Off the Shelf Products/Solutions

Term coverage is available in many different “flavors”. These range from Yearly Renewable, to 5 Year, 10 Year, 20 Year, and even Term to Age 100. The rate (premium) you pay varies rather significantly from carrier to carrier - by as much as 300-400%! Using our state of the art Compulife® software, we survey the marketplace to find the MOST COMPETITIVE Term products for our clients. That way, you KNOW you are not paying too much. And, it doesn't end there... we continue to monitor the marketplace once your new plans are in place to ensure they remain competitive, and that you are getting the BEST value!

The final rate will be determined based on the amount of coverage, your age, your smoking status, medical history, occupation, and health style. In order to provide our clients with the BEST possible rates, we offer access to Preferred Underwriting rates. This is the latest actuarial approach to assessing the most accurate risk charge (premium) to an individual, resulting in the sharpest rates on the street!

What follows is a description of the most popular Term plans and features.

Convertible:

This usually applies to 5-Year, 10-Year and 20-Year Term plans, and it means that the carrier contractually guarantees that you can exchange this coverage (without having to prove you are still healthy) for another more permanent type of plan such as Term 100, Universal Life, or Whole Life should your game plan change in the future.

Preferred Underwriting:

The rate you pay will also vary by the type of Term Insurance you select. Overall rates are based on your age (either actual or nearest), whether or not you smoke, family history, occupation and your own medical history. Typically this generates two premium categories: Standard non-smoker and Standard smoker.

By utilizing Preferred Underwriting, we can create several classes within each of these categories. These are sometimes referred to as Health Styles. They take into account things like your family history, current height, weight and blood pressure, and your lifestyle – in other words, if you watch what you eat and exercise regularly, you are probably a better risk than someone who doesn’t. Therefore, you may qualify for a better rate.

Yearly Renewable Term (YRT)
This is the purest form of Term Insurance. As the name suggests, the rate renews every year. While the coverage is usually renewable to a specified age (such as 75) without having to prove you are still healthy each year, the rate you pay also increases each year as you get older. This type of coverage provides the lowest cost over a short period (such as 5 years or less), but is VERY expensive over longer periods. As a result, it is more of a “band-aid” type of coverage and really isn’t used very much. Your choices for this type of coverage are much more limited.

5-Year Term
This used to be the most popular type of Term Insurance. As the name suggests, the rate stays the same for the first 5 years, and increases every 5th year. Coverage is usually renewable and convertible to a specified age (such as 70 or 75) without having to prove you are still healthy every 5th year. The rate you pay is simply an average of the Yearly Renewable Term rates, over each 5 year period, but still becomes increasingly more costly as you get older. This type of coverage provides a low cost over a period 5-20 years, but is expensive over longer periods. This type of coverage is typically used to cover debts, mortgages, and short-term needs. It is available as a stand-alone plan, or as a rider (additional coverage) on other more permanent plans, and is priced for both smokers and non-smokers. A few carriers offer preferred underwriting, and some even offer smokers modified non-smoking rates for the first few years.

10-Year Term
This is the most popular type of Term Insurance today. Similar to 5-Year Term, the rate stays the same for the first 10 years, and increases every 10th year. Coverage is usually renewable and convertible to a specified age (such as 70, 75 or 80) without having to prove you are still healthy every 10th year. The rate you pay is simply an average of the Yearly Renewable Term rates, over each 10 year period, but again becomes increasingly more costly as you get older. This type of coverage provides a low cost over a period of 10-20 years, but is expensive over longer periods. It is typically used to cover debts, mortgages, and short-term needs, and is usually priced more competitively than 5-year Term. It is available as a stand-alone plan, or as a rider (additional coverage) on other more permanent plans, and is priced for both smokers and non-smokers. Several carriers now offer preferred underwriting, and some even offer smokers modified non-smoking rates for the first few years.

20-Year Term
This is similar to 5-Year and 10-Year Term. The rate stays the same for the first 20 years, and increases every 20th year. Coverage is usually renewable and convertible to a specified age (such as 75 or 80) without having to prove you are still healthy every 20th year. The rate you pay is simply an average of the Yearly Renewable Term rates, over each 20 year period, and becomes increasingly more costly as you get older. This type of coverage provides a low cost over an initial period of 20 years, but is expensive over longer periods. This type of coverage is typically used to cover some estate or business requirements, mortgages, and medium term needs. It is available as a stand-alone plan, or as a rider (additional coverage) on other more permanent plans, and is priced for both smokers and non-smokers. A few carriers offer preferred underwriting, and some even offer smokers modified non-smoking rates for the first few years.

Term to 60, 65 or 75
Unlike other types such Yearly Renewable, 5-Year, 10-Year or 20-Year, this type of coverage simply offers a level cost to the specified age (60, 65 or 75), at which time coverage ends. This type of coverage is rarely used these days. It is available as a stand-alone plan and is priced for both smokers and non-smokers. However, very few carriers offer this type, and even fewer carriers offer preferred underwriting.

Term to Age 100
This is the first of the permanent types of coverage. As the name suggests, coverage runs to Age 100 instead of ending at a mandatory age such as 75 or 80. Unlike other types of Term coverage, rates remain level right through to your Age 100. This is a fully guaranteed concept. This type of coverage provides a higher cost over an initial period of about 20 years, but is less expensive over longer periods when compared to renewal costs for other types of Term plans. This type of coverage it typically used to cover estate or business requirements, pension maximization, retirement strategies and other long term needs. It is available as a stand-alone plan, and is priced for both smokers and non-smokers. A few carriers even offer preferred underwriting.