Whole Life Insurance in Durham, NC
If you are considering your whole life insurance options in Durham, NC, you are in the right place. Matador Insurance Services is a local insurance firm that has been helping Durham families and small business owners for the past 7 years. If you are interested in getting a quote or scheduling a consultation, look no further. We look forward to working with you and hope you find this article helpful.
Whole Life Quotes
*Under the Length of Coverage option, choose Whole Life
What Is Whole Life Insurance?
Whole life insurance, commonly known as traditional life insurance, provides the insured with a guaranteed death benefit for the rest of his or her life. Whole life insurance has a savings component that can accumulate monetary value in addition to paying a death benefit. Interest is compounded at a semi-fixed rate and is tax-deferred.
One sort of permanent life insurance is whole life insurance. Others include universal life, indexed universal life, and variable universal life. Whole life insurance is one kind of permanent life insurance, but it is not the same as permanent life insurance because there are many types of permanent life insurance.
Riders
Riders are an added benefit to your life insurance policy that changes the way your policy works. Some riders are included within your policy at no additional cost, while others are optional that can increase the price of your monthly premium. Think of riders as the bells and whistles of choosing a new car.
Accidental Death
An Accidental Death rider is an added benefit that essentially insures you against an accident-related death by adding additional coverage at a discount. For example, if you die from an accident like a car crash, the insurance company will provide your beneficiary additional cash on top of the death benefit or face amount of your policy. This rider is typically meant for those who have riskier lifestyles or job requirements.
Waiver Of Premium
A Waiver Of Premium rider waives your premium in the event you become disabled and cannot go back to work. This does come at an additional cost on average of $10-50 on top of your premium. This rider allows you to keep coverage and no longer pay any additional premiums for the life of the policy. Some riders even will convert your policy to a permanent plan and will require no additional premiums.
Accelerated Death Benefit
An accelerated Death Benefit rider will forward you a percentage of your death benefit in the event you have a chronic or terminal illness. Typically for a chronic illness, the insurance company will forward you 25% of your death benefit tax-free, no questions asked. In the event you have a terminal illness, your benefit can vary from each insurer but can go as high as 80% for some. This allows you to focus on spending time with your family and not on medical bills. These riders are also called living benefits since you can use them while still alive.
Paid-Up Additions
Paid-Up Additions is an optional additional premium that can be used in combination with your base premium. Your base premium is your contracted premium in order to keep your life insurance policy in force. The base premium is used to pay for the death benefit of your policy. PUA is an optional premium that you can be added to your whole life policy in order to turbocharge your cash value performance. For example, if your annual premium is $12,000 and your base premium is $1,000/month, then your PUA premium is $1,0000/month. This means if you wanted to cut back on premiums, then you only need to pay for the base premium of $1,000/month to keep your policy in force.
Guaranteed Insurability
This rider is optional and can be added to your policy if you want to secure additional coverage to your policy in the future. The reason why this is beneficial is because you do not need to requalify by taking a medical exam for additional coverage. This rider allows you to add more coverage without reapplying again.
Getting To Know Whole Life Insurance
In exchange for regular, level premium payments, whole life insurance assures payment of a death benefit to beneficiaries. Along with the death benefit, the policy provides a savings component known as the “cash value.” Interest may build on a tax-deferred basis in the savings component. Whole life insurance has a cash value that grows over time.
A policyholder can pay more than the monthly premium to increase cash value (known as paid-up additions or PUA). Dividends can also be re-invested in the cash value of the policy to earn interest. The policyholder receives a living benefit from the cash value. The dividends and interest earned on the cash value of the insurance will often give a positive return to investors over time, rising larger than the entire amount of premiums paid into the policy. It is, in essence, a source of equity.
The policyholder must request a withdrawal or a loan to gain access to cash reserves. On loans, interest is imposed at different rates depending on the insurer. In addition, the owner is allowed to withdraw cash tax-free up to the amount of premiums paid. The death benefit will be reduced by the amount of unpaid loans.
The cash value of the insurance is reduced by withdrawals and taking policy loans. A withdrawal could also reduce or even eliminate the death benefit, depending on the policy type and the quantity of the remaining cash value. While some policies reduce the death benefit by the same amount as the amount withdrawn, others (such as some conventional whole life policies) may lower the death benefit by an amount greater than the amount removed.
Whole life insurance differs from term life insurance in that it only covers you for a set number of years rather than a lifetime and only pays out a death benefit. There is no cash value with term life insurance.
Particular Points To Consider
The death benefit is usually a predetermined amount specified in the insurance contract. Some plans are eligible for dividend payments, and the policyholder can choose to have the dividends used to acquire extra death benefits, increasing the amount paid at death. The beneficiary is not taxed on the death proceeds, thus, they are not included in taxable gross income.
Certain policy provisions or incidents can also affect the death benefit. Unpaid policy debts, which include accrued interest, for example, diminish the death benefit dollar for dollar. Many insurers, on the other hand, charge a price for optional riders that assure or guarantee coverage, including the specified death benefit. The accidental death benefit and waiver of premium riders, for example, protect the death benefit if the insured becomes incapacitated or seriously or terminally sick and is unable to pay the premiums due.
Certain policy provisions or incidents can also have an impact on the death benefit. Unpaid policy loans, including accumulated interest, for example, diminish the death benefit by the same amount.
Many insurers, on the other hand, offer optional riders that secure or guarantee coverage, including the stated death benefit, in exchange for a charge. The accidental death benefit and waiver of premium riders, for example, preserve the death benefit if the insured becomes incapacitated, critically sick, or terminally ill and is unable to pay premiums due.
What’s The Difference Between Whole Life And Universal Life Insurance?
Universal and whole life insurance are both types of permanent life insurance that provide guaranteed death payments for the duration of the insured’s life. A universal life policy, on the other hand, allows the policyholder to change both the death benefit and the premiums.
Greater death benefits, as one might imagine, necessitate higher premiums. If the balance is adequate to satisfy the minimum required, universal life policyholders can use their accrued cash value to pay premiums. Whole life insurance, on the other hand, does not enable modifications to the death benefit or premiums, which are fixed at the time of purchase.
The Simplest Way To Safeguard Your Family
Do you want whole life insurance that rewards you for your choices in life? Matador Insurance Services, a Cary, NC, insurance agency, can help you select a life insurance plan that fits your needs and protects your loved ones. Get started today by learning more about how you can get the best life insurance plan at the best possible price. Reach out to Matador Insurance by contacting us online or requesting a consultation to speak with one of our insurance professionals.
About Durham, NC
Durham is a city in North Carolina. It’s part of the Research Triangle Region, known for its technology companies and scholarly institutions. On the Duke University campus are the neo-Gothic Duke Chapel and the Nasher Museum of Art, with work by contemporary artists like Christian Marclay and Ai Weiwei. The Museum of Life + Science has hands-on exhibits, a butterfly house, and wildlife habitats for bears and lemurs.
ZIP codes: 27701, 27702, 27703, 27704, 27705, 27706, 27707, 27708, 27709, 27710, 27711, 27712, 27713, 27715, 27717, 27722
Population: 285,527 (2021)
Area code: Area codes 919 and 984
Top Sights in Charlotte: Nasher Museum of Art, Museum of Life and Science, Sarah P. Duke Gardens