The original purpose of life insurance was to provide for your family in the case of your death. While this purpose is still the most potent reason to take out a life insurance policy, there are a number of other ways that life insurance can be used to benefit you and your family, even while you are still alive.

The key is in choosing a whole life policy rather than a term life insurance policy. A whole life policy is sometimes called ‘permanent life’ insurance. It will cover you throughout your life rather than just for a specified amount of time, or a term. There are many advantages to a whole life policy over term insurance, and many ways to make a whole life policy affordable.

The cost of a whole life policy is based on the ‘face value’ of the policy – the death benefit that it will pay if the insured dies. A whole life policy that will pay $100,000 if the person insured dies has a face value of $100,000. As you pay premiums on your life insurance, those premiums accumulate into a ‘cash value’ – the amount of insurance that you’ve paid into the policy. Most companies base that figure on making payments for 100 years, which is the point when the face value and the cash value will be the same.

Generally, your whole life insurance premium will rise as you get older, reflecting both the added risks that come with age and the fact that your income will also likely rise as you grow older. This is often the most affordable option for young people who are just started to rise in the work world. You’ll pay lower premiums at the start of your whole life policy, and they will gradually rise as you age.

Most life insurance companies offer the option of level premiums based on averaging out the cost of your whole life policy over the entire life of the policy. In that case, your premium will never change, but you will pay higher premiums early on in the life of your policy. If this is affordable for you, it’s a good option to lock in a premium amount that won’t leave you facing the prospect of losing your whole life policy before it matures because the premiums have become too expensive to maintain.

If you carry a whole life policy, you’ll have the option to borrow against the cash value built into your policy under certain conditions. You can, if necessary, cash out your policy earlier, but a better option is to take out a loan from the insurance company against the accumulated cash value in your policy. It can be used to fund your children’s education, to deal with unexpected expenses, or even to take a dream vacation. While you’ll have to pay it back, it will be at much more affordable interest rates than you’d pay a bank.

If you have the option, an affordable whole life insurance policy can be one of your best hedges against unexpected expenses and retirement.

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