How Long Does Whole Life Insurance Last?

All forms of life insurance have inherent value. They protect your finances, provide for loved ones, and even help you build wealth.

Whether you have life insurance for a year or for 100 years, its largest benefit is the peace of mind it provides. How big of a peace of mind and the detail and extent of your protection depends on the type of life insurance you go with.

The length of coverage is one of the main differences between the two main types of life insurance available in Canada: term life and whole life. Let’s take a closer look at whole life insurance and how long the policy really lasts.

The Length of Whole Life Insurance

A hint for the answer to how long whole life insurance lasts is right there in its name. Whole life insurance provides substantial coverage for your whole life — if you want it to.

Whereas term life insurance covers you for set periods of time, or “terms” such as 10 or 20 years or until you reach a set age, whole life insurance policies last for your entire lifespan.

It is a form of permanent life insurance. In fact, many insurance companies refer to their forms of whole life insurance policies as permanent life insurance, permanent participating life insurance, and universal life insurance.

You won’t need to renew the terms of your whole life insurance policy or have to pay increasing premium costs with it as the years go on. Your policy is guaranteed as you age. With term life insurance, when the period of your policy ends, your coverage ends unless you renew.

And if you choose to renew, you’ll likely need to go through the underwriting process once more — and often pay higher premium amounts just to continue coverage.

The only thing you really need to worry about with your whole life insurance policy is paying your premiums on time. If you do that, the death benefit will be guaranteed for your beneficiaries.

And with many whole life insurance policies, you have the option to earn dividends, which can be used in different ways, including as cash, to be used to pay for premiums or to be placed back in your cash value as more investment.

Basically, with whole life insurance, your rates never go up, the resulting death benefits never go down, and you are promised a steady and accessible cash value.

What You Get For Your Whole Life

Since whole life insurance policies cover you for your entire life, they also protect you through the many stages of your financial needs and future plans.

Whole life insurance is almost always more expensive than term life insurance, but it will be cheapest when you purchase a policy when you’re younger. Buying young has another big benefit because whole life insurance doubles as a savings and investment plan.

Especially as a business owner, whole life insurance has a guaranteed cash value which accumulates as the policy (and policyholder) ages. Part of what you pay in your premium is invested, creating a policy with a cash value.

Depending on your policy, you can access this cash value sum in the future, usually after 5 years but sometimes sooner.

These cash values can be used in whichever way a policyholder chooses, from taking out money as a loan to supplementing your finances during retirement.

In this sense, whole life insurance can act as a vital way to grow wealth and it can act as a significant part of long-term financial planning.

Protecting Assets and Family Over Time

The length of whole life insurance especially benefits those who are financially stable and working to plan the details of their estate, protect very specific assets, or have developed an aggressive long-term wealth growth plan.

The death benefit associated with whole life insurance has different functions and importance over time as well. When you’re still working, the benefit effectively ensures that your income can be replaced for your family’s needs. It doesn’t stop working when you retire, though.

Whole life policy that comes in umbrella of life insurance death benefits mean you have a tax-free inheritance that can be used in various ways, including paying for a child’s education, leaving a general monetary gift to a loved one when you die, supporting a favorite charity, or even paying for your policy’s future premiums.

In addition, whole life insurance offers another big benefit as you age. In addition to generally protecting your family financially, you can even buy whole life insurance for a child or grandchild.

A whole life insurance policy for a family member when they are young takes advantage of less expensive premium rates, ensures their insurability despite their future financial and health choices, and lets them have permanent insurance that can be paid off relatively quickly, in about 20 years.

They can even use their own policy’s cash value to cover the cost of college.

Your Whole Life Insurance Partner: A Reliable Advisor

Whether you invest in a whole life insurance policy when you’re young or reaching retirement age, there is value in working closely with a financial advisor to determine the best life insurance policy for you.

Advisors and insurance agents work closely with clients in Canada to make sure the policy covers exactly what you need it to. They help you monitor and add to its cash value and assist with asset protection and estate planning.

Every day, Sim Gakhar works with clients just like you who have decided to wisely invest in a whole life insurance policy.

A life insurance agent and investments advisor with more than a decade of extensive experience in Ontario, Canada, Gakhar boasts a 99% client retention rate, with a whopping 80% of new clients coming from referrals.

Gakhar is the trusted partner you deserve when designing and maintaining a financially impactful whole life insurance policy.

All it takes is a quick email ([email protected]) or phone call (647-889-7290) to get started with Gakhar and your new whole life policy that will help guide your financial stability now and into the future.

FAQs & Helpful Resources Regarding Whole Life Insurance

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When To Get Covered

When it comes to life insurance there really is no time that is too soon to get covered. And, this is because the younger you are, the cheaper those premiums are going to be. Not only this, but you are probably healthy right now.

If you wait until something bad happens, you will not only without a doubt face higher premiums, but you might not even be able to get covered at all.