term life insurance

Term Life Insurance: Term Life Insurance is the most popular type of life insurance. Term insurance is designed to provide coverage for a limited amount of time, usually 10, 15, 20 or 30 years. During that time, level-premium term life insurance will provide a level life insurance benefit at a guaranteed level premium price. A term insurance policy can be cancelled at any time. If a family wants the most amount of coverage with the lowest premiums, term life insurance is a good option.

Return-of-Premium Term Life Insurance (ROP): An alternative product to simple, level term life insurance is a return-of-premium term life insurance policy (ROP). It is designed to return all the premium you have paid into the policy at the end of the term, tax-free. ROP term life insurance does cost more than traditional level term life insurance - typically 40% to 50% higher. If you surrender your ROP term insurance policy early, you may get some money back based on a sliding scale. The ROP term life insurance policy is typically bought by consumers who feel like they will outlive the policy term and do not want to "waste" their money and not get anything back.

Whole Life Insurance and Universal Life Insurance: Whole Life Insurance and Universal Life Insurance are designed to provide for a permanent need for life insurance. The premium, death benefit and some of the cash value is guaranteed with this type of life insurance. Some financial advisors recommend buying term life insurance and investing the difference you save as opposed to purchasing whole life insurance. Universal life insurance is similar to whole life insurance in that it can be designed to provide permanent coverage. However, universal life insurance provides flexibility in premium payments.