance Thirty-year-old George wants to protect his family in the unlikely event of his early death. He buys a 10-year, $500,000 term life insurance policy with a premium of $50 per month. If George dies within the 10-year term, the policy will pay George’s beneficiary $500,000. If he dies afte...

Georgia Rose is a lead writer on the international team at NerdWallet. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post , The New York Times, The Independent and The Associated Press . Throughout her career, Georgia has written on a variety of subjects, including personal finance, government policy, science and technology. She enjoys researching complex topics and distilling the information for her readers. Before joining the international team, she wrote for the insurance vertical, specializing in life insurance. Lisa Green leads the life insurance team and oversees insurance-focused data journalism at NerdWallet. A professional journalist since high school, she was an insurance writer at NerdWallet before becoming an assigning editor. Previously, Lisa spent more than 20 years as an editor at The Tennessean in Nashville, where she led business and consumer coverage for several years. At The Tennessean, she was part of a 2011 Pulitzer Prize finalist team for coverage of devastating floods in Middle Tennessee. Her work has also won awards from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, Investigative Reporters and Editors, and the Society of Professional Journalists. Lisa is an alumna of the Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists at the University of Pennsylvania. She has also studied data journalism with the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, business editing with the American Press Institute and writing, editing and news research with the ...

Term life insurance offers protection for a specific period of time—anywhere from one to 40 years, depending on the carrier. This is particularly popular for young families and individuals seeking affordable protection, especially those looking for quick-issue coverage online. While term life insurance is sufficient for some, it can be purchased alongside permanent life insurance for increased coverage and lifelong protection. To find the best term life insurance companies, we studied 91 different insurers across more than 50 data points. We then rated the companies based on the following main categories: ease of application, such as online quotes, online applications, same-day coverage, and no-med-exam policies (40% of score); policy features, such as renewal options, convertibility, and available terms (20%); cost (20%); and customer service features, such as live chat and credit card payments (20%). We also considered offerings between top companies including maximum coverage amounts without a medical exam, maximum issue ages for term policies, and included riders. Data points analyzed We collected over 5,000 data points from 91 life insurance companies to measure financial stability, customer satisfaction, product and feature variety, and the overall buying experience. We then evaluated each company based on 55 metrics to develop unbiased, comprehensive reviews. Protective is our pick for best term life insurance thanks to its cheap coverage, no-exam policies (no agent...

You may have seen recent news coverage of customers of financial services companies falling victim to social engineering scams. Scammers impersonate a trusted company to convince their targets into revealing or handing over sensitive information such as insurance, banking or login credentials. This scamming can happen via text, email or websites set up to look like the trusted company. Program Overall Benefits • Basic Term Life: Often an employer-paid coverage option that is offered for a set period of time and provides your beneficiaries with crucial financial protection. • Supplemental Term Life: An employee-paid coverage option that allows you to purchase additional protection as your needs change over time. Dependent, spouse, or domestic partner coverage may also be available. 2 • Dependent Term Life: This option provides coverage for your spouse, civil union partner, domestic partner, and eligible children. Protect and Prepare Your Loved Ones The death of a loved one is not only emotionally devastating, but affects every aspect of an individual’s life. Suddenly, everyday expenses are much harder to afford. Planning ahead by selecting the right life insurance option is the first step to protecting and preparing your family for whatever is ahead. Find a flexible, comprehensive coverage option that will secure your loved ones’ financial future. Term coverage provides temporary financial protection for your loved ones throughout your working years when your cost of insura...