Life Insurance has always had a stigma of being hard to discuss, a sad topic, something to think about when you get older or even just completely thrown off the table. However, in reality this impression is wrong; Life Insurance really should be treated in the opposite way. Life Insurance is a happy discussion about the topic of a long healthy life ahead, planning career growth, making smart investments, and saving more money to ultimately build long-term legacy wealth. Life Insurance is about setting up long-term coverage that by the time you are older and do inevitably one day pass away from health, accident or old age, the policy will be there with a value left for your spouse or the next generation. Additionally, in this article, we will discuss how Life Insurance can actually work for you while you are alive. The best time to discuss Life Insurance, explore options and set up a policy is while you are young (starting as early as your twenties), healthy and actively working. If you haven’t set up a policy yet, it’s never too late to do so now. At Kinley Financial we have no-obligation complete free discovery calls to discuss options and pricing: Book an Appointment with a Licensed Life Insurance Advisor.

Too often life Insurance is discussed way too late in life and by the time most people think they need it its becuse they are either getting older, have gotten sick, are worried about the future and ultimately are not in the same position to get the policy and rates they once could have if they set up a Life Insurance policy earlier when they were young and healthy. So the important point is don’t wait until you are old, sick, or facing some life struggles to finally think about Life Insurance and how you can protect the life and family you are building. With a Life Insurance policy set up today, you can ensure that all the hard work and wealth you have accumulated throughout your life is insured, secured, and will always be there for your family regardless of what life throws down your path.  

So, How does Life insurance work?

Simply put, life insurance is insurance on your life. With permanent life insurance (like Universal Life or Whole Life) it lasts your entire life as long as the premium payments are made. What this means is the same way you purchase insurance on your car, your home or even your pet you can also purchase insurance on your own life. Throughout your life you will save money, you may eventually purchase a car, purchase a home or make investments; all of these have real financial value attached to them and the goal of life insurance is to obtain protection and secure those values to ensure that if something were to happen to you, or when you ultimately do pass away that everything you have accumulated throughout your life is protected and passed on to your family, spouse, or even the next generation completely tax-free. This is done by purchasing a life insurance policy (Universal Life, Whole Life or Term Life) for the value of everything you’d like to protect. The payout from a life-insurance policy when you pass away would be in the form of a tax-free death benefit to the beneficiaries you have assigned to the policy. Beneficiaries of the policy can be changed anytime while you are alive and the policy remains active. The value of the policy, timeline of protection, and other aspects (such as your age, health, gender and occupation) will determine the premium you will pay. The premium amounts and payment dates for the policy are tailored to ensure they meet your needs and are always affordable for you at every step in your life; As long as the policy stays paid and active the premiums never change (even as you get older or your health changes).

How Life Insurance can work for you during your life:

Not only does life Insurance have applications for providing financial protection of your wealth after you pass away, but what many people don't know is that Life Insurnace has real financial applications for you while you are alive. These applications include:

1. Investments & Tax-Free Growth:
   Depending on the policy you choose, you will have access to different investment options with your Life Insurance policy. This means that apart from the guaranteed death-benefit in your policy, any money (beyond your premium payment) put into the policy builds what is called a cash value (CV) which can be invested into a portfolio and growing tax-free. With a Universal Life Insurance policy you can build a custom portfolio of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Index Funds and Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs). Whole Life Insurance offers Guaranteed investment growth with insurer-managed portfolios and depending on your policy oy has the ability to earn annual dividends.
    

2. Borrowing Against your Policy:  
   When you purchase a life Insurance policy, a percentage of the CV portion of your policy can be borrowed against tax-free with a secured loan. That means that while the policy is open and active and paid for, if you ever have a need access a percentage of the money in the policy (percentage will vary based on policy), or need to get a loan, the life Insurance policy will be available to withdraw from, or act as collateral on a loan to help quickly achieve this for you. A major benefit of this type of financing arrangement is that when you borrow against the policy, all the money invested in your policy stays in the policy untouched and continues to grow, meanwhile, you still obtain the money you need to make important life purchases. If by the time you pass away the loan or a portion of the loan remains unpaid, it is very simply paid off by the policy death-benefit prior to paying out the remaining death-benefit balance in the policy to your family. This means if the policy has a larger value, than loans outstanding, all debts would automatically be covered, and your family would still receive a tax-free payment for the remaining amount. Important Note: Depending on your policy terms and timeline, only a percentage of the CV value can be borrowed at specific timelines in the policy. It's important to speak with a Licensed Life Insurance Advisor about your goals and plans to understand the details of your policy.

Making sure you set up the correct life insurance policy that matches the coverage you need, meets your financial goals, your timelines, and has premiums that are affordable for you is extremely important to us at Kinley Financial. If you choose to work with Kinley Financial, we will first explore a Financial Needs Analysis and make a policy that meets these needs. Book an Appointment with a Kinley Financial Licensed Life Insurance Advisor today!