The Insurancy Blog
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266 expert guides, company reviews and original studies. Written and reviewed by licensed insurance agents.
Category:Life Insurance110
Life Insurance
110 articles found
Life InsuranceAccidental Death Insurance
Accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance is a supplemental policy that pays a tax-free lump sum if the insured dies in a covered accident or suffers a specified dismemberment. Premiums are low because the insured event is statistically rare, and underwriting is fast because there is no medical exam.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceAffordable Life Insurance: How to Find the Cheapest Coverage
Affordable life insurance is the result of three buyer choices: the cheapest product type (term life), the lowest-rate carrier for your specific health profile, and an underwriting class that matches your actual health. This guide shows sample rates from the cheapest A-rated carriers, the 7 levers that move buyers into the lowest rate class, and the trade-offs between paying $11 a month versus $30 a month for the exact same coverage.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceAre Life Insurance Premiums Tax Deductible?
For personal life insurance policies, premiums are not federal-tax-deductible. The exceptions are narrow but specific: business-owned life insurance used as a documented compensation tool, alimony-required policies issued under pre-2019 divorce decrees, premiums paid by a 501c3 charity that owns the policy, and group life insurance up to $50,000 per employee under IRC Section 79. This guide walks through each exception, the IRS rules that govern it, and how to structure the policy correctly so the deduction is defensible on audit.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceBest Age to Buy Life Insurance: What the Data Shows
The best age to buy life insurance is the age at which you first take on financial responsibility for someone else, because rates are locked at the age you apply and a healthy 30-year-old pays roughly half what a healthy 40-year-old pays for the same 20-year term policy. This guide shows monthly premiums by age across four common coverage amounts, the four life events that should trigger any buyer to apply now rather than later, and the financial cost of waiting one year, five years, and ten years to buy.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceBest Life Insurance for Families: 7 Carriers Compared
The best life insurance for a family covers two distinct risks: the loss of a working parents income (handled by term life on each working spouse, sized to 10 to 15 times annual income) and the loss of a stay-at-home parents unpaid labor (handled by a smaller term policy on that spouse). This guide compares the seven A-rated carriers most often recommended for family buyers (Banner Life, Protective, Pacific Life, Foresters, Mutual of Omaha, Ethos, and Fabric by Gerber), with sample rates by age, plus the math on how much coverage a typical family of 4 actually needs.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceLife Insurance for Parents: How to Buy a Policy on Their Life
Buying life insurance on a parents life requires the parents written consent, signature on the application, and a documented insurable interest - typically the adult childs financial responsibility for funeral costs, debts, or care expenses. This guide walks through who can buy, the carriers that issue through age 85, sample rates for final expense and term coverage, and the differences between final expense whole life (the most common product), guaranteed-issue policies, and traditional medically-underwritten term.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceBuy Term and Invest the Difference (BTID): The Math + When It Wins
Buy Term and Invest the Difference (BTID) is the strategy of buying inexpensive term life insurance instead of whole life and investing the monthly premium difference in a low-cost diversified portfolio (typically an S&P 500 index fund or target-date retirement fund). The math is compelling for most buyers because term costs 5 to 20 percent of whole life for the same death benefit and the difference, invested at a 6 to 8 percent average annual return, typically grows to more than the cash value of the whole life policy would have. This guide breaks down the math with realistic numbers, the four buyer profiles where BTID wins, and the three buyer profiles where whole life or IUL actually beats BTID.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceCan You Borrow From a Life Insurance Policy? How Policy Loans Work
Permanent life insurance policies (whole life, universal life, indexed universal life, variable universal life) build cash value over time and most carriers let policyholders borrow against up to 90 percent of that accumulated cash value at the policys loan rate. Term life insurance has no cash value and cannot be borrowed against. This guide walks through how policy loans work, the loan rate (typically 4 to 8 percent), tax treatment, the 90 percent cap, and the most common policy-loan trap - what happens when the loan balance plus interest exceeds the cash value and the policy lapses.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceSell Your Life Insurance Policy Guide
A life settlement is a transaction in which a life insurance policyholder sells their policy to a third-party investor for a lump-sum cash payout that is more than the policy's cash surrender value but less than the death benefit. Life settlements are typically available to insureds age 65 and older with policies of $100,000 or more.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceFinal Expense Life Insurance
Final expense life insurance is a small whole life policy (typically $2,000 to $50,000) designed to cover funeral costs, medical bills, and other end-of-life expenses. Most policies have no medical exam, simplified underwriting, and approval within 24 to 48 hours. Ideal for ages 45 to 89.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceLife Insurance for Babies: When It Makes Sense (and When It Doesn't)
