A whole life policy can be so much more than life insurance. Consider the cost of premium on a 20 year paid-up policy. You may pay over $20,000 on premiums during that 20 year period, but did you know that you can typically surrender the policy after that point for a higher cash value than what you paid on premiums?

Imagine getting all your money back for the insurance you had on your life for the last 20 years. Your return on the investment is already seen in simply having that coverage. If you consider the fact that you get nothing at the end of a 20 year term policy, the value can already be seen.

But it only starts there. A whole life policy can be set up in numerous ways. Imagine getting paid a dividend for your life insurance. You can set up a participating policy that gives you an extra return in your investment. You even get to decide how the dividend is dispersed. Whether as a cash payment, higher face value on the policy or vested right back into the fund.

Now you’re probably thinking that all sounds great, but at my age what’s the premium? Indeed, for most of us who are aged 40 and up a whole life policy can be extremely expensive. Even those in their mid to late 30’s might find the premium overwhelming. But all the more reason to consider these policies for our future generations.

Imagine if at the age of 30 and you were to learn that you already have something in place and it’s all paid up. At this age many of us start thinking about how valuable it is to have a life insurance policy in place. We also come to find that it can be expensive to get a policy in place that isn’t just a simple term policy.

Would you have been relieved at age 30 if your parents told you they had purchased a policy for you for $100,000 and that it is bought and paid for? I know I would be beside myself for a few reasons.

First of all, I have insurance in place to protect my family in case of my loss of life. That’s convenient enough, but I might decide I don’t need it because I’ve got more than enough in place. If didn’t have a spouse or children, the life insurance may not even serve a purpose, so I might surrender it for the cash value.

If you were to buy a policy for one of your children you might pay less than $10,000 over a 20 year period. By the time the policy is paid up on a 20 year paid up plan the cash surrender would likely already be worth more than that. Another 20 years later if kept in force it would be worth well over twice that. Imagine what a policy might be worth for your 3 year old child by the time they retire. It would likely be worth more than the face value for which it was purchased.

If you think having a life insurance policy in place for yourself is important, you can certainly imagine that it’s important for your children. Not so much right now, but it will be when they start their families. Helping them plan for their future now is not only a great way to jumpstart their future, but also so much more cost effective. If you think your life insurance is significantly more expensive now than it was for you 20 years ago, just imagine what it will cost your child 20 years from now.

All that aside, there’s an added benefit to getting this policy in place for your children now. None of us want to think about it, but we all know that sometimes people don’t qualify for insurance in there adult years as a result of health problems during their early childhood. Putting a policy in place now for your child ensures guaranteed insurability for their future. They would never have to worry about not being able to qualify for insurance later in life, because they already have a policy in place.

Consider this gift for your children as well as grandchildren. It’s a gift that not only guarantees insurability for them, but also provides the built-in bonus of an extra boost on their retirement. If there’s a gift that keeps on giving in the best way possible, this is it!