As we start getting older we start thinking about life insurance more to protect those we love and the things we’ve spent so many years acquiring. The great news is that is precisely what the death benefit is intended for.
Hopefully, you start by doing some research on the different types of life insurance and as you learn more about them you may hear that some, like whole life insurance, have living benefits as well.
The whole life insurance advantages include guaranteed death benefit, guaranteed cash value growth, permanent life insurance coverage that doesn’t expire, fixed monthly premiums, possible dividend earning growth, riders, and tax advantages.
Is whole life a good idea
If you had a savings account that allowed you to use the dollars within it multiple times, would you do it? While this is an overly simplified statement regarding what a whole life insurance policy does, it is quite accurate. In short, a major advantage of a whole life policy is that you are creating and then building an asset you can use over and over again.
The cash value in a policy can become a vital component for building a retirement plan, whether it’s the traditional way or by buying other assets like real estate, businesses, or other income-producing methods.
Another thing that can be done with your whole life going the traditional route is to “snowball” the payment of debts within the policy using it to reduce your overall monthly expenses and then turn around with that freed up cash flow to start an investing strategy that suits you.
Where should you start
How thorough of an understanding do you want? Are you the type that wants to know all the little details? If so then several books exist to describe in more depth the concept of whole life insurance, specifically how it can be used: “Live Your Life Insurance” is my current favorite on the topic, 2nd is “Become Your Own Banker”.
Or, are you the type that simply wants to be told what to do or be shown what it can do for you? In either case, one of the next steps that will need to be done is to have an agent do an illustration for you specifically.
An illustration is a great way to really see what the growth of a policy will look like. The next step after that would be to discuss how to utilize, leverage, and really increase the growth of the cash value for your situation.
There are a number of ways to do that and a number of reasons why, all are fine. Let’s talk it over, for the most part, both of these steps can be taken care of at the same time.