What Is Sum At Risk In Life Insurance? 
In technical terms , the sum at risk is the death benefit paid less the reserves held by the insurance company . To explain : Mortality costs increase each year as we get older . If you were to buy a yearly renewable term plan for example the premiums would increase each year until they became cost prohibitive . With a whole life policy actuaries calculate the amount of premium the company needs to charge for it to be level . Essentially the company charges you more in the early years and that excess accumulates with interest inside the policy as a reserve . The difference between the reserve and the death benefit is the Sum at Risk to the insurance company . If you have further questions , or feel that I could be of assistance , please do not hesitate to contact me . If you would like to work with a local life insurance broker , you could start with a Google search . For example , if you search for : life insurance broker Halifax or life insurance agent Halifax , my name , along with several others , will come up . You can use the same method to find a life insurance broker in your community . 