Insurance policies are usually taken to cover properties and possessions. But most people ignore the fact that life is the most important possession and it has to be secured for the loved ones sake. Life insurance has saved millions of families take care of the financial needs after the breadwinner of the family is no more.
One could say that a term life insurance is the purest form of insurance. In a true sense, it does not provide any benefits unless death or permanent disability occurs. Insurance as a financial measure to secure future was created for this purpose. Later based on people’s needs different kinds of policies like permanent life insurance plans, unit linked insurance plans, health insurance plans, vehicle insurance, home insurance, et cetera have come up. But term life insurance is something that will never go out of fashion and it should be a part of everyone’s financial planning. People can go for other insurance plans but should give priority to term life insurance.
By ‘term’ it means that a person is covered for a specific period of time for the policy value in return for a premium. There is no accumulated cash value. This means that the premium paid by the insurer buys a cover for the sum assured or the face value for the specific period from the insurance company. When the term is completed, the policy expires. The insured is given an option to renew and continue the policy under a new contract.
Though other kinds of insurance plans give returns, the sum assured is usually low. For example, the sum assured for a permanent life insurance plan will be way lower than a term life insurance policy for a premium of $ 2000 annually. In a permanent life insurance plan a part of the premium is invested (to give returns), while on an average 35% of the premium amount is used for the coverage. But, in a term insurance policy the entire premium amounts paid is used or invested by the insurance company to pay up the sum assured in case of misfortune.
As there is no return, people ignore term life insurance policy as a burden. But the power of this type of policy should never be underestimated because no one knows when death will occur. Family should be secured and not be burdened with a financial issue when already dealing with loss of loved one. Regardless of the age every person should have this type of policy with a minimum sum assured of 5 years annual income.
