Unlike term and whole life insurances, this policy blends term insurance and an investment account into one contract. Also its premiums can be increased or decreased, paid when due or at unscheduled dates, or stopped entirely and restarted at the owner's will provided the policy value is adequate to maintain the cost of the insurance.
This type of policy is adapted well to satisfy the changing insurance and investment needs of its owner.
1. Flexible coverage
The prime attraction of the universal life policy lies with its flexibility that allows owner of universal life insurance policy to increase or decrease the policy's face amount and evidence of insurability is usually needed for the increases. Its flexible coverage also established a life insurance contract that (subject to an insurability requirement) allowed the policy owner to:
a. Increase or decrease the face amount of insurance
b. Add more lives insured
c. Substitute one life insured for another
(By Kyle J. Norton)
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The Advantage and Disadvantage of Universal Life Insurance
By Kyle J Norton
As we mentioned in previous articles, UL plans are unbundled, the various components of the plan such as insurance charges and earned interest can each be isolated and quantified. Consequently, they are much easier to understand and explain than traditional bundle permanent life insurance products. In this article, we will discuss the tax advantage of the universal life policy.
There are many factors that universal life policyholder must consider when go into deciding which investment options to choose within a UL plan. Guaranteed interest accounts, for example, are less risky and indexed accounts which have a larger potential rate of return.
1. Advantage
a) Most UL plans allow the policyholder to allocate deposits in a way that matches their risk philosophy. Such a plan may change its investment allocation as the policyholder gets older, negating the need for the policyholder to monitor the UL investment mix to ensure that it is consistent with the policyholder's investment philosophy as that changes.
b) Tax-advantaged status
Investments that invest in the insurance company's general funds, have advantage of prefer tax status, no matter which outside index is linked to particle index or mutual fund account, if the actual funds is invested in the general fund of the insurance company, they will not be subject to annual taxation. If the client would like to invest outside of the company's general fund, many insurers have segregated funds attached to their UL contracts and of course, any investment return of these funds is taxable annually.
c) Depending on the type of fund, the income may benefit from tax preferred status if the growth in the fund can be attributed to capital gains or dividends.
d) The used as a carrier fund or shuttle account to automatically receive proceeds from the sheltered accounts should the plan become non-exempt and the funds must be refunded.
e) Non-sheltered investment accounts allow a policy to become paid-up early, often as quickly as with one deposit.
f) If the UL plan can be registered, a non-sheltered account becomes a sheltered account as, once registered, it forms part of the policyholder's 401k or RRSP plans.
g) Investment returns accumulated in the universal life policy is tax free because they form part of life insurance, if payable to beneficiary upon the death of life insured.
2. Disadvantage
a) Fund invest outside of the company's general fund, many insurers have segregated funds attached to their UL contracts and invest outside of the company's general fund. any investment return of these funds is taxable annually.
b) Limited choice of investments.
c) Investment return of funds withdrawn from universal life insurance policy are taxable.
I hope this information will help. If you need more information, you can read the complete series of the above subject at my home page:
Kyle J. Norton
http://lifeanddisabitityinsuranceunderwriter.blogspot.com/
http://lifeinsurancexiii.blogspot.com
All rights reserved. Any reproducing of this article must have all the links intact.
I have been studying natural remedies for disease prevention for over 20 years and working as a financial consultant since 1990
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kyle_J_Norton
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Characteristics of Universal Life Insurance
By Kyle J Norton
As we mentioned in the previous article, universal life (UL) was introduced in 1981-82, in response to a historically high interest environment and a consumer awareness of the value of self-directed investments because traditional insurance could not compete with short-term interest rates.
Here are some characteristics as follow
1. Account Value
The account value of a universal life plan is the sum of the gross values of all the investment accounts within the policy, including income, after deductions for the current month expenses.
2. Cash Surrender Value
The cash surrender value of a universal life plan is the current account value, less outstanding loans and surrender charges. Surrender charges are usually based upon a multiple of the minimum required premium for the policy back-end charges are larger than front-end charges.
3. Premiums & Contributions
Premiums are those amounts needed to pay the cost of insurance charges and other expenses for the policy. Deposits are those excess amounts that are of a pure investment nature.
4. Death Benefit Options
The amount of death benefit payable under a universal life policy is based upon 1 of 4 different options
a)Level death benefit: Level coverage throughout the lifetime of the policy.
b) Level death benefit plus cumulative gross premiums: Death benefit increases by the amount of each gross deposit to the policy.
c) Level death benefit, indexed: The amount of death benefit increases, yearly, by a predetermined percentage.
d) Level death benefit plus account value: The total amount of death benefit is always equal to the initial face amount, plus the gross account value. This is the most popular chose by 90% of universal life insurance policies' owners because
the gross account value is tax free.
