One Possible Solution To Your Life Insurance and Investment Needs by Harvey C. Timmer People today expect more from products. Cars, appliances and electronics equipment all are much more sophisticated than they were even five years ago, presenting the buyer with options and features once never imagined. The same is true for life insurance. In the past, consumers only had to decide between whole life and term insurance.
Today there is an array of insurance products available to meet specific financial objectives.
An increasingly popular form of life insurance with unique advantages is variable life. Variable life enables policyholders to invest the majority of their premium dollars into professionally managed funds that can grow in value, without current taxation. Policyholders can benefit from the potential investment growth of stocks and other investments that historically have outperformed safer, fixed-income investments over the long term. Performance of underlying funds will affect the policy's cash value, which may be worth more or less than the original amount invested in the policy. The ability to invest in different funds is a distinct advantage over traditional types of life insurance policies where performance typically is backed by fixed-income assets, most of which offer a fixed rate of return and fixed principal value if held to maturity.