Term Life Insurance
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What is Term Life Insurance?
Term life insurance is a kind of life insurance policy that covers you for a set period of time—not your whole life—and pays out a lump sum of money to your beneficiaries if you die while the policy is in effect. Term life insurance is the simplest and most affordable form of life insurance, and is often the best type of life insurance policy for most shoppers. Unlike whole life insurance policies, which can be complicated and expensive, term life insurance quotes are easy to understand and offer the cheapest rates on financial protection for your loved ones. There are several types of term life insurance, which we’ll describe below.
How It Works
- Term life insurance lasts a set amount of time. Policies are usually sold in 10, 20, or 30-year terms.
- You’ll make monthly or annual payments, called “premiums,” to keep the policy in force.
- If you die while the policy is in force, a pre-set cash payment called a “death benefit” will be paid out to whomever you name as a beneficiary. The bigger you want this payment to be, the more your premiums will cost.
- At the end of the term, the policy expires and is no longer in effect.
| Term Life Insurance Overview | |
|---|---|
| Duration | 1-30 Years |
| Guaranteed Death Benefit | Yes |
| Guaranteed Cash Value | No |
| How Cash Grows (or Shrinks) | N/A |
| Premiums | Can increase periodically OR be guaranteed to remain level |
| Notes | No risk of losing coverage, but no cash value when term ends |
Cost of Term Life Insurance
Since term life insurance protects your family for a set period of while they’re still depending on your income and not for your entire life, term life insurance rates are much cheaper and offer more affordable financial protection than permanent policies like whole life.
| 20 Year Term | 30 Year Term | |
|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $9/ mo | $105/ year | $13/ mo | $155/ year |
| $250,000 | $13/ mo | $150/ year | $20/ mo | $240/ year |
| $500,000 | $21/ mo | $240/ year | $34/ mo | $387/ year |
| $1,000,000 | $37/ mo | $425/ year | $60/ mo | $695/ year |
The easiest way to get life insurance
Pros and Cons of Term Life Insurance
Reasons to buy term life insurance
What term life insurance won’t provide*
Best Life Insurance Companies for Term Life Insurance
Here are some of the best companies offering term life insurance through PolicyGenius, along with ratings from J.D. Power, A.M. Best and the Better Business Bureau. They all meet the highest standards of excellence with decades of service.
| Company | BBB Rating | A.M. Best Rating | JD Power Rating | Company Reviews | Quotes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Principal Financial | A+ | A+ | 774 | Read more | Get quotes |
| Mutual of Omaha | A+ | A+ | 766 | Read more | Get quotes |
| Lincoln Financial | A+ | A+ | 744 | Read more | Get quotes |
| Protective | A+ | A+ | 742 | Read more | Get quotes |
| John Hancock | A+ | A+ | 739 | Read more | Get quotes |
| Transamerica | A+ | A+ | 719 | Read more | Get quotes |
| AIG | A+ | A | 718 | Read more | Get quotes |
| Brighthouse | A+ | A+ | N/A | Read more | Get quotes |
| Banner Life | A+ | A+ | N/A | Read more | Get quotes |
| Pacific Life | A+ | A+ | N/A | Read more | Get quotes |
| SBLI | A+ | A+ | N/A | Read more | Get quotes |
| Prudential | A | A+ | 770 | Read more | Get quotes |
Types of Term Life Insurance
A straightforward term life insurance policy in which your premiums are guaranteed to remain level over the course of the term.
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Offers you a money-back guarantee on your term life insurance: If you outlive the policy, the premiums you have paid over the life of the policy will be returned to you.
Most life insurance applications include a medical exam to help the carrier assess your risk of dying during the term of the policy. No medical exam policies, such as simplified issue or accelerated underwriting life insurance, will allow you to skip the medical exam if you qualify.
Mortgage life insurance is intended to pay for your home if you die during the course of the policy. This insurance mirrors the amount you owe on your mortgage, which declines over time. Usually offered at 15 and 30 years, the death benefit declines gradually and expires when you pay off your loan.
Other Types of Life Insurance
Aside from term life insurance, the other main type of life insurance policy is called permanent life insurance. Permanent life insurance lasts your whole life and doubles as a kind of savings account that eventually passes to your beneficiaries at the end of your life. There are a variety of permanent life insurance policies such as whole life insurance, universal life insurance, and variable life insurance—and even combination policies like variable universal life insurance.
Permanent life insurance policies are many times more expensive than term life insurance policies and come with complicated rules that may make them a bad investment choice for most life insurance shoppers.