5. Premium Flexibility
The premium deposits, plus accrued investment income, must be sufficient to pay for all expenses and deductions, so as to keep the policy in force, tax exempt life insurance contract, flexible premium.
Universal life is not for every consumer
It's flexibility tends to be reflected in much higher administration costs than are found in traditional whole life plans and the variable nature of the plan may make it unsuitable for those clients wanting guarantees
I hope this information will help. If you need more information, you can read the complete series of the above subject at my home page:
Kyle J. Norton
http://lifeanddisabitityinsuranceunderwriter.blogspot.com/
http://life-insurance07.blogspot.com/
All rights reserved. Any reproducing of this article must have all the links intact.
I have been studying natural remedies for disease prevention for over 20 years and working as a financial consultant since 1990
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kyle_J_Norton
Recommended Program
Live Your Life Insurance
Teaches You Surprising and Viable Strategies
For Developing Prosperity Through
Your Life Insurance Policy
Universal Life Insurance Quotes
By Kevin Stith
Have you ever wondered what will happen to your loved ones when you die, especially if you are the family breadwinner? This is such a big worry, particularly to those whose children are still very young and their spouse is not working. To secure your family’s future in the event of your death, it’s time that you find out about Universal Life Insurance.
Universal life insurance quotes provide information on conditions covered, insurance rates, exclusions and benefits of purchasing universal life insurance.
How can you obtain universal life insurance quotes? It is simple. All you have to do is to go online and check online insurance companies that will give you instant quotes online. You just have to fill up a form and submit it. You will get your quote in no time at all – usually within minutes. An agent assigned to online inquiries will probably give you a follow-up call as well to see if you have any further questions or to sell you a policy.
If you are not Internet savvy, you can call various insurance companies and speak to an agent. They will be happy to explain universal life insurance to you and offer quotes. Make sure you have all the details about your needs together before you speak with an agent or fill out any forms online, to make sure that the quotes you receive are tailored to your specific needs. Both online insurance companies and insurance agents will be happy to assist you in comparing quotes and they types of coverage you will be receiving.
Universal Life Insurance provides detailed information on Universal Life Insurance, Universal Life Insurance Quotes, Variable Universal Life Insurance, Universal Life Insurance Policy Definitions and more. Universal Life Insurance is affiliated with Free Life Insurance Leads.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Stith
Universal Life Insurance - Is it a Good Investment Strategy?
By Julie Shields
Universal Life Insurance, also called Permanent Life insurance, is the type of policy where you also hear the term, "cash value". The cash value is the difference between the amount of your premium paid, and what the insurance's actual "costs" are. The difference accrues into a cash value, and the insurance company pays interest on this cash value it accumulates. Often times, in the earlier years of the policy, your premiums heavily outweigh the insurer's "costs", so you are basically accruing "cash value" on a tax-deferred basis. Your death benefits and premiums are flexible, without having to rewrite the policy, if you decide to make changes. The cash value can be used to have your premium deducted, if you have enough value. You also hear about people borrowing against their "cash value", however, these loans will be deducted from the death benefit, it not repaid and also will become taxable.
Many people chose Universal Life or Permanent Life as part of an investment strategy, they build cash value with tax deferment, if interest rates are high-they will earn interest above the insurer's costs, and some policies are written as Variable Universal Life policies, where you can even direct investments in mutual funds and other stock and bond issues where the risk of return (or loss) may be available. You can also borrow against the cash value, in the event of an emergency, and they offer flexibility on the benefit or premium.
The advantage of Universal Life policies is the flexibility they offer. You can invest, borrow, and set premiums and benefits to fit your budget. The disadvantage is that you can lose cash value through a downturn in the basis investments, low interest rates or if the insurer's costs deplete the cash value, making the policy worth nothing. If the cash value gets depleted due to downturns in investments or the insurer's costs exceeding the cash value, the policy is expired, your premiums lost and you have no death benefit.
In contrast, Term Life Insurance is a policy that is purchased for a set death benefit amount, with set premium payments and a guaranteed payment to your beneficiaries, as long as you keep the premium payments current, no matter how the insurer's costs or investments perform. It is a much safer and guaranteed life insurance policy, if your goal is to have a benefit paid after your death, to help your loved ones with expenses. Term Life Insurance is not really part of an investment strategy, but a protective strategy. Universal Life Policies, as you can see are basically, a financial investment growth strategy, with risks involved that may or may not take care of expenses after your death. It is often called permanent, because, "it is permanent, as long as your cash value pays the premiums, or you pay the premiums, but your death benefit is not a guaranteed value, but it assumes it will be permanent as long as premiums exceeds costs, but it is NOT guaranteed your whole life". As you can see, life insurance can be confusing, but may not be the best investment strategy.
The author lives with her husband in Maryland, with their two dogs and cat. She put together the website http://www.affordable-life-insurance-guru.com in order to help the everyday person navigate the often confusing world of life insurance
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julie_Shields
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