5 Ways To Leverage Your Life Insurance
Did you know you can access the value in your life insurance policy today?
Most of us don’t often stop and think about life insurance. But since September is National Life Insurance Awareness Month, it’s a great time to reflect on this important asset.
At its core, life insurance serves an essential function: It takes care of your family should something happen to you. If you have whole or universal life insurance, there are many ways you can use it during your own lifetime. And if you have term life insurance, there may be more ways to use it than you thought.
See the slideshow below to learn five ways your insurance policy could save the day.
Long-term care can be costly. If you’ve accrued a lot of cash value in your life insurance policy, consider converting part of it into a long-term care policy by adding a rider (an optional coverage or feature).
You can borrow money from your permanent life insurance policy to use for a number of things, such as paying off a loan or riding out a bear market.
Many permanent life insurance policies allow you to use your funds if you’re terminally ill or if you become disabled. A rider for an accelerated death benefit will allow a policyholder diagnosed with a terminal illness to access money early to help provide for their needs.
Your life insurance is considered a financial asset. It can help you get a mortgage, and it can even serve as collateral in some situations.
You can request a charitable giving rider on your life insurance policy (usually whole or universal). Plus, to make a bigger impact, you can name a charity as your beneficiary or gift your life insurance policy to a charity of your choice.
Term vs. Perm Insurance: What’s the Difference?
Term life insurance is simple and typically less expensive than whole life insurance. You pay into it for a certain amount of time (term), and when that term ends, the policy ends. It’s mostly about the traditional death benefit for your family or other beneficiaries.
Whole life insurance, a type of permanent insurance, is more expensive but offers more. It doesn’t end (as long as your premiums are paid when due), and as it matures, it builds cash value that you can tap into.
Universal life insurance is another form of permanent life insurance, but it offers more flexibility than whole life insurance. Like whole, universal life can be used as a financial asset during your lifetime.
What are insurance riders?
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