Gen Y Article Series: A Whole Life Ahead of Me
“Nuh-uh. I’m invincible.”
No one invites you to their superhero games after that one.
It’s cruel.
But true.
Your Life is Capital
Sixty-eight stitches. Eleven scars. Broken bones. A handful of concussions. Three or four metal bolts in your arm. Add to that the incidental exposure to cigars, cigarettes, alcohol…
And that one odd thing you can’t quite remember.
It’s only so long before you figure as a hazard to yourself.
Go ahead. Count them.
How many things have you done ‘wrong’ according to the actuarial handbook?
...
...
…
Don’t be embarrassed. Honest. Make a list.
Good.
Now ask yourself this: “Whole life, or term?” And: “Do you know the difference?”
I didn’t. Not at twenty-two.
So let’s save you that much, at least.
“Nuh-uh. I’m invincible.”
No one invites you to their superhero games after that one.
It’s cruel.
But true.
Your Life is Capital
Sixty-eight stitches. Eleven scars. Broken bones. A handful of concussions. Three or four metal bolts in your arm. Add to that the incidental exposure to cigars, cigarettes, alcohol…
And that one odd thing you can’t quite remember.
It’s only so long before you figure as a hazard to yourself.
Go ahead. Count them.
How many things have you done ‘wrong’ according to the actuarial handbook?
...
...
…
Don’t be embarrassed. Honest. Make a list.
Good.
Now ask yourself this: “Whole life, or term?” And: “Do you know the difference?”
I didn’t. Not at twenty-two.
So let’s save you that much, at least.
Term Life and Whole: The Important Part of the Article
What they both have in common:
What they both have in common:
A face value or base economic worth. This is the amount paid to your beneficiaries, i.e. the policy death benefit.
A living benefit clause, or rider, where the polciy owner can access the benefits "early " to pay for terminal patient care.
A variety of risk classes, including select-preferred, non-smoker, and standard, for discerning the appropriate premium value.
A flexible paybment method: be it monthly, semi-annual, or end of the year.
Term:
Term life is the dawn of functional awareness: it’s that moment you realize that you’re going to get hurt, that growing up can involve unpleasant circumstances.
Term life is adolescence.
It’s awkward. Diffident.
And it’s going to happen anyway.
It’s that necessary.
Term is great out of college, when you don’t have any significant funds or definitive assets. It’s also, strictly speaking, cheaper than whole, while still providing the most essential benefits: i.e. death (including accidental); defense of estate from debt and loan (the cost of repayment comes from the policy first); and the option of a living benefits rider, the merit of which cannot be underscored enough.
Likewise the conversion privilege, which allows a term policy holder to transfer coverage to whole life or permanent insurance.
Even if you’ve become “uninsurable.”
Term, you see, is about protecting your current economic value, which is why it’s so thoroughly a complement to whole.
Whole:
Whole life is a verification of your worth. Whole life is granola and sunny skies; it’s your doctor calling to say your blood pressure is one-ten over sixty-five.
Whole life is an acknowledgement of your stick-to-itiveness.
It’s adulthood, proper.
Whole life is best to acquire right out of graduate school, or when you’re newly employed, or when you fit into your high school jeans without prying (there are exceptions to the latter, of course). It has a cash value, and the premium, once determined, is a constant for life.
You can also redirect some or all of your dividends (The Company’s are given annually) to alleviate the cost of your premium (or else offset the amount entirely, over time).
You can even take a loan on the policy, to assist in paying for that medical emergency or home mortgage or third child’s sudden urge for a graduate degree in exobiology.
All without ever affecting the value of the death benefit.
Whole life, then, is proof that you’ve become stronger. Not Super-Batman-insert-your-own-favored-hero strong; but durable.
Lasting. Solvent.
When you purchase whole life, you build your equity.
And together with term, you ensure a financial future.
Term:
Term life is the dawn of functional awareness: it’s that moment you realize that you’re going to get hurt, that growing up can involve unpleasant circumstances.
Term life is adolescence.
It’s awkward. Diffident.
