A life insurance agent once suggested that a life insurance policy is a great gift for people to give to their spouses. The suggestion seemed far out, but there is some logic to this idea. After all, life insurance is sometimes termed “love insurance”. The rechristening of the concept was a recognition that those who purchase life insurance care deeply about the welfare and existence of financial dependents.
Once you are purchasing life insurance as a gift, you may not want to leave yourself as the policy owner. If you put the recipient as the policy owner, they would have access to the living benefit of a cash-value plan. Pure insurance can be used as a gift, but it may seem like a very long-term gift that may never benefit the recipient.
Life insurance can also be purchased with the recipient as the insured. However, this type of gift may be like a white elephant. The truth- where life insurance is concerned- is that the greatest gift is to insure your life for the benefit of those who depend on it financially. Of course, it’s a gift that keeps on giving only if you continue to give, but you might overlook that if you think it’s a really good idea.
The gift that keeps on giving is one that provides value long after it is received (not cologne, flowers or candy bars). Life insurance is one such gift because it provides both tangible and intangible benefits and features.
Appreciation
Your loved ones will feel deeply appreciated with this gift. The life insurance policy would not merely be a legal contract or tangible document, but a symbol of care and appreciation. Life insurance is considered “love insurance” for that precise reason. It would be a continual reminder that you cared enough to make a sacrifice for the benefit of your financial dependents; a sacrifice that will extend long after the gift is received.
Peace of mind
Beyond the warm, tingly feeling that being appreciated would bring, life insurance can offer both the gift giver and recipient peace of mind. There would be the knowledge that if something happened, financial distress would be one less thing affecting everyone. Immediate expenses and even an income replacement fund may be available when it is needed most.
A continual living benefit
Cash-value life insurance embodies a savings or investment portfolio that can be accessed while the insured is still alive. If the recipient of the life insurance gift is made the policy owner, the benefits to them would be direct.
Life insurance is a financial gift to give to those who have an insurable interest in your life. Such a gift may require the giver to keep giving (more than the initial premium). However, the benefits of life insurance cannot always be measured in terms of the premium amount, but the value that the premium creates. Life insurance as a gift is not an original idea, but it will keep on giving once the premiums are rolling in.