Term life insurance or term assurance is life insurance which provides coverage for a limited period of time, the relevant term. After that period, the insured can either drop the policy or pay annually increasing premiums to continue the coverage. If the insured dies during the term, the death benefit will be paid to the beneficiary. Term insurance is often the most inexpensive way to purchase a substantial death benefit on a coverage amount per premium dollar basis.
Term life insurance is the original form of life insurance and is considered to be pure insurance protection because it builds no cash value. This is in contrast to permanent life insurance such as whole life, universal life, and variable universal life.
Term insurance functions in a manner similar to most other types of insurance in that it satisfies claims against what is insured if the premiums are up to date and the contract has not expired, and does not expect a return of Premium dollars if no claims are filed. As an example, auto insurance will satisfy claims against the insured in the event of an accident and a home owner policy will satisfy claims against the home if it is damaged or destroyed by, for example, an earthquake or fire. Whether or not these events will occur is uncertain, and if the policy holder discontinues coverage because he has sold the insured car or home the insurance company will not refund the premium. This is purely risk protection.
Payout Likelihood and Cost Difference
Both term insurance and permanent insurance use the exact same mortality tables for calculating the cost of insurance, and a death benefit which is income tax free, as long as the policy is in force and premiums are current; however, the premiums are substantially different.
'The reason the costs are substantially different is that term programs may expire without paying out'Bold text, while permanent programs must always pay out eventually. To address this Permanent programs have built in cash accumulations vehicles to force the insured to "self insure" making the programs many times more expensive.
Insurance industry studies have shown that the probability of filing a death benefit claim under a term insurance policy is unlikely.[citation needed] One study placed the percentage as low as 1% of policies paying a benefit. The low payout likelihood allows term insurance to be relatively inexpensive. The low payout percentage is a combination of there being a low likelihood (in the aggregate) of a random, healthy person dying within a short period of time. Because of the low likelihood of an insurer having to pay a death benefit, term insurance seems better when considered in terms of coverage per premium dollar basis - by a factor of up to 10.
Feb 28, 2009
Permanent life insurance
Permanent life insurance is a form of life insurance such as whole life or endowment, where the policy is for the life of the insured, the payout is assured at the end of the policy (assuming the policy is kept current) and the policy accrues cash value.
This is compared with Term life insurance where insurance is purchased for a specified period (typically a year, or for level periods such as 5, 10, 15, 20 even 25 and 30 years) where a death benefit is only paid to the beneficiary if the insured dies during the specified period.
Permanent life insurance originally was offered as a fixed premium fixed return product known as whole life insurance also known as cash surrender life insurance. This offered consumers guaranteed cash value accumulation and a consistent premium. Consumers later wanted more flexibility which was offered in the form of universal life insurance. Universal life insurance allows consumers flexibility in when premiums are to be paid and the amount that they would be. Universal life policies also allowed consumers to permanently withdraw cash from the policy without the interest associated with the loan provisions in whole life policies. Universal life policies retained the fixed investment performance of whole life policies. Variable life insurance follows the mold of whole or universal life, but it shifts the investment risk to the consumer along with the potential for greater returns. Variable universal life insurance combines this with the flexibility in premium structure of universal life to create the most free form option for consumers to manage their own money (at their own risk). Variable universal life insurance policies are considered more favorable to other permanent life insurance alternatives due to the favorable tax treatment of all permanent life insurance policies and their potential for greater returns than other permanent life insurance products.
Payout likelihood
Because permanent life insurance programs are designed to be permanent and pay a death benefit, the cost of insurance is considerably higher than term insurance. Term insurance is referred to as pure death benefit with no cash accumulation vehicle tied to it. Because of this, term premiums remain 8 to 10 times less expensive than permanent premiums for the same coverage.[citation needed] Most people are drawn to term insurance for the low cost and the ability to invest the difference in separate financial products. Doing so has a potential drawback in some cases because all term policies eventually expire and the client would then have to pay a higher premium based on his attained age or he may not be able to qualify for a new policy at that point. In these situations, money earned from investments may not measure up to the coverage the policy would have provided.
This is compared with Term life insurance where insurance is purchased for a specified period (typically a year, or for level periods such as 5, 10, 15, 20 even 25 and 30 years) where a death benefit is only paid to the beneficiary if the insured dies during the specified period.
Permanent life insurance originally was offered as a fixed premium fixed return product known as whole life insurance also known as cash surrender life insurance. This offered consumers guaranteed cash value accumulation and a consistent premium. Consumers later wanted more flexibility which was offered in the form of universal life insurance. Universal life insurance allows consumers flexibility in when premiums are to be paid and the amount that they would be. Universal life policies also allowed consumers to permanently withdraw cash from the policy without the interest associated with the loan provisions in whole life policies. Universal life policies retained the fixed investment performance of whole life policies. Variable life insurance follows the mold of whole or universal life, but it shifts the investment risk to the consumer along with the potential for greater returns. Variable universal life insurance combines this with the flexibility in premium structure of universal life to create the most free form option for consumers to manage their own money (at their own risk). Variable universal life insurance policies are considered more favorable to other permanent life insurance alternatives due to the favorable tax treatment of all permanent life insurance policies and their potential for greater returns than other permanent life insurance products.
