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Term Life Insurance Explained
What is Term Life Insurance?
Term life insurance, as the name suggests, is a temporary agreement, for a pre-defined number of years or ‘term’, after which, the agreement expires. Various lengths of term insurance can be purchased, with the most common ones covering between 10 and 20 years. However, terms as long as 30 years, or as short as 1 year are also available. Term life insurance only pays benefits if you die during the time you are covered. These policies do not accumulate cash value, so your estate does not collect any money from the policy when it ends. This is why it is often referred to as temporary insurance. However, most insurance companies offer conversion privileges to switch your term life insurance to permanent life insurance policies. Permanent life insurance provides lifetime protection and lets you build cash value over time. You can use your cash value to take out a loan for emergencies, fund a major purchase or send your children to college.
Benefits of Term Life Policies:
- Proceeds are not taxable to your beneficiaries.
- They cost less than permanent insurance
- You can buy a large amount of term insurance to complement your permanent policy
- While in effect, you typically can convert to a permanent policy without evidence of insurability (which is an official statement providing you are an insurable risk)
There a quite a few types of life insurance on the market today. The cost of a policy and the features it offers can vary tremendously depending on the type of insurance you choose. LifeQuote gathers and displays only term insurance quotes because of their cheaper premiums and widespread popularity among those searching for life insurance coverage.
Please read our other sections for a plethora of information about life insurance:
