Term Life Insurance ? A Better Option to Mortgage Life Insurance
A mortgage life insurance is a type of insurance policy that is designed to pay off your mortgage in the event of your untimely death. The insurance company will pay off any outstanding balance left on your mortgage leaving your family debt-free. Typically, in this type of insurance, as your mortgage decreases, so does the amount of insurance.
How Mortgage Life Insurance Works
When mortgage insurance begins, the coverage must equal the outstanding amount on the repayment mortgage. The policy’s termination date must coincide with the date scheduled for the final payment on the repayment mortgage. The insurance company calculates the annual rate at which the insurance cover should decrease in order to reflect the value of the capital outstanding on the repayment mortgage. Some mortgage policies will include provisions for payouts if the policyholder is diagnosed with a terminal illness from which he or she is expected to die within a year of being diagnosed.
Purchasing mortgage life insurance is not such a good idea. In fact, it’s hard to find any mortgage life insurance which offers good value. The main reason why purchasing this type of insurance is a bad idea is because currently, traditional mortgage life insurance rates are not as competitive, as say, most term life rates.
Reasons why mortgage life insurance is not a good idea
Mortgage life insurance policies are generally expensive to begin with. As time goes on, these policies become even more expensive. The premiums stay level throughout the term period but the amount of death benefit becomes less at the same rate as the debt does. The cost for coverage starts out high and the policy gets worse over time in terms of the amount of death benefit.
Mortgage life insurance will only re-pay your mortgage if you should happen to die with the insured period. This may leave your surviving spouse debt-free, but mortgage insurance will not address any other income needs of your family which may arise due to your sudden demise. Most families have financial needs that go beyond payment of mortgage.
Term Life Insurance Makes More Sense
The death benefits that come from a term life policy can address any kind of debt and other financial needs your family may face.
You can take out term life policies for a term period of 10, 20, 25 or even 30 years. If you have already finished payments on your mortgage, you may want to review your term life policy to reflect those changes. Or, you may want to use the coverage for other future expenses you may have, such as education fees of your children, or a retirement plan for your spouse. With term life insurance, you have the freedom to change the objectives of your insurance policy as your life situation changes. Mortgage life insurance does not allow you this type of freedom.
Underwriting for term life policy is cheaper. If you’re in good health, taking a term life policy could work out beneficially for you. For example, if you saved 0 on annual premiums by taking up a term life policy, rather than mortgage life insurance, this will add up to a savings of 00 at the end of 30 years. It is always best to get an insurance policy with guaranteed lower rates than a mortgage life insurance policy.
More People Choose Term Life Insurance over Mortgage Life Insurance
It is more common to see people purchasing term life insurance with return of premiums options instead of mortgage life insurance. At the end of the term, all the premiums you have paid are refunded to you, tax-free.
Another better option to mortgage life insurance is a level term life policy. A level term life policy will give you the benefit of paying level premiums throughout the term period. And unlike mortgage life insurance, your death benefits will not decrease during the full term period.
Finding the Best Deal on Term Life Insurance
You can get the best term life insurance at the most affordable price by using online life insurance providers. Many of these not only offer the best term life insurance quote but also free professional services to help you identify policies that suit your needs the best and make meaningful recommendations. Look for online life insurance providers who are BBB-accredited and are affiliated with the best life insurance carriers in the industry. They will provide you with instant life insurance quotes which you can use to compare prices and products. This will help you make an informed decision and land you with a policy that best suits your needs at the most affordable price.
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What Type? Permanent or Term Life Insurance?
Now that you are ready to purchase life insurance, the choice before you is what type of life insurance would best suit your purpose. Life insurance is not a one-size-fits-all product and each one must assess his or her own personal situation to come up with the right coverage and the number of years you would need that coverage. The two broad categories of life insurance open to you are permanent or term life insurance. Let’s take a look at each one.
Term life insurance
This is the simplest type of life insurance and is often considered to be life insurance at its best. You pay a certain amount of premium against a death benefit amount (coverage) that your family would receive in case you die during the tenure of the term life insurance policy. Term life insurance is temporary. This means you can purchase a policy for a period of term, say, 5, 10, 15, 20 years or even longer. You pay premiums monthly or annually. Annual payments work out to be cheaper than paying premiums every month. There is no savings element involved. If you should outlive the policy, the money you have paid towards premiums is gone. To avoid this, life insurance companies also offer a type of term life insurance called return of premium. At the end of the term period, if you are still alive, all the premiums you have paid will be refunded to you, tax free. There are several types of term life policies, such as level term life insurance. Level term assures that your premiums remain level, or the same, during the entire term period. This avoids any unexpected hikes in premiums during your term period that you had not planned for.
Since term life insurance is temporary it is the cheapest life insurance you can purchase. For example, a 40-year old male who is in top health, living in California can get term life insurance for as little as 0.00.
To summarize, here are the main features of a term life insurance policy:
Term life insurance is temporary life insurance and can be purchased for a specific term period. After the term period is over, you would need to renew the policy if you still feel you need to be insured.
Term life insurance is the most affordable.
There is no savings element involved.
Term life can be renewable – look for renewable options that do not require you to prove your insurability after the term period is over.
You can purchase term life insurance at a cheap rate right now and convert to a permanent life insurance policy at a later date. You would need to look for a term life policy that offers you this conversion option.
Permanent Life Insurance
Permanent life insurance (also called whole life insurance) offers lifelong protection. It is more expensive than term life insurance because, along with insurance coverage, there is a savings component attached to it. For the first ten years, your permanent life policy will not accrue much interest. Much of the interest will be used to pay off administrative fees. You cash value will only kick off after that.
Another benefit to owning a permanent life insurance policy is that you can borrow from it anytime you need cash. Interest rates are high, but should you need the money, you are able to take a loan against your whole life policy.
To summarize, here are the main features of a permanent life insurance policy:
Permanent life insurance offers life insurance protection for your entire life provided you pay your premiums.
It is more expensive than term life insurance, but offers a cash value component not found in term life insurance.
You can take out a loan against a permanent life insurance policy.
The premiums remain the same throughout your life.
Permanent or Term Life Insurance?
Most experts recommend that you purchase a term life insurance policy and invest the difference (between term and permanent) in a separate investment instrument. This is more likely to fetch you more money on interest than a permanent life policy would. Others also suggest that life insurance is not something you need for a life time. Growing families, in particular, who have limited income, prefer term life insurance because it is the most affordable and meets their coverage needs most satisfactorily. If you are looking for cheap life insurance from some of the most financially strong life insurance carriers in the industry, request for free life insurance quotes online. Comparing multiple term life insurance quotes online is quick and convenient. Some websites also offer professional guidance to help you make an informed decision.