Payout likelihood
Because permanent life insurance programs are designed to be permanent and pay a death benefit, the cost of insurance is considerably higher than term insurance. Term insurance is referred to as pure death benefit with no cash accumulation vehicle tied to it. Because of this, term premiums remain 8 to 10 times less expensive than permanent premiums for the same coverage.[citation needed] Most people are drawn to term insurance for the low cost and the ability to invest the difference in separate financial products. Doing so has a potential drawback in some cases because all term policies eventually expire and the client would then have to pay a higher premium based on his attained age or he may not be able to qualify for a new policy at that point. In these situations, money earned from investments may not measure up to the coverage the policy would have provided.
Feb 24, 2009
Life insurance tax shelter
life insurance tax shelter uses investments in life insurance to protect income or assets from tax liabilities. Life insurance proceeds are not taxable in many jurisdictions. Since most other forms of income are taxable (such as capital gains, dividends and interest income), consumers are often advised to purchase life insurance policies to either offset future tax liabilities, or to shelter the growth of their investments from taxation.
Life insurance to cover future taxes
In those jurisdictions where life insurance proceeds are only tax free at death, tax liabilities that come due at death are often offset by a policy of the same size. Since the mathematics required to compare different strategies is quite complex, most consumers defer to an accountant or life insurance agent for advice. However, there is often vast differences of opinion between these professionals, even given the same starting conditions. This should not be surprising, given the huge future differences that even small variances in starting conditions can make.
For example, assume that an individual is likely to owe $100,000.00 in taxes at death. If a permanent life insurance policy with a $100,000.00 death benefit costs $1,000 per year (remaining level for life), and the life expectancy of the person is 30 years, then the following events could occur.
* The individual could die early. In this case, it is unlikely that any alternative investment of the $1000 per year would have yielded the required $100,000.00 at death.
* The individual could live much longer than expected. The individual could have built up a significant cash value within the policy, depending on investment selection. As such, the individual would have access to these cash values tax-free regardless of growth, provided it is set up properly.
Since one normally does not know which of these will occur (see adverse selection) calculations must be based on expected life expectancies for people of similar gender, physical condition, and behaviour.
Life insurance to cover future taxes
In those jurisdictions where life insurance proceeds are only tax free at death, tax liabilities that come due at death are often offset by a policy of the same size. Since the mathematics required to compare different strategies is quite complex, most consumers defer to an accountant or life insurance agent for advice. However, there is often vast differences of opinion between these professionals, even given the same starting conditions. This should not be surprising, given the huge future differences that even small variances in starting conditions can make.
For example, assume that an individual is likely to owe $100,000.00 in taxes at death. If a permanent life insurance policy with a $100,000.00 death benefit costs $1,000 per year (remaining level for life), and the life expectancy of the person is 30 years, then the following events could occur.
* The individual could die early. In this case, it is unlikely that any alternative investment of the $1000 per year would have yielded the required $100,000.00 at death.
* The individual could live much longer than expected. The individual could have built up a significant cash value within the policy, depending on investment selection. As such, the individual would have access to these cash values tax-free regardless of growth, provided it is set up properly.
Since one normally does not know which of these will occur (see adverse selection) calculations must be based on expected life expectancies for people of similar gender, physical condition, and behaviour.
Life insurance to shelter investment growth and income
In an attempt to achieve the "best of both worlds" (protection in the case of early death, and additional tax-protected returns in the case of long life), life insurance policies were created containing investment accounts having preferential tax treatment. This is most often done with a Variable universal life policy. See that article for some discussion of the tax issues.
Medical savings account
Medical savings account (MSA) refers to an account in which tax-deferred deposits can be made for medical expenses.
In the United States, a Medical Savings Account (MSA) refers to an American medical savings account program, generally associated with self-employed individuals, in which tax-deferred deposits can be made for medical expenses. Withdrawals from the MSA are tax-free if used to pay for qualified medical expenses. The MSA must be coupled with a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). Withdrawals from MSA go toward paying the deductible expenses in a given year. MSA account funds can cover expenses related to most forms of medical care, disability, dental care, vision care, and long-term care, whether the expenses were billed through the qualifying insurance or otherwise.
Once the plan deductible is met in a given year, the HDHP will pay any remaining covered medical expenses in that year. If there are funds remaining in the MSA at the end of the year, the funds can either roll over for the following year or can be withdrawn as taxable income.
MSAs have been superseded by Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), were established as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. Existing MSAs were grandfathered, however.
