Life Insurance is a protection against the loss of income that would result if the insured passed away. The named beneficiary receives the proceeds and is thereby safeguarded from the financial impact of the death of the insured.

The goal of life insurance is to provide a measure of financial security for your family after you die. So, before purchasing a life insurance policy, you should consider your financial situation and the standard of living you want to maintain for your dependents or survivors. For example, who will be responsible for your funeral costs and final medical bills? Would your family have to relocate? Will there be adequate funds for future or ongoing expenses such as daycare, mortgage payments and college? It is prudent to re-evaluate your life insurance policies annually or when you experience a major life event like marriage, divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, or purchase of a major item such as a house or business.

An important part of a sound financial plan, life insurance provides a valuable death benefit to your beneficiaries upon your death. Your beneficiaries can then use this money to replace some of the income you would have earned or to help pay off debts or other expenses.

The two types of life insurance are term and permanent. The one that's right for you depends on many factors, including your budget, the amount of coverage you need, and the length of time you'd like the coverage to last.

Term life Insurance:

Term policies can help meet a wide variety of business and personal needs and often provide the most coverage for your premium dollar for set periods of time. Whether you want to supplement your existing coverage or simply purchase insurance to meet a specific need, our term policies have the flexibility to help meet your needs.

Permanent Life Insurance:

Permanent policies can provide lifetime protection. There are several different types of permanent policies:

• Universal Life Insurance: Universal life insurance can help meet the needs of people who desire long-term death benefit protection with a flexible premium structure.

• Variable Life Insurance: Variable life insurance offers a choice of death benefit options and a potential to accumulate non-guaranteed tax-deferred cash value that fluctuates based on the performance of underlying investment options that you choose.

• Survivorship Life Insurance: Survivorship (second-to-die) life insurance insures two people and pays the death benefit when both have died. It is used primarily for wealth preservation.

• Whole Life Insurance: Whole life insurance provides the security of knowing what your premiums will be year after year and gives you the potential to accumulate non-guaranteed tax-deferred cash value.

Life insurance can provide an excellent opportunity for you to meet many of your goals while still protecting the financial security of your loved ones. All life insurance policies have some things in common. You make payments, called premiums, to the insurance company. When you die, the insurance company pays a death benefit to your beneficiaries. Often, this death benefit is received income tax-free.

Permanent life insurance, however, can also provide a living benefit. When you pay your premium, part of it goes into a cash reserve and accumulates tax-deferred. You can generally access this cash reserve at any time, for any purpose. It can be used for things like education expenses, retirement income, and many other needs. It also remains in force during the insured's entire lifetime, provided premiums are paid as specified in the policy.