Life Insurance Awareness Month is a nation-wide effort to help “…educate consumers on the importance of life insurance and the role it plays in protecting families’ financial security…”1 Now’s a good time to learn more about your policy options and how life insurance can benefit your family. To help get you started, here are answers to some frequently asked questions.
What’s the difference between individual and group life insurance?
Individual life insurance is a life insurance policy that covers you as an individual. You pay for the policy and own it. Group life insurance is life insurance for which a single contract covers a group of people. Usually, the policyowner is an employer or organization such as USBA. Because the insurance risk is spread across more people, group rates are usually lower than those for individual coverage. Typically, employer-paid group life insurance isn’t portable. In most cases, when you leave a company, you lose the coverage. It stays behind with the job.
However, USBA group life insurance is portable, which means you can keep it wherever your career takes you, in and out of the service to our Nation. It can be used to supplement SGLI or as an affordable alternative to VGLI insurance.
What’s the difference between term and whole life insurance?
Term life insurance (often called pure life insurance) provides life insurance for a specific amount of time or term. If you die during this term, your beneficiary/beneficiaries receive a cash payout for the amount of coverage you purchased. Generally, Term life insurance is less expensive than whole life coverage. Premiums can increase periodically or stay level for the duration of the term policy, depending on your plan.
Whole life insurance (sometimes called permanent or cash value insurance) costs more than Term life insurance because coverage lasts your entire lifetime and the premiums are guaranteed. Whole life premiums are based on your age when you apply and remain level throughout your life. Whole life insurance also builds cash value over time, which you can borrow against if you choose.
Which life insurance is right for my family?
Use the Plan Recommender to help you answer this question. You may decide a combination of Whole life and Term life insurance works best.
How do I determine how much life insurance I need?
Use this Life Insurance Needs Estimator. Once you’ve determined which plan best fits your needs, you can apply online, or call a Product Specialist at (877) 297-9235 between 9:00 am – 4:00 pm Central time, Monday through Friday.
1LIMRA.com Newsroom
USBA is a not-for-profit Association that provides group life insurance, health insurance supplements, and other products and services to military personnel, Federal employees, National Guard and Reserve members, Veterans and their families.
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