Life Insurance
Financial protection for your loved ones
Why get Life Insurance?
Life Insurance needs calculator – see if you need Life Insurance and how much you might need in Tax Free death benefit
85% of people say they need Life Insurance but only 62% purchase it. Why is that? Our thought is that it’s just not pleasant to deal with! However, if you have a spouse, children, a mortgage, a business with partners or would like to leave a legacy for charitable giving or your grandchildren, the answer, and the only answer, is Life Insurance.
Important to note: Wallace & Feldman Ins. is an independent “multiple carrier” broker. It’s good to have options!
Term Insurance
Term insurance is basic, inexpensive and easy to understand. It gives you all the coverage you need and none that you don’t. That’s why it’s the best choice in many cases
As the name implies, a term insurance policy is good for a specific period of time; that can be, 10 years, 20 years or even up to 40 years. Term Insurance will give you by far the greatest Death Benefit for the money. Pick a length of Term that dovetails with the time you need coverage. If you die during that term, your beneficiaries get a tax free payout, known as the death benefit.
IMPORTANT: In the event your health changes during the Term, say, you come down with a condition that would deem you uninsurable, because you already own the Term policy you can convert to another form of Life Insurance called Permanent Insurance. Your “insurability” is guaranteed for the rest of your life with Term Insurance.
Living Benefits
Life insurance can have Living Benefits for you, . In particular there are “Long Term Care” or “Chronic care” Riders. Your face amount/death benefit dollars can be used towards your Long Term Care Insurance or Chronic care needs!
A Living Benefit Rider is an accelerated death benefit rider attached to a life insurance policy – usually a Permanent policy. If you, as the insured, qualify, you can access your death benefit while alive if you become chronically or terminally ill.
These riders are available for an additional cost, usually with additional underwriting requirements and limits apply.
Universal Life
The flexibility that a universal life policy provides is a key differentiator over whole life. As a result, universal life insurance premiums are typically lower during periods of high interest rates than whole life insurance premiums, often for the same amount of coverage.
Another key difference would be how the interest is paid. While the interest paid on universal life insurance is often adjusted monthly, interest on a whole life insurance policy is normally adjusted annually. This could mean that during periods of rising interest rates, universal life insurance policy holders may see their cash values increase at a rapid rate compared to those in whole life insurance policies.
Some people may prefer the set death benefit, level premiums, and the potential for growth of a whole life policy. However, for those who would prefer to have more flexibility and options when it comes to their permanent life insurance, then universal life might be the better choice.
Indexed Universal Life
Indexed Universal Life (IUL) insurance is a permanent policy that combines a death benefit with a cash value component. What sets it apart is how that cash grows: gains are tied to a stock market index (like the S&P 500) rather than a fixed rate.
It offers a “best of both worlds” appeal:
Upside Potential: You earn interest when the market performs well, up to a certain cap.
Downside Protection: Most policies feature a 0% floor, ensuring you don’t lose principal during market crashes.
Flexibility: You can often adjust premiums and death benefits as your financial needs evolve.
Guaranteed Universal Life
It is the most inexpensive way to obtain permanen Life Insurance. It is purchased exclusively for it’s Death Benefit. It’s sometimes referred to as “Term For Life.” There is no Cash Value. The Term is your lifetime. As long as you pay the premiums, the policy remains “in-force.”
Whole Life
Whole Life Insurance builds Cash Value which you can access "tax free" for retirement
When you choose Whole Life Insurance you choose protection that is guaranteed to last a lifetime unlike the “term” in term insurance. Your premium will never go up and the guaranteed coverage amount will build.
Cash Value in Whole Life
Many people choose whole life insurance because it can help them reach financial goals while they are living. A whole life policy accumulates cash value which is guaranteed to increase over time. You can borrow Tax Free loans from your policy for many different reasons, including to help pay for college, supplement your retirement income, or provide cash for emergencies.
Opportunity to Earn Dividends
Wallace & Company Ins. prefers using Whole life policies that are issued by Mutual Companies whose stock is only only owned by the Whole Life policy owner who then receive dividends payable to the owners cash value in the policy Any dividends you receive can be used to increase your life insurance protection and grow your cash value. Although they are not guaranteed, companies we like such as New York Life, Mass Mutual, Guardian, Penn Mutual have never missed a dividend payment. Mass Mutual has not missed one in 150 years!