Whole Life Insurance

Life Insurance needs are specific to the individual, their life stage and their personal and professional goals. To ensure you are getting the best protection for you and your family it is wise to speak with one of our SafeBridge Insurance Advisors who can help you sort through all the options.

How much Whole Life Insurance coverage you need depends on how you plan to use it. If it’s your sole life insurance coverage, you may need a policy that covers hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions. If you are using it as part of a ladder strategy or simply to cover end-of-life expenses, that number could reduce significantly. At SafeBridge, we often suggest that you will need 8-10 times your yearly income as your death benefit. However, for a more precise answer, take into account any debts you have, your family’s living expenses, future education needs of your children, plans for end-of-life expenses and any other allocations such as legacy giving etc.

The short answer is yes. Yes, you can convert Term Life Insurance to a Whole Life insurance policy that provides coverage for life, however, there may be some restrictions. Convertibility is a feature many insurance providers offer on their term insurance policies. It lets you convert your term life insurance into a whole life policy before you reach a certain age (like 65 years old). While it may be less expensive to get a brand new whole life insurance policy, it’s great to have a fallback plan, like convertibility options, in case you don’t qualify for the new insurance plan of your choice.

It’s important to note that every insurer is different, it generally takes at least 10 years before your whole life insurance policy builds enough cash value for you to be able to take advantage of it. There are two ways to use your cash value in a Whole Life Policy: 

1. Take out a loan or borrowing against your policy: You can draw down some of your cash value in the form of a policy loan, which you’ll have to pay back at a prespecified rate of interest. If you don’t pay back the loan, the loan amount will be deducted from the total death benefit of your policy, at the time of claim.
2. Partially or fully withdraw money from your policy: You can withdraw money from cash value less any fees. When you withdraw money, it also reduces the death benefit available to the beneficiaries.