Life insurance provides a unique blend of features that help meet a variety of financial needs. It can enable you to create financial protection for your family, funds to supplement future income needs and leave a legacy to the ones you love.
Life insurance creates financial protection for your family. If you were to die prematurely, you would want to make sure your family is taken care of financially. That’s the primary purpose of life insurance.
Some types of life insurance can also grow cash value to help with future income needs. For instance, think about enjoying a long and healthy life and living well into retirement. Permanent life insurance may be able to provide money to help cover your expenses.
Life insurance can help create wealth and may help pass it on to your loved ones more efficiently. As an inheritance, it can dramatically improve the lives of those who carry on after youʼre gone.
When you make sure you have enough life insurance, you protect your family and their future. Experts recommend 10 times your annual income as a guideline for life insurance coverage. Another guideline is to multiply your family’s annual expenses by the number of years you’ll need to cover those expenses. You may want to add $100,000 per child for future college costs.
It may seem like a lot, but remember, life insurance can help:
Term life insurance protects your loved ones for the number of years you choose. It’s the most affordable type of life insurance and makes sense when your need for coverage disappears at some point.
Whole life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance, which means it protects for a lifetime. It’s known for its guarantees. 1 You know how much you’re going to pay and how much your beneficiaries will receive. It will also build cash value. 2
Universal life insurance is also a form of permanent life insurance. It offers more flexibility. You can raise or lower your premium or coverage amount throughout your lifetime.
financial professional to learn about the differences in permanent life insurance versus term life insurance." width="300" height="169" />
November 15, 2022 | 6 min read
Life insurance creates financial protection for your family. If you were to die prematurely, you want to make sure your family is taken care of.
Life insurance protects you while you’re still living as well. There are many unexpected events besides death that can cripple a family’s finances in a hurry. That’s why Ameritas offers Accelerated Death Benefit riders. If you are diagnosed with a chronic, critical or terminal illness, these riders provide a part of your policy’s death benefit while you’re still living, giving you more options to deal with the financial strain of your condition. 3
One of the best ways to buy life insurance is to work with a financial professional who can walk you through the entire process. The steps you take generally include:
Completing a life insurance application, which typically includes questions about your health and lifestyle.
Undergoing a physical exam if needed. This involves a medical professional recording information such as height, weight and blood pressure. They may also take blood and urine samples.
Giving the life insurance company permission to obtain medical records if necessary.
An underwriter at the insurance company will review your information and will either approve or deny your application. That process can take days or weeks, depending on how long it takes to obtain all the information requested.
Once you’re approved, you’ll receive your policy and begin paying premiums.
1 Guarantees are based on the claims paying ability of the issuing company.
2 Loans and withdrawals will reduce the policy’s death benefit and available cash value. Excessive loans or withdrawals may cause the policy to lapse. Unpaid loans are treated as a distribution for tax purposes and may result in taxable income.
3 Living Benefits riders are not available on all life insurance products and may vary in some states. They are not a long-term care product.
Life insurance and Accelerated Death Benefit riders are issued by Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. The rider is not available on variable universal life insurance products.
In New York, life insurance and Accelerated Death Benefit riders are issued by Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. of New York.
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Also of InterestThis information is provided by Ameritas®, which is a marketing name for subsidiaries of Ameritas Mutual Holding Company. Subsidiaries include Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. in Lincoln, Nebraska and Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. of New York (licensed in New York) in New York, New York. Each company is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations. For more information about Ameritas®, visit ameritas.com.
Ameritas® does not provide tax or legal advice. Please consult your tax advisor or attorney regarding your situation.
Variable insurance and investment products are not insured by the FDIC or any government agency, are not deposits of or guaranteed by a financial institution and may lose value.
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Health Plan Transparency Information: The Health Care Transparency Rules, made final in 2020, set forth requirements for group health plans and health insurance carriers to disclose in-network and out-of-network provider negotiated rates and drug pricing information through machine readable files. For the Ameritas Holding Company Health Plan and Ameritas Holding Company Agents Health plan, the following files are available from our carrier UMR.
Medical Files:
Through UnitedHealthcare, UMR creates and publishes Machine-Readable Files on behalf of Ameritas Holding Company.
To access the Machine-Readable Files, visit Transparency in Coverage and select the UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company UHC Choice Plus files.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), provides protections from surprise billing when receiving emergency or out-of-network care. See Your Rights and Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills for more information.
