While the reasons people have life insurance change throughout their life, many find they continue to have a need for it until the day they die. Life insurance can play a critical role in helping individuals, families and businesses reach their financial goals and dreams.

A traditional permanent life insurance policy can provide a number of benefits:

• Life-long insurance protection.
• Guaranteed level premiums, death benefit and cash value for life.
• Non-guaranteed dividends and/or cash value beyond the guaranteed values may be used to increase the policy's face amount, taken as cash, or used to offset part or all of the premium payment.
• Cash values increase annually on a tax-deferred basis and can be accessed during the insured's lifetime to help reach a number of financial goals, such as providing for a child's education, boosting retirement income or having a financial emergency fund.¹
• Option to elect a "paid-up" policy (with a reduced level of protection) which requires no further premium payments.
• Policy can be surrendered for its accumulated cash value.²

Clearly, no other financial product can do what permanent life insurance does: Immediately provide cash in the event of the insured's death and be a source of cash while the insured lives. While no insurance or financial product is the one and only answer for everyone, depending on your circumstances, permanent life insurance can be an important financial tool to help you achieve financial security.

Critics of permanent life insurance say it's always better — and cheaper — to buy only term insurance (with no cash value) and invest the premium savings elsewhere. The premise being that, for the same out of pocket cost, you would be better off purchasing a term policy and a separate investment (made up of the premiums saved by purchasing a term policy) than you would using the same money toward the purchase of a permanent, cash value policy. Term insurance may be an appropriate choice for some people. However, it should not be purchased based on cost alone or the blanket recommendation to "buy term and invest the difference." Following this advice usually leaves people vulnerable to a gap in their financial program.

According to the Money Maladies study conducted by Harris Interactive, people who bought term life insurance with the intention of investing the premium savings elsewhere admit they are not following through. In fact, only 14% of those only owning term insurance invest all the money they saved.³

The decision of how much and what kind of insurance to buy can be difficult. It is a personal decision too important to rely on a "one-size-fits-all" recommendation. Meeting with a financial representative can help answer any questions and remove any reasons for putting off such an important decision.