The life insurance industry is littered with many different types of policies. They have been developed to provide more flexible options for prospective policy owners but which is the right one for you? If you are considering buying a joint life insurance policy remember these policies have a dual identity. There are in effect two types of joint life policies. One is the joint term life policy. The other is a joint whole life policy. Term life policies as a general type of insurance refers to a policy taken out for a specific term, with a defined premium and agreed face value or death benefit if the policy owner dies.
A whole life insurance policy is the basic type of permanent life insurance taken out to cover the whole life of the policy owner which in addition to the death benefit has an accrued cash value. If you add the word 'joint' in front of both these types of policies you can see what the dual identity is of each these types of policies.
Why have one of these policies?
Joint life policies of either the term or whole life variety, are normally taken out by a husband and wife or a common law couple. The intent of the policy is to provide a cash benefit to the partner who survives to help them pay for the expenses of rearing children, to cover a mortgage or to meet other financial liabilities. If the policy is a whole life one, the survivor gets both a death benefit and the value of the premiums paid. If the policy is a term one, the premiums will be much cheaper but there is only a death benefit paid.
If you want a joint term life insurance policy then it's usually a policy for a term of 10 years with a defined premium to cover the years when the cost of child rearing or other responsibilities is particularly heavy. Many of these policies do have the option to renew at the end of the initial term if the policy owners choose to do that, however most choose only to have the policy for a specific period. The usual joint term policy is to provide peace of mind to the couple concerned if the worst occurs and one person is left to carry responsibilities that previously were shared.
The cost of covering a mortgage can be considerable. Joint term life insurance is often taken out by a couple to insure against one partner having to meet that cost on their own. For this reason joint term policies are often also called mortgage insurance.
Who takes out these types of policies?
Joint term life policies are not just taken out by couples with a young family or a mortgage. Couples in their retirement can take out these policies. This is usually done when the retirement lifestyle the couple has set up will be compromised if one partner dies.
The term of a joint term life policy can be annual, 10 years or 20 years. Couples with young children often opt for a 10 year policy. but if a couple is also concerned about covering heavy college expenses or their own retirement expenses then they may opt for a 20 year term policy. Your first step could be to get a quote from a reputable company and discuss with your spouse or partner how premiums will be covered within the family budget.
For Which Life Insurance, information that's clear and useful and for FREE QUOTES on all Life Insurance, click here www.bestlifeinsuranceavailable.com. If you have a big need for straightforward, non technical descriptions of different types of Life Insurance before getting a quote, I've collected all the information you need. Here's what I found out about Joint Term Life Insurance. Lorraine Benham
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