Types of Georgia Life Insurance We Offer
Term Life
The cost of living these days isn't cheap. You worry that when you die, your spouse will be stuck with a mountain of expenses. Take a minute now to see what term life insurance can do for you. Term insurance offers low-cost protection to meet your family's needs. You only pay for the amount and duration of coverage you need.
Term insurance generally offers the greatest level of protection for your premium dollar. Because it does not build cash value, term insurance might be described as "renting" rather than "owning" protection. It will help you make sure your survivors have funds available for any of the following situations:
- Pay final medical and funeral expenses;
- Pay debts and other obligations, such as your mortgage;
- Replace your income in order to maintain your family's standard of living;
- Pay college expenses for your children;
- Settle your estate;
- Transfer your business; and/or
- Leave a contribution to your church or favorite charity.
Universal Life
You want insurance that gives you options - flexible premiums, adjustable coverage - while providing the security you need. Universal Life (UL) might be just what you're looking for. Your UL policy will provide security today with the growth potential you need for tomorrow. Here's what a UL policy can offer you:
- Interest on the cash in your policy is credited each month at a current, competitive rate. Crediting rates will never fall below the minimum amount guaranteed in your policy.
- You select the amount and frequency of premium payments (subject only to specified minimums and maximums). As long as there is adequate cash value to pay policy expenses, you can:
- Increase premiums to accumulate cash value more rapidly.
- Decrease premiums when cash is less available.
- Stop premiums for a period of time.
- Pay in advance to eliminate premiums in later years
- Increase or decrease the amount of your coverage at any time - without buying a new policy (subject to minimum premium requirements). Proof of insurability may be required for increases.
Whole Life
You want to know your family and future are secure. Worrying over how to pay for large expenses like college for your children and a hefty mortgage are on your mind. You want permanent security, something you can be sure of. Whole life can help you meet your financial goals in the present while providing security for your future. This type of insurance has a guaranteed death benefit that will provide immediate cash, upon death, to:
- Pay final medical and funeral expenses.
- Pay debts and other expenses.
- Replace your income and provide for your family.
- Settle your estate.
- Transfer your business.
Whole life provides you with a guaranteed cash value. In addition to covering your family's needs after death, you can use your policy to accumulate tax-deferred cash values to help:
- Finance a child's college education.
- Pay off your mortgage early.
- Take advantage of an investment opportunity.
- Start your own business.
- Cover unexpected emergency expenses.
- Supplement your retirement income.
All these benefits come with a guarantee that your premium won't change. The basic premium you agree to now will remain the same throughout the life of your policy.
Fixed Annuities
If the cost of living seems high now, think what it will be in 20 or even 30 years when you're retired or hoping to retire. Plan now to ensure your assets last throughout your lifetime. Under an annuity contract, you make a payment - or series of payments - and in exchange we pay you an income while you're alive (unlike life insurance which pays out after death).
However, the real benefits of fixed annuities come in the form of safety of principal and a guaranteed interest rate for a certain time period.
With a fixed annuity, you'll know how much you'll be earning. Plus you'll have:
- No cap on the amount you can invest each year;
- A guaranteed fixed rate of return; and
- Tax-deferred earnings on interest.
- In addition, you can postpone initial withdrawals beyond age 70 ½.
Index Annuities
Equity-indexed annuities are one of the hottest insurance products going these days. Equity indexed annuities offer you a guaranteed minimum return in the stock market in exchange for a limit in maximum return. In short: You get less upside but much less downside.
Annuities have long been seen as a prudent way to earn a comfortable return on your money while deferring the taxes on your gains. Fixed annuities offer a specified and company-guaranteed return, but you pay for that guarantee in the form of modest returns (because fixed annuities invest your premiums in interest-bearing obligations, whose interest rates have historically trailed stock-market returns). Variable annuities let you place your funds in any number of investment-grade securities and, therefore, offer better returns, but also higher risk.
During the previous bull market security-based annuities became so popular that insurance product developers were drawn to the concept of combining the security of a guaranteed return with the allure of participating in the booming stock market. Voila: Equity-indexed annuities!
Equity-indexed annuities, or EIAs for short, offer consumers what could be described as the best of both worlds: a market-driven investment with potentially attractive returns, plus a guaranteed minimum return.
Since every equity-indexed annuity is different, consumers should be prepared to ask their agent or broker plenty of questions before deciding if they should invest. Here's a list of seven important questions to ask.