Like all permanent life insurance policies, whole life provides lifelong coverage and includes an investment component known as the policy’s cash value. The cash value grows slowly, tax-deferred, meaning you won’t pay taxes on its gains while they’re accumulating.
You can borrow money against the account or surrender the policy for the cash. But if you don’t repay policy loans with interest, you’ll reduce your death benefit, and if you surrender the policy, you’ll no longer have coverage.
Although it’s more complicated than term life insurance, whole life is the most straightforward form of permanent life insurance. Here’s why:
Some whole life policies can also earn annual dividends, a portion of the insurer’s financial surplus. You can take the dividends in cash, leave them on deposit to earn interest or use them to decrease your premium, repay policy loans or buy additional coverage. Dividends are not guaranteed.
What are Medicare Advantage Plans?
Medicare Advantage Plans — also known as Part C Plans – are offered through private insurance carriers, and can be a great way to get additional health coverage. Depending on your medical needs, these plans can help you significantly lower your out-of-pocket health care costs.
By law, all Medicare Advantage Plans include your Original Medicare benefits. What this means is you get your Parts A & B benefits, plus additional health insurance, all in one convenient plan. You can even add more benefits, including prescription drug coverage, dental, vision, wellness programs, and more.
Do I Need a Medicare Advantage Plan?
Only you can decide how much medical coverage you need. That said, and generally speaking, those who only have Original Medicare risk unaffordable out-of- pocket costs — especially when faced with an extended hospitalization or if they require frequent outpatient medical care.
Who is Eligible?
You are eligible for a Medicare Advantage Plan if (1) you currently have Original Medicare, (2) are not suffering from end-stage renal disease, and (3) if a plan is available in your area.
To be eligible for Original Medicare, generally speaking, you must be 65 years or older and have paid federal taxes for at least 10 working years. Those under 65 years old are eligible for Original Medicare if they have a disability.
Term life insurance provides coverage for a certain time period. It’s often called “pure life insurance” because it’s designed only to protect your dependents in case you die prematurely. If you have a term policy and die within the term, your beneficiaries receive the payout. The policy has no other value.
You choose the term when you buy the policy. Common terms are 10, 20 or 30 years. With most policies, the payout, called the death benefit, and the cost, or premium, stay the same throughout the term.
Mortgage protection is a form of term insurance with a specific purpose to cover a families home mortgage payments if 1 or more of the income earners passes. MP insurance is typically designed to cover the crucial period after ones death of 0-18 months generally. Having enough insurance to cover this critical period makes life easier for the surviving family to move on and mourn without worrying about losing their home, it also allows them time to make decisions on keeping or selling the home.
An annuity is a contract between you and an insurance company in which you make a lump sum payment or series of payments and in return obtain regular disbursements beginning either immediately or at some point in the future.
Many aspects of an annuity can be tailored to the specific needs of the recipient. In addition to choosing between a lump sum payment or a series of payments to the insurer, you can choose when you want to annuitize your contributions – that is, start receiving payments. An annuity that begins paying out immediately is referred to as an immediate annuity, while those that start at a preset date in the future are called deferred annuities.
Annuities come in three main varieties – fixed, variable and indexed – that each have their own level of risk and payout potential. Fixed annuities pay out a guaranteed amount based on the balance of your account. The downside of this predictability is a modest annual return, generally slightly higher than a CD.
