Questions to ask yourself
- How will my family be impacted without my income?
- How do I plan to contribute to my child’s education?
- What traditions or life events do I want to make sure are supported?
Life insurance
With a variety of options available, we can help you find the right policy to fit your financial plan.
Create the foundation of a strong financial plan
Life insurance helps protect your family and financial goals in the event of premature death. Building your financial plan starts with determining the right amount of life insurance coverage. A conversation with your financial advisor can help you understand what meaningful coverage looks like for you and your family.
Why life insurance matters
Life is unpredictable. The right life insurance helps secure your family’s financial future, offering protection from financial burdens.
How life insurance works
You pay premiums, and the insurer provides a payout to your beneficiaries to cover expenses like mortgages, tuition, or retirement.
Beyond the death benefit
Permanent life insurance policies can accumulate cash value during your life1, making them a versatile financial planning tool.
Explore types of life insurance
Once you and a financial advisor decide how much coverage is needed, they will help you choose which type of life insurance fits your situation.
Include life insurance in your financial plan
Whether you already have life insurance, or you are looking to add it to your plan, a financial advisor can help you understand the amount and type of life insurance that’s right for your unique situation.See how life insurance can support your financial goals. Talk to a financial advisor today.
Meeting with a financial advisor
Prepare for meeting with a financial advisor about building your financial plan by considering these questions.
Questions to ask your financial advisor
- Do I need life insurance if I already have a policy through my employer?
- How do I know how much life insurance is right for me?
- What role does life insurance play in my financial plan?
Frequently asked questions
Still have questions? Give us a call 800-847-4836 or contact us.
Often, the decision to buy life insurance or not comes down to one question: Would your death financially burden someone you care about? Life insurance can help provide relief by helping your dependents pay for your funeral and other final expenses through its death benefit. It can also help settle any debts they’d be responsible for. And allow you to leave a legacy for their financial goals—like paying for college, buying a home or donating to charity.
As a general rule, you can multiply your annual salary by 10 to determine a reasonable amount of life insurance. But considering additional factors, like your family makeup, your financial obligations and debts, can help you calculate a more personalized and accurate target.
Typically, the death benefit paid to your beneficiaries is tax-free. But there are some exceptions. For example, taking a death benefit in monthly payments instead of a lump sum (i.e., an annuity) may require you to pay taxes on the interest accrued by those proceeds.
Cash value is the interest-earning portion of a permanent life insurance policy that you can borrow against. You may also be able to withdraw cash from this component. But doing so may lower your contract’s death benefit3.
You can borrow against your life insurance if it’s a permanent policy that accumulates cash value (think whole life, universal life, variable universal life or indexed life insurance). Each insurance company has different rules on how much you can borrow—but typically it’s no more than 90% of its cash value.
Create a strong foundation for your financial plan
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- Investing in variable universal life insurance involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. More information on this contract's underlying investments—and their objectives, risks, charges and expenses—is in the prospectus(es). Investors should read and consider the prospectus(es) carefully before investing. Get these documents from your Thrivent financial professional or in the resource center.
- This is a solicitation for insurance. When you submit your information, one of our licensed insurance agent/producers will contact you.
- 1. As long as you pay premiums.
2. Guaranteed death benefit in a variable product applies as long as premiums are paid and the contract retains value.
3. You can access the cash value of a permanent life insurance contract during your life to pay for major expenses, as long as you understand the consequences of doing so. For example, removing money from your contract can result in potential charges and income changes that affect your taxes. If you have a modified endowment contract, your actions may not be tax-free. Withdrawing money decreases the contract’s cash value, the value of your death benefit and may cause the contract to lapse. If you remove money, it will take you longer to meet your contract goals. Always talk with your tax advisor and financial professional to learn about those implications up front. - Life insurance contracts have exclusions, limitations, and terms under which the benefits may be reduced, or the contract may be discontinued. For costs and complete details of coverage, contact your licensed insurance agent/producer.
- Guarantees based on the financial strength and claims paying ability of the Thrivent.
- Under current tax law [IRC Sec. 101(a)(1)], death proceeds are generally excludable from the beneficiary's gross income. However, death proceeds may be subject to state and federal estate and/or inheritance tax.
How it works