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How Index Universal Life insurance With Long Term Care Works

Life insurance at 70: Still within your reach.
Insurance Quotes 2 Day Team

Written By Doug Mitchell

Doug Mitchell, CLU holds a BA degree in Finance from Auburn University, a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation from The American College in Bryn Mahr, PA and Top of the Table member of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT). Doug has spent close to 30 years in the insurance and financial planning industry and has held licenses to sell securities, long-term care insurance, health.  Doug is also a financial blogger addressing the topics of life insurance, annuities and retirement income planning.

Holly Mitchell  &

Holly Mitchell’s background in life insurance insurance goes back to 1985 when she worked for her father who was a New York Life agent. Holly has a marketing degree from Auburn University and has had a life insurance license since 2008. In addition to advising life insurance for customers all around the country, Holly is our website fact checker.

Rob Pinner   &

Rob Pinner is the founder and CEO of Pinner Financial Services servicing all 50 states. Rob started his insurance career in 2002.

Louis LaBash

Results-driven and innovative life insurance professional with 30 plus years of life insurance industry sales and marketing experience. Recognized as a pioneer in the field, leveraging phone and internet channels to exceed personal sales of over $100 million during the first decade of the 21st century. Creator of a highly effective intuitive IUL life insurance sales software that facilitated the sale of millions of dollars of indexed universal policies by numerous life insurance agents. Proven track record as a Managing General Agent (MGA), Life Agent, IUL Life Insurance Sales Software developer, and leading-edge creator of insurance marketing tools, educational content, and delivery systems.

 6 minute read

Life insurance is one of the single most important purchases that you’ll ever make for your loved ones. It’s one of the only ways that you can ensure that your family is going to be taken care of, regardless of what happens to you.

Without proper life insurance, your family would be left with thousands and thousands of dollars of debt, that they have no way to cover. You could leave your family with a severe strain on their budget.

Finding the perfect insurance policy to fit your family’s needs can be difficult. There are dozens of different kinds of life insurance and thousands of various life insurance companies that you can choose from.

Luckily, we are here to help you make the best decision for your life insurance needs. One option for life insurance is an indexed universal life insurance policy, which a lot of people don’t fully understand. Those misunderstandings can lead to a lot of severe problems in the future.

What is Indexed Universal Life Insurance?

As you may have guessed, indexed universal life insurance policies are another type of permanent life insurance, which means that these plans are whole life plans. As long as you pay the premiums, you’ll have coverage.

You won’t have to worry about reapplying for coverage in the future, which is a nice benefit that isn’t offered by term life policies. There are several unique differences that set these plans apart from any other universal life policy.

The biggest difference between these plans is that they universal, which means that the premiums that you pay are flexible and you can adjust them as your life changes through the years. This gives you the flexibility that you will not find with many other life insurance plans.

Additionally, you will also be able to adjust the death benefit and saving component of the plan, within reason. Because your life is constantly changing, it’s nice to have your life insurance plan adjust with it.

Just like with other whole life policies, these indexed universal life insurance policies also have a cash component built into them, which means that as you continue to pay monthly premiums, they will build accumulate value inside of the plan. This will allow you to borrow against that money in the future if you ever run into a financial dilemma that requires cash fast.

On top of the cash value section of the policy, there is also an investment portion of the insurance policy that can be tricky to explain. The cash section of the policy will grow based on the results of the index performance with is usually selected by the policyholder or a professional every year. Without getting into the details and nitty gritty of the plans, just know that the better that the index does, the more growth that you’ll see inside of the policy.

There are several advantages and disadvantages to these types of plans that you’ll have to consider when you’re shopping for life insurance protection for your family. The first thing that you should know is that these policies aren’t going to be the cheapest option for insurance coverage.

Because of all the additional benefits, they come at a premium price. If you’re looking for the most affordable coverage, you’ll need to keep looking (typically a term life insurance policy is going to have the cheapest premiums).

Indexed Universal Life Insurance and Long-Term Care Insurance

With life insurance, there is a simple way that you can get additional long-term care insurance to protect yourself and your family. Many people don’t understand the advantages of having one of these long-term care insurance policies.

The older that you get, the higher your chances of needing specialized care by skilled professionals, which can be very expensive. In fact, long-term care can cost anywhere from $70,000 to over $150,000 every year, which can quickly drain a savings account or put your loved ones with massive bills.

One of the best ways to protect yourself against these massive expenses is to purchase an additional policy called long-term care insurance. These plans will give you the money you need to pay for those bills without turning your retirement dream into a retirement nightmare.

