No one likes to think about life insurance. But it’s even worse to imagine your loved ones without a safety net after you’re gone. Will they be able to maintain the quality of life you provided?

Basically, there are two types of life insurance: Term and Permanent. Both pay benefits to your designated beneficiary at the time of your death.

Term Life Insurance

Term Life Insurance is the less expensive of the two policies. It is called term because the policy is for a certain term which could be a year or 20 years. Term policies are typically renewable, enabling you to renew the policy and pay the premium which increases as you age. You also have the option to buy a level-premium policy that locks the premium in for the term, say five, 10 or 30 years. The initial premium is higher but it remains the same with no increases for the term. Most term policies are only renewable to a certain age, usually 75 and then it ends with no benefits paid after that.

Permanent Insurance

With Permanent Insurance, also known as Whole or Universal Life insurance, your premiums are higher than Term Life. However, a portion of that payment goes into the policy’s cash value. Also, the premiums are fixed as long as you have the policy. Initially, the cash value is very low but over time the cash value can grow. You can cancel or surrender the policy at any time and use the cash for whatever you wish. The other option is to take loans or withdrawal from the cash value when you need to supplement your retirement or have an emergency.

Your Cato Insurance Group agent can help you decide what type of life insurance policy is best for you and the coverage you need to take care of your family upon your death.

Call us now at 1-888-775-CATO (2286). We’ll arrange for a free, 30-minute consultation with our financial specialist.