Your life insurance questions answered.
Do I need life insurance?
Most likely, yes. Especially if you have someone depending on you for financial support.
How does life insurance work?
Life insurance is an agreement between you and your insurance company. You make regular payments, called premiums, and the insurance company pays your beneficiaries a tax-free lump sum when you pass away.
With some policies, you get additional benefits to use during your lifetime, like accessing the policy's cash value, which can be used to help pay college tuition or for a down payment on a home. However, accessing the cash value will reduce the policy's available cash surrender value and death benefit. If you have a terminal illness, you can also accelerate the death benefit and use it for healthcare needs.
Which type of insurance is best?
There are several different types of policies, but there are two basic broad categories of life insurance: term life and whole life. The best choice for you depends on your needs. It may even be a combination of products.
Term life insuranceprovides a death benefit for a set period, typically between 10 and 20 years. This is straightforward insurance, and it's what most people start out with. Certain term life policies can be converted to long-term policies at a future point. This is a useful benefit if your life changes and you need additional protection.
Whole,universal, andvariable universallife insuranceall provide protection for the long term. In fact, whole life provides permanent coverage. Some policies have more guarantees than others, and some give you the opportunity to grow your policy's cash value.
How much does it cost?
Thecost of life insuranceis based on several factors: your age, gender, health, lifestyle, and occupation. Regardless of your budget, a financial professional should be able to find a solution that covers your needs at a price that suits your wallet.
Life insurance terms to know.
New York Life has received the highest financial strength ratings currently awarded to any U.S. life insurer by Standard & Poor's (AA+); A.M. Best (A++); Moody's (Aaa); and Fitch (AAA). Source: Individual Third-Party Ratings Reports as of 10/18/2022.
