Permanent life insurance
Whole life, universal life and Term to 100. How cash value works, and when permanent coverage earns its cost.
11 articles in this section
Permanent insurance is built to stay in force for life rather than for a set number of years. That is the whole difference, and it is the reason permanent coverage costs several times what term coverage costs at the same age and amount.
Where it gets complicated is cash value. Some permanent policies build a pot of money inside the contract that you can access while you are alive. That feature is genuinely useful in some situations and badly oversold in others, so there are pages here on both.
New to this? Start with What permanent life insurance is, then come back for whichever question below is yours.
Start here
What permanent life insurance is
How permanent life insurance works in Canada, the three main types, why it costs more than term, and the situations where it genuinely earns the difference.4 minWhole life, universal life and Term to 100 compared
A direct comparison of the three permanent life insurance types sold in Canada, what each guarantees, what each risks, and which situations they suit.3 minIs permanent life insurance a good investment
An honest look at using permanent life insurance to build wealth in Canada, where the tax shelter helps, and where the pitch falls apart.5 min
Everything else in permanent life insurance
Whole life insurance
What whole life insurance guarantees, how participating dividends work, why the early years look poor, and who the product actually suits.4 minUniversal life insurance
How universal life separates insurance from investment, what the flexibility actually costs you, and why an underfunded policy can fail decades later.4 minTerm to 100
What Term to 100 covers, why it is the least expensive permanent option, and the trade-off you accept by giving up cash value.3 minCash value and how it builds
What cash value is, why it grows slowly at first, the four ways to access it, and what happens to it when you die.4 minParticipating policies and dividends
What a participating policy is, where dividends come from, the five ways to use them, and why an illustrated dividend scale is not a promise.4 minPolicy loans and using a policy as collateral
How policy loans and collateral assignments work in Canada, what each costs, the tax difference between them, and what happens if the loan is never repaid.4 minSurrendering or reducing a permanent policy
What you get if you cancel a permanent policy, the tax bill that can follow, and the two alternatives most people are never told about.4 minPermanent insurance in estate planning
Why Canadian estates face a tax bill at death, how permanent insurance supplies the cash to pay it, and who genuinely needs it.5 min
Related sections
Talk it through with a licensed advisor
Reading about how coverage works only gets you so far. What is actually available to you depends on your health, your age and which insurer is looking at your file.
A few questions about you and your health, then a licensed advisor comes back with the options you can actually apply for. No obligation, and a quote is an estimate rather than an offer of coverage.
Send the question you actually have. A licensed advisor replies within one business day. Nothing gets started until you say so.
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