Many financial advisors would agree that the foundation of a good financial plan is life insurance. The need to prepare financially in the event of an unexpected death is universal.
However, the financial needs of a family with young children and a large amount of debt are vastly different from those of a couple of empty-nesters looking forward to retirement.
Universal life insurance is a type of life insurance that addresses a wide variety of financial needs in addition to providing the protection of a death benefit. Generally speaking, universal life insurance provides policyholders with a death benefit, flexibility with how and when they pay their premiums and a way to accumulate cash.
Some universal life insurance policies emphasize guarantees in order to provide policyholders with additional security. Examples of such guarantees include:
With other universal life insurance policies, their ability to build cash value makes them appealing. The beauty of many universal life insurance policies is that they offer a death benefit plus they accumulate cash value that grows tax-free. If you are concerned about having enough money to maintain your lifestyle, you can use the cash value to generate an income stream during retirement.
Some universal life insurance policies also offer a loan feature, which allows you to take interest-free loans from the cash value without incurring a tax hit because you are borrowing the money. The loans can be used to fund expenses such as college tuition or a mortgage payoff.