LIFE INSURANCE BENEFITS
It may seem counterintuitive that “empty nesters” need life insurance after the kids have left home. But some retirees still have dependents, such as disabled adult children. Many empty nesters also still have financial obligations, such as the mortgage on a home or second home, that could become burdensome if a spouse dies or becomes disabled.
More importantly, if you died today, your spouse could outlive you by 10, 20 or even 30 years. Would your spouse have to make drastic lifestyle changes to make ends meet? Your death could reduce the Social Security benefits your spouse had been counting on. It also could bring on unplanned medical and funeral expenses and other costs. Life insurance coverage can preserve the retirement plan you worked so hard to put in place. Life insurance also can ensure your estate will be passed on, intact, to your survivors. A policy’s death benefit can help foot the estate tax bill from Uncle Sam. It also can provide a legacy for your children and grandchildren even if you use up most of your assets during your lifetime. For all these reasons, if you’ve been thinking about dropping your coverage, you may want to reconsider. But what if your retired or nearing retirement and you don’t have life insurance? You may think that you’ll no longer qualify due to your age or health conditions you may have. That’s not necessarily the case. Americans age 60 and older is among the fastest growing markets for life insurance purchases.
Even if you’re considerably older or coping with serious health challenges, there still may be an option for you. Final expense insurance is a form of life insurance that requires little or no underwriting, which means almost anyone can qualify. Policies are available in face amounts typically ranging from several thousands of dollars up to a maximum of $50,000 or $75,000 – much less than a standard life insurance policy. That’s because these policies are only intended to cover final expenses and not longer-range expenses like ongoing living costs or college or retirement funding. Final expense insurance typically comes in two varieties. Immediate full benefit policies, which pay the full face value upon your death, are generally available to people with no serious health concerns. Graded benefit policies provide limited benefits during the first few years and are available to people with serious health concerns. These policies can provide the peace of mind of knowing that your survivors won’t struggle to pay for your funeral or be saddled with outstanding medical bills and other debts.
Life insurance may be divided into two basic classes: temporary and permanent; or the following subclasses: term, universal, whole life, and endowment life insurance.
Term insurance
Term assurance provides life insurance coverage for a specified term. The policy does not accumulate cash value. Term is generally considered "pure" insurance, where the premium buys protection in the event of death and nothing else.
There are three key factors to be considered in term insurance:
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Face amount (protection or death benefit),
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Premium to be paid (cost to the insured), and
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Length of coverage (term).
Annual renewable term is a one-year policy, but the insurance company guarantees it will issue a policy of an equal or lesser amount regardless of the insurability of the applicant, and with a premium set for the applicant's age at that time.
Level premium term can be purchased in 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 or 35 year terms. The premium and death benefit stays level during these terms.
Mortgage life insurance insures a loan secured by real property and usually features a level premium amount for a declining policy face value because what is insured is the principal and interest outstanding on a mortgage that is constantly being reduced by mortgage payments. The face amount of the policy is always the amount of the principal and interest outstanding that are paid should the applicant die before the final installment is paid.