And it’s going to happen anyway.
It’s that necessary.
Term is great out of college, when you don’t have any significant funds or definitive assets. It’s also, strictly speaking, cheaper than whole, while still providing the most essential benefits: i.e. death (including accidental); defense of estate from debt and loan (the cost of repayment comes from the policy first); and the option of a living benefits rider, the merit of which cannot be underscored enough.
Likewise the conversion privilege, which allows a term policy holder to transfer coverage to whole life or permanent insurance.
Even if you’ve become “uninsurable.”
Term, you see, is about protecting your current economic value, which is why it’s so thoroughly a complement to whole.
Whole:
Whole life is a verification of your worth. Whole life is granola and sunny skies; it’s your doctor calling to say your blood pressure is one-ten over sixty-five.
Whole life is an acknowledgement of your stick-to-itiveness.
It’s adulthood, proper.
Whole life is best to acquire right out of graduate school, or when you’re newly employed, or when you fit into your high school jeans without prying (there are exceptions to the latter, of course). It has a cash value, and the premium, once determined, is a constant for life.
You can also redirect some or all of your dividends (The Company’s are given annually) to alleviate the cost of your premium (or else offset the amount entirely, over time).
You can even take a loan on the policy, to assist in paying for that medical emergency or home mortgage or third child’s sudden urge for a graduate degree in exobiology.
All without ever affecting the value of the death benefit.
Whole life, then, is proof that you’ve become stronger. Not Super-Batman-insert-your-own-favored-hero strong; but durable.
Lasting. Solvent.
When you purchase whole life, you build your equity.
And together with term, you ensure a financial future.
Why Start When You’re Young?
I had a math teacher in high school--let’s call her Algebra. She had a colorful saying about irrational thoughts. It involved horses and beggars and wasn’t exactly what you’d consider “correct” by modern social standards.
The pertinent part, however, is worth reiteration.
In short: wishful thinking doesn’t add in your favor.
Nor, for that matter, does hesitation.
At twenty-seven, I spend less on insurance, whole life and term, than I do on food and drink. Of course, I registered as both select and preferred (that blood pressure I mentioned earlier? Mine on a normal day).
Try to begin at forty-seven, though, and even preferred and select, I’ll be envying the teenagers their car insurance (or whatever hover device they're using to terrify adults with by that point). Not to mention I’ll have missed on twenty years worth of investments from the dividends. Or that I’ll still be paying the premium at seventy.
That’s right. Your whole life insurance will eventually mature itself.
Not in part or in portion; but in full.
And often plural (one at twenty-seven perhaps, another when married, a third to prepare for retirement). Imagine that, being able to acquire term as well, to diversify assets, to finance a mortgage,to truly construct a child’s nest egg for college…
You can be the hero, you know. To yourself and to your loved ones.
So why not play a little smarter and start your whole life today?
I had a math teacher in high school--let’s call her Algebra. She had a colorful saying about irrational thoughts. It involved horses and beggars and wasn’t exactly what you’d consider “correct” by modern social standards.
The pertinent part, however, is worth reiteration.
In short: wishful thinking doesn’t add in your favor.
Nor, for that matter, does hesitation.
At twenty-seven, I spend less on insurance, whole life and term, than I do on food and drink. Of course, I registered as both select and preferred (that blood pressure I mentioned earlier? Mine on a normal day).
Try to begin at forty-seven, though, and even preferred and select, I’ll be envying the teenagers their car insurance (or whatever hover device they're using to terrify adults with by that point). Not to mention I’ll have missed on twenty years worth of investments from the dividends. Or that I’ll still be paying the premium at seventy.
That’s right. Your whole life insurance will eventually mature itself.
Not in part or in portion; but in full.
And often plural (one at twenty-seven perhaps, another when married, a third to prepare for retirement). Imagine that, being able to acquire term as well, to diversify assets, to finance a mortgage,to truly construct a child’s nest egg for college…
You can be the hero, you know. To yourself and to your loved ones.
So why not play a little smarter and start your whole life today?
