All About Universal life Insurance: Update Jan. 06 - 2010 All About "Universal Life Insurance" By Insurance Experts

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.
(By Kyle J. Norton)

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Universal Life Insurance Policy - Find Out How Universal Life Insurance Can Benefit You

By Allen Nolan

A Universal life insurance policy is a permanent insurance, which is based off of a cash value. It is almost like making an investment, the way this type of insurance works. But can it benefit you? You maybe surprised.

When you invest in something, you pay into it, usually at a fixed rate, this is the easiest way to determine your potential out come over the course of your investment period. However, every so often you might change it up, and put a little more, or a little less. This changes things up, and creates a different out come at the end of your period.

This is a lot like how universal life insurance works, you pay a fixed amount in your premiums, like in any other policy. However, in this case, if you decide to over pay, this will actually increase the cash value of the policy, thus increasing your benefit payout in the long run.

Then, on the flip side of things, if you miss a payment, or underpay, this is automatically taken off the over payments that you made, almost like as if you created a buffer zone for your payments. Who knows, you might struggle one month, and this is a good way to make ends meet something, even if it is a little indirect.

Sounds pretty good doesn't it?

Basically, it's just another way of investing, and creating a bigger portfolio of investments, except this one gets paid out when you become deceased.

This is certainly not your every day insurance policy, but it does have it's merits, where you can increase your policy size, and give a better cash pay out in the end.

That is the main benefit to having universal insurance, is the fact that you can increase it as much as you want. What could be better than that? For an insurance policy, that would be hard to do.

Another thing to remember as well is the cash value gains interest as well for the entire length of the policy, thus giving you an even greater return when it is cashed in.

So having a universal life insurance policy would be pretty good, but only if you were going to take advantage of the over payment clause. If not, then maybe you should stick with a standard term, or whole life policy instead, as they may be more suited for your life style. Why bother choosing a policy with special features like that if you aren't going to use them?

Is Universal Right For You? FREE Information!

You now know a bit about what universal life insurance is, but there's something else you need to know.

Is it the right insurance for you?

To find out more free information, click on over to compare term vs whole life insurance and universal life insurance.

A little knowledge will help you get the kind of life insurance best for you -- and for your family

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Allen_Nolan

Life Insurance - Is it Worth the Premium?

By Darrell Victor

To assess whether your life policy is worth the premium, you must understand the value of a particular policy relative to its premium. The reality is that the benefits of life insurance exceed just the life cover. Another cogent aspect of reality is that not all life insurance premiums are justifiably high or higher.

Insurers typically aim to offer more benefits, especially on cash value plans. Therefore, the question has more than one dimension. You have to relate the life cover you get against your premium but also factor in the value of additional benefits your particular policy may offer. Only then can you properly determine if life insurance is really worth it.

== Benefits of life insurance ==

The main benefit of life insurance is life cover. This may seem self-evident, but the truth is that insurers love to market the life policies in creative ways-sometimes even downplaying the significance of life coverage. They tend to emphasize the other benefits that go along with the life cover. The primary benefits of life policies may include:

i) Life coverage

ii) Double indemnity

iii) Critical illness

iv) Disability coverage and income disability coverage

v) Cash value

vi) Pension savings

Naturally, the benefit package offered varies among policies-even policies of the same type. For example, you can purchase a Universal Life insurance policy with or without critical illness. In addition, once you choose a term insurance plan, you would not have cash savings as a benefit.

== Premiums ==

Some life insurance premiums can really take a bite out of your budget, particularly for low-income earners. Term insurance is usually the cheapest form. Whole Life Insurance plans are generally the most expensive. Some insurers do not even offer Whole Life policy again, preferring to offer the more seductive Universal Life Plan. One point that many persons miss is that a high premium must be measured in terms of your budget and-most importantly-the value you receive in return.

Is life insurance worth the high premiums?

Unfortunately, there is no decisive answer. However, once you are getting commensurate value for your money, it is worth it. Sometimes, it is prudent or even necessary to have the life insurance policy. In some cases, paying a higher premium to get additional benefits can actually reduce the cost of those additional benefits. For example, some insurers offer Critical Illness coverage on permanent insurance plans. Those plans may offer similar benefits to a stand-alone Critical Illness plan but you might purchase them at a reduced rate as an optional supplementary benefit.

The major aspect of whether life insurance is worth the high premiums comes from the debate, "cash value versus term insurance." Several financial advisors opine that permanent insurance is a waste of time and that term insurance is best suited to your life insurance needs. They argue that the higher premiums of cash value plans are not worthwhile.

Many advisors agree that having life insurance is necessary for a period (a "necessary evil" in fact) but, for them, less (in terms of the premium) is more. It is true that higher premiums of cash value insurance do not always redound to your benefit. However, if you are so undisciplined that you would not save on your own, maybe you might be better off letting your insurer save for you. The higher premium of the cash value plan may actually be worth it to some persons in that regard.

Sometimes, insurers attempt to provide pseudo-benefits to justify high premiums. For example, a neat trick is to offer additional benefits (like disability coverage) but the coverage amount of the additional benefits are minimal. The client is satisfied that he is paying for additional coverage but does not realise he is not necessarily getting much more in return.

Note that nothing is worth anything if you do not need it (or don't even have a latent/future need). If a smooth insurance representative sells you insurance, but does not evaluate your needs properly, that life insurance plan may not be worth it-no matter how low your premium is.

There is also the case of insurers packing their life insurance as investment opportunities. Your insurance premium includes investment fees and charges. Therefore, you may pay higher premiums with no guarantee that the fund will perform well. In many cases, regardless of how well the fund performs, the insurer deducts those fees. Clearly, if you want life cover, you should not be paying unnecessary high premiums to get additional benefits that are not worth it.

Before you determine whether your premium is worth it, you must assess your life insurance need and choose the right type of policy from the right insurer. You should also ensure that you know how much extra you are paying for the benefits-by comparison shopping or noting what part of your premium goes to which benefit.

Darrell Victor is a freelance writer and former insurance advisor. To read his latest articles visit http://www.helium.com/user/show_articles/338815

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darrell_Victor

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