Life Insurance FAQ's

What is term life insurance?

Term insurance provides protection for a specified period of time; a term of 1, 5, 10 or 20 years or up to age 65 is available. This type of policy only pays a benefit if you die during the policy term. Term insurance does not build cash value. If you stop paying your premium, the insurance expires. This insurance generally is less expensive than other types of life insurance.

What is whole life insurance?

Whole life insurance is meant to be kept in force throughout your entire life. An important feature of whole life insurance is the accumulation of cash value. The cash value is the cash available to borrow against the policy, or the value of the policy paid to the policy owner when the contract is surrendered before maturity. Any withdrawal of cash value is treated as a policy loan and interest accumulates based on the loan amount. If you do not pay back the loan, the death benefit is reduced by the outstanding loan amount.

What is universal life insurance?

Universal life insurance differs from whole life insurance in that it allows the policy owner to vary, with limitations, the amount and timing of premium payments and the death benefit.  Cash values are accumulated by crediting premium payments and interest to a fund from which deductions are made for expenses and cost of insurance.  The rates at which the interest is credited are declared by the company or may be specified in the contract.  Like term insurance, universal life insurance policies usually have two sets of premiums—guaranteed maximum premiums and current premiums. Current premiums may be lower, but they can be changed by the insurance company up to the maximum.  They also can include a minimum interest guarantee.  Because of its flexibility, a universal life policy can also be structured to operate like term insurance.

What is an annuity?

An annuity pays a monthly (or quarterly, semi-annual, or annual) income benefit for the life of a person or for a specified period of time. The annuitant (insured) can never outlive the income from the annuity. While the basic purpose of life insurance is to provide an income for a beneficiary at the death of the insured, the annuity is intended to provide an income for the life of the annuitant.

There are two basic types of annuities, fixed annuities, which pay a fixed income backed by fixed dollar investment such as secure bonds and mortgages, and variable annuities, which vary in payment according to the value of stock and bond investments.

Are proceeds paid under a life insurance contract taxable and do they have to be reported as income?

Generally, if you receive the proceeds under a life insurance contract because of the death of the insured person the benefits are not taxable income and do not have to be reported. Any interest you receive would be taxable and would need to be reported just like any other interest received.

However, if the policy was transferred to you for valuable consideration, the exclusion for the proceeds is limited to the sum of the consideration you paid, additional premiums you paid, and certain other amounts. There are some exceptions to this rule.