How Does Life Insurance Work? A Guide to Various Policies

According to the Insurance Information Institute, more than 100 million people either don’t have life insurance or don’t have enough life insurance coverage. If you fall into this category, it would be a good idea for you to set out to change that immediately.

If you don’t have enough life insurance or if you don’t have a life insurance policy at all, it could be detrimental to your family later on. It’s why you should shop around for life insurance policies and pick out the right one right away.

So, how does life insurance work, and which types of life insurance should you consider? Continue reading to get all the information you’ll need on life insurance policies so that you’re able to choose one that’ll work best for you.

How Does Life Insurance Work?

Before we begin discussing the different types of life insurance policies that you can sign up for, it’s important for you to know the answer to the question, “How does life insurance work?”

Life insurance works just like many other forms of insurance do. You’ll purchase a life insurance policy for yourself, and if anything ever happens to you, your life insurance company will provide the beneficiaries of your policy with a cash payout.

The money that your beneficiaries receive can then be used for things like mortgage payments, school tuition, and even just everyday expenses that you would otherwise be responsible for helping to pay. In many cases, the money can also be used to pay for your funeral costs.

You won’t be required to sign up for a life insurance policy if you don’t want to. But as you can see, it would be a great idea to do it. It’ll provide your family with some financial flexibility just in case anything ever happens to you.

What Does Life Insurance Cover?

Now that you have a better idea as to what life insurance is, let’s briefly discuss what it covers. It’s worth noting that there are some instances in which your beneficiaries might not be able to collect compensation in the event of your death, even if you have a life insurance policy.

More often than not, life insurance is only going to cover natural and accidental causes of death. Some life insurance policies have started to also cover deaths caused by suicide, but many of them still don’t.

Many life insurance policies also won’t cover deaths caused by risk-defying activities. So if, for example, you decide to go skydiving and die during a jump, your life insurance company might refuse to pay out anything to your beneficiaries.

It’s a good idea for you to read all the fine print on a life insurance policy when signing up for it. It’ll give you a much better idea of what your specific policy covers.

What Are the Different Types of Life Insurance?

When you first go to sign up for a life insurance policy, you’re going to find that you’ll be able to choose from two main types of life insurance policies. They’re called term life insurance and permanent life insurance.

It’s important for you to understand the differences between these two types of life insurance policies. We’re going to break them down for you below so that you’re able to select the life insurance policy that’ll be the right option.

Term Life Insurance

The first kind of life insurance policy that you can get is called term life insurance. As its name would suggest, it’s a type of life insurance that will only last for a certain length of time.

All term life insurance policies will extend for different lengths of time. Some will only last for 10 or 15 years, while others will run for 25 or 30 years. You’ll be able to choose how long you would like your term life insurance policy to last.

Of the two main types of life insurance policies, term life insurance is often the more affordable option. But you’ll only have coverage for a certain period of time.

You also aren’t going to be able to borrow money against the death benefit that is associated with your life insurance policy. This is an option that you will have when you go with permanent life insurance instead.

Permanent Life Insurance

Permanent life insurance is a type of life insurance policy that will last for your entire life (or until you decide that you don’t want to pay the premiums for it anymore). It’s typically the more expensive type of life insurance policy, but it’s also the one that could give you and your beneficiaries access to more money.

A permanent life insurance policy will have a death benefit just like a term life insurance policy, but it’ll also have a cash value account. Over time, you will have the opportunity to borrow money against this account if you’d like to do it. You can then either repay this money or have it subtracted from your death benefit later on.

If you decide that you’d like to go with a permanent life insurance policy, it would be worth taking a deeper dive into the two different types of life insurance policies that you can get. They’re called whole life insurance and universal life insurance.

How Much Does Life Insurance Cost?

No matter which type of life insurance you decide to go with, you’ll need to pay monthly premiums for it in most instances. You’ll have to figure out how much you can afford to devote to it.

The cost of life insurance is going to change based on a wide range of factors. Everything from your age to your health condition can have an impact on the price of life insurance.

It would be worth contacting as many life insurance providers as you can to get quotes for life insurance policies. It’ll help you get a good sense of what it’s going to cost you to obtain life insurance for yourself.

Secure a Life Insurance Policy Today

If you’re a single person who is on the younger side, you might be able to skate by without a life insurance policy for now. But if you have a family or other people who depend on you, securing a life insurance policy should be a top priority.

After learning the answer to the question, “How does life insurance work?”, and finding out more about the different types of life insurance, you should be able to get your hands on a life insurance policy. Go look for one today and track down an option that’ll work well for you.

When you’re done doing that, go read some of the other finance-related articles on our blog to get more advice on creating a better financial future for yourself and your family.