What comes to mind when you hear the term "life insurance"?
Do you think of it as something unnecessary?
The main purpose of life insurance is to protect your loved ones, business, or estate if you die. However, in many cases, the insured may have great needs at critical times while still living. Living benefits, also known as Accelerated Death Benefits, are a feature where the insurance company pays or advances a portion of the policy's death benefit to the insured to pay for care or treatment. If the insured dies, the balance of the death benefit will then be paid to the beneficiary.
In cases of serious illness such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, paralysis, and terminal illness with a diagnosis of less than twelve months to live, the accelerated payments will be very helpful for the insured and his or her family.
Thus, life insurance is beneficial not just for the death benefit. With living benefits, the insurance can be more flexible to provide much needed money at critical times. Many Term Life policies have this benefit. It can also be purchased as a rider in permanent life policies.