The 4 Flavors Of Term Life Insurance

Most people would only know about term life insurance as protection that lasts only a certain season - a year or 10, 15, 20 or 30 years. It is unlike whole life insurance where you are protected for the rest of your life (as long as your policy doesn't lapse).

What most people do not know is that there are actually several types of term life insurance programs.

The most popular type of term life insurance is the (1) level term life insurance, whereby you only pay a fixed amount of premium for the duration of a term. If your premium is $20 a month at the beginning of a 20-year term policy, then you will pay only $20 per month for the next 20 years.

If you want to take out a level term policy, you will be required to take a medical exam, which would typically include a urine test, blood test, a reading on your blood pressure and cholesterol level, a measurement of your weight, and written questionnaire about your health history. If you're taking out a policy with a large face amount, you may be required to have an EKG and a chest X-ray.

An (2) annual renewable term policy is another type of term life insurance. You have to renew your policy every year if you want to enforce your protection. Not surprisingly, because of its renewal feature, the premiums that you pay will increase as you age.

A (3) no-exam term life insurance is for people who don't like to be hassled with a medical exam for their life insurance policy. You will have to pay more in terms of premiums, but it is convenient, and you can get your policy normally within a few days or hours, unlike the weeks or months that you'd have to wait with insurance programs that require a medical exam. No-exam term life policies have a ceiling on their face amount: $250,000. No medical exam is required, although you need to fill out a written questionnaire on your health.

Under an (4) ROP term life program, all the premiums you paid for your policy are returned to you at the end of the term, should you should survive the term. At first look, it may seem that ROP is a good idea for savings. In reality, however, it isn't. That's because premiums in ROP term life do not earn interests or even cash value. In general, the longer the length of the term, the cheaper you'll pay for the ROP term life policy.

Consumers, in general, have largely benefited from the popularity of the Internet. As it has become easier to get life insurance quotes, many people are able compare prices in a matter of minutes. Premium prices have gone down as a result.

Darcy Peyton has years of experience helping people, from all walks of life, obtain term life insurance through his life insurance quotes website.