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Learn About Insurance to Help Protect Your Future

Updated
Life Insurance
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clic learn about insurance types

There are many different types of life insurance. While you may have a variety of financial, familial and health situations, life insurance policies are designed in several ways to help support many different scenarios. Term insurance and permanent life insurance differ in many ways and can provide different levels of protection to fit your life needs.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance provides coverage for a specific time period (10, 20, 30 years, etc.), usually with smaller initial premium payments. It provides you the largest amount of coverage for the dollar when your financial obligations are the greatest.

Term life insurance is a very cost-effective way to provide protection for you, your family, or your business. You decide the length of term you want, and this allows you to set aside a premium amount each month.

Features

  • Lower initial premiums, which may fit well into the budget of younger individuals
  • Helps ensure that crucial items — like a car or a house — can be paid for in case of early death
  • Convertibility: many policies allow you to convert term coverage into permanent insurance once the term is over without additional proof of good health—also known as "evidence of insurability."
  • Some term policies offer return of premium (ROP) riders, which return all of the premium you've paid if you are alive at the end of the term period.

Permanent Life Insurance

Permanent life insurance offers a fixed premium for a specific coverage amount. It can give you lifetime coverage—provided that premiums are paid—and build money inside your policy (called "cash value"). There are several types of permanent life insurance, listed below.

Universal Life Insurance

Universal life offers insurance protection until your death, with guaranteed premium levels and tax-deferred benefits that are based on current interest rates.

Features

  • Your policy's cash value can be used for a loan, as premium payment or as collateral.1
  • Flexibility in terms of premium payment2, conversions and coverage upgrades

Indexed Universal Life Insurance

Indexed universal life (both individual and survivorship) offers all of the benefits of traditional insurance products, plus the potential for additional growth through indexed interest credits. IUL can also offer protection from downside risk from cash value decline from index performance, thanks to to a minimum interest rate guarantee.

Features

  • Enhanced potential for cash value growth from a choice of index options
  • Upside potential and downside protection
  • Additional flexibility features associated with universal life products
IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES
1 Loans and withdrawals may generate an income tax liability, reduce the Account Value and the Death Benefit, and may cause the policy to lapse. Sufficient premium and account value are necessary to cover insurance costs. Index returns do not guarantee that the policy will stay in force.
2 There must be enough cash value in the policy to cover monthly charges if a lower premium is paid than the amount selected at issue or if a premium payment is skipped. Additional premium payments may need to be made to keep the policy in force.

The information contained herein is general in nature, is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal or tax advice. This material is not intended to be used, nor can it be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding U.S. federal, state or local tax penalties. This material is written to support the promotion or marketing of the transaction(s) addressed by this material. This material is being provided for informational purposes only. Columbus Life does not provide legal or tax advice. Laws of a specific state or laws relevant to a particular situation may affect the applicability, accuracy, or completeness of this information. Federal and state laws and regulations are complex and are subject to change. Consult an attorney or tax advisor regarding your specific legal or tax situation. There are insurance related costs to a life insurance policy. Premiums paid must produce sufficient cash value to pay insurance charges.