These policies put a portion of the policyholder’s premium payments toward annual renewable term life insurance, with the remainder added to the cash value of the policy after fees are deducted.
Universal life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance. With a universal life policy, the insured person is covered for the duration of their life as long as they pay their premiums and fulfill any other requirements of their policy to maintain coverage. Like many permanent life policies, universal life insurance combines a savings component, “cash value”, with lifelong protection. When you pass away, the policy’s death benefit is paid out to your beneficiaries.
Beyond lifelong protection, there are a few additional features of universal life insurance:
- You can withdraw money or borrow against the policy’s cash value.
- Your cash value earns interest.
- You have flexibility with premiums.
- You can adjust the death benefit.
When you pay your premium on a universal life insurance policy, a portion of each payment goes toward paying for the death benefit. Another portion also goes to building up the policy’s cash value. Over time, after the money has accumulated, you may be able to withdraw or borrow against the cash value of the policy. However, it’s important to know that this may reduce your death benefit, create a tax implication or even cause your policy to lapse.
Earn interest on your policy’s cash value: The cash value of a universal life policy generally earns interest that’s in line with current money market rates. Of course, it’s important to note that the interest rate will fluctuate along with the market, which means the interest you receive may also go down. But, some companies offer protection against that with a minimum performance guarantee on the policy.
Flexibility with premiums: If the cash value of your account can cover the costs, you may have the ability to lower or stop paying your premiums on a universal life policy for a certain amount of time.
This can be helpful if money becomes tight and you’re looking for ways to lower monthly bills. But, there can be negative consequences. For instance, your coverage may end if you use up the account’s cash value to pay for premiums.
Keep in mind that even though your premiums are flexible, you must maintain a positive cash value otherwise, your policy will lapse (meaning you no longer have coverage). Some insurers may offer a grace period — a specified amount of time in which you have to make a payment to restore your policy to a positive cash value status before coverage lapses.
Adjust the policy’s death benefit
The flexibility of a universal life policy also extends to the death benefit. At some point, you may want to increase the amount that’s paid out upon your death. This is something some insurance companies allow, in some cases as long as you pass a medical exam. Likewise, you might choose to reduce the death benefit, to reduce the cost of the policy. Remember that if you increase the policy’s death benefit, it may increase the premium you pay.
With a universal life insurance policy, you may be able to adjust your premiums and death benefit over time to suit your needs. With a whole life insurance policy, the premiums and death benefits are fixed for the duration of the policy.
