What is life insurance?

Life insurance is a contract made between the policyholder and the life insurance company. The policyholder agrees to pay a certain amount at regular intervals and the company issuing a life insurance policy agrees to pay out a certain amount in the event of the death of the policyholder. If the policy owner dies, the payment from the insurance company is awarded to the beneficiaries of the policyholder.

Life Insurance Options:

Term Life Insurance:
A term life insurance policy provides benefits upon the death of the policyholder if the policyholder dies within a certain time period. Once the time period or "term" expires the policyholder is no longer entitled to any benefits. One benefit of a term life insurance policy is that it's the least expensive type of policy you can get.

Permanent Insurance:
A permanent life insurance policy combines death benefits with tax shelters. Permanent life insurance policies are meant to be just that, permanent. This type of policy is one you would normally carry for the rest of your life. There are substantial fees for setting up a permanent life insurance policy but this type of policy provides considerable tax advantages that make it a good investment.

Whole Life Insurance:
A whole life insurance policy provides a fixed amount of coverage in exchange for a fixed payment scheme. Whole Life Insurance Is a Type of Permanent Life Insurance. This type of policy lasts until the policyholder dies and a death benefit is paid, until it is canceled by the policyholder, or until the policy reaches what is known as its cash surrender value. The cash surrender value is a sum of money that the policyholder is entitled to receive before his or her death and is based on the premiums paid to date minus associated fees.

Universal Life Insurance:
Universal life insurance is sort of a combination between whole life insurance and term life insurance. The cost of this type of insurance is much less than that of whole life insurance and a portion of the money paid in premiums goes into a tax-deferred account which the policyholder is able to borrow against.

Variable Life Insurance:
This type of insurance allows cash reserves to be invested in stocks and bonds.

Variable Universal Life Insurance:
This type of insurance combines both the opportunity of investment of a variable life insurance policy with the premium payment type and flexible coverage of universal life insurance.

Single Premium Life Insurance:
This type of insurance requires a large upfront cash payment because all of the premium payments due for the entire duration of the policy is required.

Survivorship Life Insurance:
This type of policy ensures to people usually a married couple. What they survivorship policy the benefits are paid after the death of the second person on the policy.

This is a general overview of some of the many types of life insurance policies available. You should always consult a competent professional when planning for the future of you and your family.

Before committing to a long term investment learn all you can about the different Life Insurance Options. Educate yourself and make the best decision. http://www.lifeinsurancequestions.info