Your family depends on you, and there's no substitute for your love and support. But there's comfort in knowing you can at least guarantee permanent financial security for them.

Whole life insurance provides coverage for your entire life for you and your family. Coverage can last for the rest of your life, and the premium(s) – the price, or amount of money you pay as a single payment or periodically to maintain insurance coverage – stay fixed regardless of age, health, or lifestyle changes.

There may be times when you need financial protection for a limited period. Term life insurance provides maximum protection with minimal cost, with coverage for a specific period of time. It is pure life insurance that does not increase in value. If you die within the designated time frame, your beneficiaries will receive the death benefit amount. The younger you are, the lower the premium – or price – you pay for term insurance. Some term products offer flexible features such as convertibility to a permanent product and return of premium. These are a good choice when you cannot predict your future needs.

Convertibility means when you decide that you need a more permanent form of insurance, your policy can be converted into a permanent life product without new evidence of insurability. Return of premium allows you to recover part of your insurance premiums at the end of the agreed upon term if you are still living. Term is an ideal solution for a variety of business and personal challenges that could arise from an unexpected death.

Universal Life insurance offers the best of two worlds – a set amount of coverage with tax-deferred, cash accumulation account based on current interest rates. This permanent insurance plan generally provides lower premiums for people who have life insurance needs that may change in the future, or who desire the cash value build-up universal life policies can provide.

Some Universal Life products offer you the flexibility to design the product to meet your needs, with the ability to increase and decrease the amount of coverage or premium payments as your circumstances change. It can be a flexible way to meet your long-range insurance needs.

While Universal Life insurance policies maintain certain guarantees, they provide benefits that are based on current assumptions for the underlying interest, mortality, and expense formulas. These current assumptions are based on current market conditions and actuarial assumptions, which may change over periods of time. Changes in these assumptions may require additional premium payments in order to meet your needs. These products should be purchased with a thorough understanding of the impact changing circumstances will have on policy benefits and values.

Of course, there are other types of life insurance and even variations of the ones we've covered here. The life insurance plan that's best for you depends on your family's needs and how you prefer to pay your premiums. Your financial professional can help you determine the type and amount of insurance you need for your specific situation.