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A to Z
- Accelerated death benefit
- A rider that lets you access part of your death benefit while still alive if you're diagnosed with a qualifying serious illness.
- Beneficiary
- The person, people, trust, or organization who receives the payout when you die. Can be primary or contingent.
- Cash value
- The savings component inside a permanent life insurance policy. Grows tax-deferred and can be borrowed against.
- Contingent beneficiary
- Your backup beneficiary. Receives the payout if your primary beneficiary has already died.
- Conversion option
- A feature on many term policies that lets you switch to a permanent policy later without a new medical exam.
- Death benefit
- The payout the carrier makes to your beneficiaries when you die. Also called the face amount.
- Face amount
- The total coverage on the policy — the number your beneficiaries receive at death. Same as death benefit.
- Free look period
- A short window (usually 10–30 days) after your policy is issued where you can cancel for a full refund, no questions asked.
- Graded death benefit
- A limitation on many guaranteed-issue policies: if you die from natural causes in the first two years, the payout is limited to premiums paid plus interest, not the full face amount.
- Guaranteed issue
- A policy type with no health questions and no exam. Everyone within the age range qualifies. Comes with graded benefits and higher pricing.
- In force
- Insurance-speak for "active." Your policy is in force as long as premiums are current.
- Lapse
- When a policy ends because premiums stopped being paid. Most policies have a grace period before lapse becomes final.
- Level premium
- A premium that stays the same for a set period — the entire term of a term policy, or the lifetime of most whole life policies.
- MIB (Medical Information Bureau)
- A shared database that life insurers use to check for prior applications and underwriting notes across carriers.
- Non-forfeiture options
- Choices available on permanent policies if you stop paying premiums — reduced paid-up coverage, extended term, or taking the cash value.
- Paid-up
- A permanent policy where you've completed all premium payments. Coverage continues for life with no more premiums due.
- Paramed exam
- The short medical exam some policies require — height, weight, blood, urine, sometimes an EKG. Done by a licensed technician, usually at your home.
- Preferred / Preferred Plus
- Top rate classes for the healthiest applicants. Lowest pricing available.
- Premium
- The amount you pay for your policy — monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.
- Rated
- Underwriting outcome where your premium is higher than standard due to health or lifestyle factors. Often expressed as "Table 2," "Table 4," etc.
- Rider
- An optional add-on that modifies your policy — child rider, waiver of premium, accelerated death benefit, etc.
- Simplified issue
- A policy type with health questions but no exam. Faster than fully underwritten, usually competitive on price for healthy applicants.
- Term conversion
- Exercising a conversion option to move from term to permanent coverage without new medical underwriting.
- Underwriting
- The carrier's review process — deciding whether to offer you coverage and at what price.
- Waiver of premium
- A rider that pauses your premiums if you become totally disabled, keeping the policy in force at no cost during the disability.
A word on carrier-specific product names
Every carrier invents its own names for products and riders. "SelectQuote Vitality Term" and "Legacy Wealth IUL" are marketing labels, not standard terms. Underneath the name, it's still one of the basic product shapes: term, whole life, universal life, variable universal life, or indexed universal life. When a product name confuses you, ask which of those shapes it actually is.