Universal life insurance

This kind of policy offers greater flexibility than whole or term life. Universal life has many moving parts to understand before you buy.

After your initial premium payment, you can reduce or increase the amount of your death benefit. Also, after your initial payment, you can pay premiums any time and in any amount, as long as you don’t miss a minimum payment level. In some cases, there are limits to how much extra you can pay in advance. If you choose to increase your death benefit, you may have to provide medical proof that your health has not deteriorated.

Some universal life policies perform like term life insurance: They can be configured at the time of purchase to provide both level death benefits and level premiums that are guaranteed for life as long as you pay the scheduled premium.

Variable life insurance

Variable life offers a death benefit with a side fund that operates like an investment account.

The insurance company invests your premiums and offers you a choice of funds in which your money will be invested. Returns are not guaranteed. The amount of money your beneficiaries will receive and the cash value of your policy depend on how well the underlying accounts perform. Theoretically, the cash value can go down to zero and, if so, the policy will terminate. Some variable life policies will guarantee a minimum death benefit.

Other permanent life considerations

When your cash value account grows large enough, it can be used by the insurer to pay your premiums for the rest of your life. This is known as being "paid up." You can still withdraw your cash value, but you'll have to resume premium payments to keep the policy in force or settle for a reduced benefit that the remaining cash value can support. Your policy illustration will show you how long it may take for your whole life policy to be "paid up."

If you no longer want your whole life policy, you can surrender it to receive the current cash surrender value or convert it into an annuity, but keep in mind that cashing in a permanent policy after only a couple of years is an expensive way to get insurance coverage for a short time.

For more on permanent life insurance, see the basics of whole life insurance.

Riders add benefits

You can add riders to your life insurance policy that guard against a number of unpleasant situations. Your insurer will have its own list of available riders, but here are a few:

• Accelerated death benefit rider (aka living benefits rider): Pays the benefit early if you become terminally ill.
• Accidental death benefit rider: Pays an extra benefit if you die as the result of an accident.
• Long term care rider: Pays for long term care expenses should you not be able to do some of the "activities of daily living," such as dressing or toileting.
• Waiver of premium rider: Waives premium payments should you become totally disabled.