Life insurance is a valuable tool that ensures your spouse, children or anyone else who depends on you financially isn’t stuck with unmanageable expenses if you pass away. There are many choices when picking a life insurance policy, but one of the first decisions you’ll need to make is whether you want term or permanent life insurance.
With term life insurance, you choose a specific period during which you enjoy level rates that won’t change. This is usually anywhere from 10 to 30 years.
If you pass away while the policy is in force, your beneficiaries receive a payout known as the death benefit. If you outlive the level term period, it expires unless you choose to renew the policy. (Not all term life insurance policies are renewable.)
Many term life insurance policies allow you to convert the term life to permanent life insurance during a specified window of time.