Does whole life insurance expire? That’s an easy question to answer: no. Lifelong coverage is one great reason to choose whole life when you’re shopping for life insurance. But there are several more! We’ll go over everything below to help you make the best decision for your family.
➡️ Want to talk to a real person about whole life insurance? Call us at 800-823-4852 and we’ll answer all your questions!
Request a Free QuoteDoes Whole Life Insurance Expire?
No. As long as you keep your policy current by making your payments, your whole life policy will not expire. It’s designed to cover you for the rest of your life. It does not expire after a particular period of time, like a term life policy.
Plus, once you buy a whole life policy, your rate is locked in for the rest of your life. It doesn’t matter if you develop a health condition later in life. Your rate will never go up, no matter what happens. You never have to renew or requalify for your policy. It’s a one-and-done process.
Some whole life policies are designed to “mature” at a certain age – often age 90 or age 100. This means that if you’re still alive at this point, the insurance company will pay you the death benefit. That completes the insurance company’s obligations under the policy contract, and it would then be up to you to leave the money from your death benefit to your loved ones. If you pass away before your policy matures, your beneficiary(ies) just need to submit a claim to the insurer for the 100% income-tax-free death benefit.
➡️ Want to talk to a real person about whole life insurance? Call us at 800-823-4852 and we’ll answer all your questions!
Request a Free QuoteCan You Lose Your Whole Life Insurance Policy?
Whole life does not expire, but there are still ways to lose or cancel your policy. Here’s what can happen:
- Lapse. If you don’t stay current with your payments, that can cause your policy to lapse. If a policy lapses, you no longer have coverage. Insurers have grace periods, but they vary by insurer. When you buy a policy, the documents your insurer provides will spell this out. If there comes a time when you can’t afford to make your payments, there are better options with more advantages for you: you can surrender your policy (see bullet point below) or call us and get a quote for a new, more affordable policy. Sometimes it can be cheaper to get a new policy with a different insurer. Before you leave your loved ones without the protection of the death benefit, please call us – we can help!
- Surrender. If you decide you no longer need your policy, you can surrender it. This is insurance-speak for canceling your policy. But you can’t just stop making payments. You have to contact the insurer directly to surrender a policy the right way. You definitely want to do this the right way in order to claim your policy’s cash value – we’ll talk about what that is in the next section.
➡️ Want to talk to a real person about whole life insurance? Call us at 800-823-4852 and we’ll answer all your questions!
Request a Free QuoteBenefits of Whole Life Insurance
There are many benefits to a whole life insurance policy, including the fact that it doesn't expire. Let’s take a look at the most important ones:
- Tax-free death benefit. The most important reason to buy life insurance is to protect your loved ones with the death benefit. If you have people who depend on you financially, you should get covered to provide them with replacement income if something happened to you. In almost all cases, that death benefit is 100% income-tax-free for your loved ones. (There is only an income tax liability if your policy is structured as modified endowment contract – a strategy used by high-net worth individuals to stockpile extra cash for retirement.) That tax-free death benefit provides peace of mind for you and for your loved ones. We also have clients who choose to leave their death benefit to a favorite charity or their alma mater as a final gift.
- Cash value. All permanent policies come with a cash value account. A portion of every payment you make goes into this account, where it earns a low, flat rate of interest and grows tax-deferred over time. Later, when it’s grown, you can access that cash value and use it for anything you like, including supplemental retirement income or college tuition for a child. It can also be used to make your policy payments. Most insurers don’t pass your cash value onto your beneficiary(ies) – so it’s up to you to use it in your lifetime. Think of cash value as an enforced savings component of your policy.
- Living Benefits. You don’t have to die to take advantage of your life insurance. Cash value is one great benefit, but that’s not all. Most insurers let you dip into the death benefit if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness, for example. If this happens to you, that money can be used for treatment, for care, or to check off a bucket-list item with the people who mean the most to you. Every insurer offers slightly different living benefits with their policies, so be sure and ask your agent which ones might be available for you as you shop. Other common living benefits include the ability to dip into the death benefit if you’re diagnosed with a critical or chronic illness, or need long-term care.
➡️ Want to talk to a real person about whole life insurance? Call us at 800-823-4852 and we’ll answer all your questions!
Request a Free QuoteIs Whole Life Insurance Right for You?
Only you can decide what’s right for your family. But whole life could be right for you if you’re looking for these features:
- Life insurance coverage that never expires
- Locked-in rate that never changes
- Income-tax-free death benefit for your beneficiary(ies)
- Cash value that grows over time with a fixed, low rate of interest
- Living benefits that allow you to access the death benefit if you have certain medical conditions
If you want to do some more research before requesting a free quote, we’ve got more articles that may interest you:
- Cash value whole life planning
- Whole life insurance for women
- How does whole life insurance build cash value?
➡️ Want to talk to a real person about whole life insurance? Call us at 800-823-4852 and we’ll answer all your questions!
Request a Free Quote