There are several ways that you can purchase the long-term care protection. The first way is to simply purchase one of these insurance policies from a provider. You can buy one of these plans just like you would buy any other type of insurance policy. In most cases, they are much more affordable than applicants think.

Another way to get the protection is by adding an additional rider to your life insurance policy. You can buy a rider, which is essentially an “add-on” to the life insurance policy that you already own. These riders are available with just about any universal or whole life insurance policy.

In most cases, it’s going to be cheaper for a policyholder to add on the additional coverage versus purchasing a whole separate long-term care insurance policy.

Getting Affordable Insurance Coverage

Because life insurance is one of the most important purchases that you’ll ever make, you’ll want to ensure that you’re getting the best policy. One of the main components of finding the best life insurance is getting the best price for your coverage. There are several different things that you can do to help you get the lowest monthly premiums on your life insurance and long-term care insurance coverage.

The first thing that you can do is focus on your health. After you apply for insurance coverage, the company is going to want to know how good or poor your health is. They will use this information to determine how much of a risk you are to ensure. The higher the risk, the more that you’re going to pay for your insurance protection. The better your health is, the better your results from the medical exam, which translates into lower monthly rates.

Another way to get cheaper insurance is by eliminating any tobacco from your life. Smokers pay twice as much for their insurance coverage versus what a non-smoker is going to pay. If you want to keep more money in your pockets, it’s time to quit those cigarettes once and for all. It could save you thousands of dollars every year on your policies.

The best way to get affordable life insurance is to work with an independent insurance agent. Unlike traditional agents, independent agents don’t work for some specific company. Instead, they represent dozens of highly rated companies across the United States, which means they can help you compare policies from several different companies at once.

Because each insurance company is different, they all have various ways that they calculate insurance premiums for applicants, which means that you could get drastically different quotes from two separate companies. It’s easy to see why it’s vital that you compare the rates from dozens of companies, but your time is valuable, don’t waste it calling different agents, let us do all of that work for you.

Just contact one of our agents, or fill out the quote form, and we can provide you with quotes to fit your preferences. These are simply generic quotes that you can receive from any website, but they are tailored to your needs and life insurance preferences and specific age and projected rating. While they aren’t going to be 100% exact, they will give you a great idea of how much you’ll pay for your coverage.

Summary

We know that finding the best life insurance policy to fit your needs can be a long and frustrating process, but it doesn’t have to be. We can help the process go as smoothly and easily as possible. Our agents have years of experience working inside of the insurance marketplace, which means they know which companies are going to give you the best rates for your specific needs. Additionally, our agents can help you decide which plan is going to fit your needs the best.

If you have any questions about indexed universal life insurance or long-term care insurance, please contact one of our agents today. We would be happy to answer those questions and ensure that you’re getting the best insurance coverage that you and your family deserve.

You can’t predict the future, which means that you never know when tragedy is going to strike. Don’t wait any longer to get the life insurance coverage that your family needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much can long-term care cost?

Long-term care can cost anywhere from $70,000 to over $150,000 every year, which can quickly drain a savings account or put your loved ones with massive bills.

How can I get long-term care insurance?

You can purchase a separate long term care policy or you can add it as an additional rider to your life insurance policy. You can buy a rider, which is essentially an “add-on” to the life insurance policy that you already own. These riders are available with just about any universal or whole life insurance policy. In most cases, it’s going to be cheaper for a policyholder to add on the additional coverage versus purchasing a whole separate long-term care insurance policy.

How can I learn about long-term care insurance?

You may contact an independent life insurance agent who can evaluate your situation and let you know your options.

author avatar
Doug Mitchell, CLU Independant Advisor
Doug Mitchell, CLU holds a BA degree in Finance from Auburn University as well as having obtained a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation from The American College in Bryn Mahr, PA. Doug has spent almost 30 years in the life insurance industry and has also held licenses to sell securities, long-term care insurance and home and auto insurance. Doug is a Top of the Table Million Dollar Round Table member (MDRT).  MDRT is a global, independent association of the world's leading life insurance advisors.  For two years, Doug served as President of the Auburn Opelika Association of Financial Advisors and has been a member of the Million Dollar Round Table. He obtained Life Millionaire status at Horace Mann Insurance Company and was awarded the Life Agent of the Year Award. Later in his career with New York Life he was an Executive Council Member. Doug currently serves as President of Ogletree Financial, a managing general agency serving life insurance agents and clients in all parts of the United States. Today, Doug’s main focus is servicing 1000s of policyholders.

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