Life insurance for a baby usually makes sense in only two narrow situations: when parents want to lock in lifetime insurability before a future health condition can develop, or when they want a small cash-value savings vehicle that the child can access at age 25 to 30. This guide compares the two product paths (a Child Rider on the parents policy, which is the cheapest option, vs. a standalone childrens whole life policy like Gerber Life Grow-Up Plan), shows realistic premiums and projected cash values, and walks through the financial trade-offs vs. a 529 plan or custodial Roth IRA.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceGuaranteed Acceptance Life Insurance
Guaranteed acceptance (also called guaranteed issue or GIWL) life insurance approves everyone with no medical exam and no health questions. Coverage is limited to $2,000 to $25,000 per policy, and most policies have a 2-year modified-benefit waiting period during which natural-cause deaths return premiums plus interest rather than the full face amount.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceHow to Get the Best Life Insurance Rates: 11 Proven Tips
The same 35-year-old can pay anywhere from $19 to $42 a month for the exact same $500,000 20-year term policy depending on which carrier they apply to and how the application is structured. This guide walks through the eleven adjustments that consistently move applicants into the lowest rate class and save the typical buyer $200 to $500 a year on the same death benefit.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceHow to Read Your Life Insurance Policy (in Plain English)
A life insurance policy is a 30 to 60 page legal contract that most policyholders never actually read. This guide walks through every section in plain English so you know exactly what you bought, what your beneficiary will receive, what could void the policy, and what options you have for converting, borrowing against, or changing the policy down the road.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceInstant Life Insurance
Instant issue life insurance is a fully digital application that returns an underwriting decision in 10 minutes or less, with no paramedical exam and no agent call. Coverage is available up to $2 million for healthy applicants ages 20 to 65.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceIs Life Insurance Taxable? Payouts, Cash Value, and More
For the vast majority of beneficiaries, life insurance death benefits are federal-income-tax-free under IRC Section 101(a) when paid as a lump sum to a named beneficiary. However, there are five specific situations where part or all of a life insurance payout becomes taxable: the transfer-for-value rule, federal estate tax inclusion, interest earned on deferred installments, Modified Endowment Contract (MEC) classification, and cash value withdrawals above the cost basis. This guide walks through each scenario with examples, the IRS code section that governs it, and the structures that avoid each tax trigger.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceLife Insurance Beneficiary Rules: A Complete Guide
A life insurance beneficiary designation overrides the will, which means a beneficiary form filled out 20 years ago can quietly redirect a $500,000 death benefit to an ex-spouse, a deceased family member, or even the estate (triggering probate). This guide walks through every rule that controls who gets paid: primary vs. contingent, per stirpes vs. per capita, the rules for naming minors and trusts, the community-property quirks in 9 states, and how to properly update a beneficiary after marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, or any major life change.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceHow to Buy Life Insurance: A Step-by-Step Buyer's Guide
Buying life insurance comes down to four decisions: how much coverage you need, how long it should last, what type of policy fits your situation, and which carrier will underwrite you for the lowest rate. This guide walks through each step in plain English and shows how to avoid the mistakes that quietly cost most buyers thousands of dollars over the life of a policy.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceLife Insurance Investment Calculator (iROI)
The Insurancy iROI (investment Return on Insurance) calculator compares a term life insurance policy plus a separate investment account against a permanent whole or indexed universal life policy. See year-by-year breakdowns of premium, cash value, and projected returns to decide which strategy fits your goal.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceLife Insurance With Living Benefits
Life insurance with living benefits (also called accelerated benefit riders or ABRs) lets you access a portion of the death benefit while you are still alive if you are diagnosed with a chronic, critical, or terminal illness. Most A-rated carriers now include these riders at no extra cost, and the payouts are typically income-tax-free.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceNo Medical Exam Life Insurance
No medical exam life insurance is a policy that skips the paramedical exam (blood, urine, vitals) and uses accelerated underwriting instead. Coverage ranges from $25,000 to $3,000,000, with approvals returned instantly to within five business days.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceOnline Life Insurance Quotes: 8 Carriers Compared
Eight top-rated U.S. life insurance carriers now offer fully online applications with instant or 1-to-3-day decisions, no medical exam for healthy applicants under set face amount caps, and the same A-rated financial strength as traditional carriers. This guide compares each of them on no-exam cap, age eligibility, decision speed, and which buyer profile gets the best rate with each carrier.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceReturn of Premium Life Insurance
Return of premium (ROP) life insurance is a level term policy that refunds 100 percent of premiums paid if you outlive the term. Premiums typically cost 30 to 50 percent more than standard level term, but you get a tax-free refund at the end of the term if you do not die.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026
Life InsuranceThe Life Insurance Application Process: How to Qualify
A life insurance application has three main components: a written questionnaire about your health, lifestyle, and finances; a public records check including MVR, prescription history, and MIB; and, for fully underwritten policies, a brief medical exam performed at your home or office. Understanding each step ahead of time is the difference between a 10-day approval at the best rate class and a 6-week back-and-forth at a higher rate class.
Brian Greenberg•Updated Jun 2026