Finance Chris Clare on 13 Apr 2008
Whole of life insurance its uses.
With so many different types of life insurance available at present it may be no surprise that some people decide that insurance is insurance and as long as you have it you will find yourself covered.
Well, if you do even the smallest amount of research on the Internet, you will soon realize that, not only does it matter, but also the differences are great and making the wrong decisions can be devastating to your financial situation both today and in the future. It is advisable that you take the time to research the options and apply your newfound knowledge to your own situation and let it help to guide you in your quest for the correct coverage to plan for your and your family’s future.
With the variety of policies around there is also obviously a variety of prices available. Just as you may have become used to shopping around for better mortgage or credit card offers, it is also a good idea to think about reviewing and possibly renewing your life insurance policy. Even if you just took out your policy a couple of years ago, your situation may have changed since then. You should make sure that you have enough cover for your needs, or maybe you could be lucky enough to discover that you are paying for too much cover and could find yourself able to make a saving on your payments.
Your coverage could have also changed since there is a very good chance that your personal lifestyle has changed and what was fantastic for the way your life was just a few years ago, might be antiquated by the living arrangements you have today. You may have added a dependent, you may have given up and quit smoking, perhaps you have either taken up or given up a dangerous hobby or occupation, such as sky diving or motorcycling, which will have a huge impact one way or the other on your premium payments.
The beauty of the web is that now individuals can go online and get the best deals, saving both money and time, when sourcing life insurance policies. Since there is no agent to deal with as an intermediary the companies can pass on this cost saving in the form of a reduced premium. Now it can be said that you are losing something in the way of a personal touch by not having an agent to talk to face to face but many customers find that this small setback is favourably offset by the savings incurred by dealing with the companies directly over the internet. Really this boils down to what suits the individual best.
So, what EXACTLY is Whole of Life Insurance?
In simple language, a whole of life insurance policy will cover you until the end of your life whereas the other sort of policy is for a specific length of time and is called a term policy. Usually with whole of life policies your death benefit and premium do not change. They remain constant. The advantage of this policy is that it continues to increase in value through life as you continue to add to it. The value of this increasing nest egg is tax exempt until you decide to cash it in, when you will more than likely be in a lower tax bracket anyway and so will be able to borrow money against it to help out with life’s many obstacles.
The biggest advantage that people tend to recognise with whole of life insurance is that a certain amount of the premium that they pay is set aside for theoretically paying of the whole cost of the policy but in a shorter timeframe. Another bonus is that, unless you change your policy, your payments will remain the same and so will all the stipulations of the policy. You will be covered for life and will not be required to undergo any further medical examinations. Once the policy commences you will not the company involved cannot exlude any specific event or illness from the coverage and this will be of great importance if in the future a serious illness was to prevent you from maintaining your earning potential.
To conclude, whole of life insurance is a form of coverage that many regard as the best policy for guaranteeing peace of mind for them, their family, and their future, both personally and financially.