History
The idea of the MSA appears to have come from health care analysts that were concerned about the problem of "overinsurance." They reasoned that overinsurance was raising the cost of health care expenses. They further reasoned that if patients (as opposed to third-party payers) paid their own medical expenses, then the cost of health care would decrease.[citation needed]
During the early 1990s, think tanks such as the National Center for Policy Analysis and insurance companies such Golden Rule Insurance Company began to promote passage of a law that would allow for tax-free contributions to a medical savings account. Even though the US Congress was under Republican control and the MSA concept was central to the Republican Party's health care agenda, a federal MSA law failed to materialize during the 1990s. However, Congress did pass an MSA pilot as a part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1996. In the meantime, some states also pass MSA legislation. Missouri was the first state to do so in 1993. By 1998, 25 states had some form of MSA legislation offering a state tax break to those who open MSAs.[citation needed]
The MSA for the self-employed person or business is now called an 'Archer MSA' by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The 'Archer MSA' term refers to the sponsor of the HIPAA amendment creating the accounts in 1996, Congressman Bill Archer of Texas. The Archer MSA is considered an IRS pilot program that must be extended by the US Treasury Department on a periodic basis.
[edit] Purpose and advantages
The Archer MSA is intended to be used by self-employed individuals and small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The plan is entirely self-directed, including its initial setup and compliance with the plan thresholds.
The plan enables a participant dual to fund a tax-exempt account for medical expenses incurred before an associated 'high deductible' insurance plan begins to cover those expenses. The individual pairs the MSA with a 'catastrophic insurance' plan, which has lower premiums than plans with lower deductibles.
The individual deposits funds in the MSA to cover medical expenses; these deposits are exempt from income tax. Any money added to the account can roll over to another year if unused. MSAs are investment accounts, they can accumulate over the deductible level, can be used for qualified investments, and grow tax free. The MSA account may be convertible into a standard IRA savings plan after a specified age threshold is reached. The amounts contributed for medical savings do not impose a cap on standard IRA contributions.
Among the medical expenses that can be paid out of an MSA account are premiums for long-term care coverage, health care coverage paid while receiving unemployment benefits, or any form of health care continuation coverage required under any federal law.
The risk is that an MSA account holder may find that their medical expenses outstrip the contributions they can afford to make.
In the United States, a Medical Savings Account (MSA) refers to an American medical savings account program, generally associated with self-employed individuals, in which tax-deferred deposits can be made for medical expenses. Withdrawals from the MSA are tax-free if used to pay for qualified medical expenses. The MSA must be coupled with a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). Withdrawals from MSA go toward paying the deductible expenses in a given year. MSA account funds can cover expenses related to most forms of medical care, disability, dental care, vision care, and long-term care, whether the expenses were billed through the qualifying insurance or otherwise.
Once the plan deductible is met in a given year, the HDHP will pay any remaining covered medical expenses in that year. If there are funds remaining in the MSA at the end of the year, the funds can either roll over for the following year or can be withdrawn as taxable income.
MSAs have been superseded by Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), were established as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. Existing MSAs were grandfathered, however.
History
The idea of the MSA appears to have come from health care analysts that were concerned about the problem of "overinsurance." They reasoned that overinsurance was raising the cost of health care expenses. They further reasoned that if patients (as opposed to third-party payers) paid their own medical expenses, then the cost of health care would decrease.[citation needed]
During the early 1990s, think tanks such as the National Center for Policy Analysis and insurance companies such Golden Rule Insurance Company began to promote passage of a law that would allow for tax-free contributions to a medical savings account. Even though the US Congress was under Republican control and the MSA concept was central to the Republican Party's health care agenda, a federal MSA law failed to materialize during the 1990s. However, Congress did pass an MSA pilot as a part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1996. In the meantime, some states also pass MSA legislation. Missouri was the first state to do so in 1993. By 1998, 25 states had some form of MSA legislation offering a state tax break to those who open MSAs.[citation needed]
The MSA for the self-employed person or business is now called an 'Archer MSA' by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The 'Archer MSA' term refers to the sponsor of the HIPAA amendment creating the accounts in 1996, Congressman Bill Archer of Texas. The Archer MSA is considered an IRS pilot program that must be extended by the US Treasury Department on a periodic basis.
[edit] Purpose and advantages
The Archer MSA is intended to be used by self-employed individuals and small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The plan is entirely self-directed, including its initial setup and compliance with the plan thresholds.
The plan enables a participant dual to fund a tax-exempt account for medical expenses incurred before an associated 'high deductible' insurance plan begins to cover those expenses. The individual pairs the MSA with a 'catastrophic insurance' plan, which has lower premiums than plans with lower deductibles.
The individual deposits funds in the MSA to cover medical expenses; these deposits are exempt from income tax. Any money added to the account can roll over to another year if unused. MSAs are investment accounts, they can accumulate over the deductible level, can be used for qualified investments, and grow tax free. The MSA account may be convertible into a standard IRA savings plan after a specified age threshold is reached. The amounts contributed for medical savings do not impose a cap on standard IRA contributions.
Among the medical expenses that can be paid out of an MSA account are premiums for long-term care coverage, health care coverage paid while receiving unemployment benefits, or any form of health care continuation coverage required under any federal law.
The risk is that an MSA account holder may find that their medical expenses outstrip the contributions they can afford to make.
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