Cash Value of Variable Life Insurance
How a variable life insurance policy’s cash value works is what makes it particularly unique from a whole or indexed universal life insurance policy. Each policy comes with a prospectus detailing around 20 to 30 options for investing the cash value. The cash value investment options are similar to mutual funds in that there’s a particular set of securities that the money would be invested in, such as:
An index, such as the S&P 500
A portfolio of equities, such as an emerging markets fund
Bonds
A money market fund
In addition to these investment options, variable life insurance policies generally have a fixed interest investment option provided by the insurer. For each investment option, there are management fees, similar to expense ratios for mutual funds. These fees vary according to the securities being invested in and can be quite high if the money is being actively invested (meaning a portfolio manager is picking stocks).
Cash value investment management fees are sometimes listed as “basis points”, and one basis point equals 0.01%. So if an investment option is listed as having a 6% historical rate of return but comes with 125 basis points in management fees, you should keep in mind that returns will be reduced by 1.25%.
Since you’re able to choose from a variety of investment options, variable life insurance policies have higher upside potential than other cash value policies, such as whole life insurance. In addition, the growth of your policy’s cash value is tax-deferred, so you generally won’t pay taxes on gains so long as they remain in the account (which causes the cash value to grow faster).
However, variable life insurance policies may not have a guaranteed rate of return, or it may be quite low. In addition, your cash value investment options typically have a cap on the maximum rate of return. So, your cash value can actually decrease in value during bad years and may not perform as well as it could during good years.
Fees: A Key Downside to Variable Life Insurance
Every permanent life insurance policy comes with fees but the downside to variable life insurance is that it tends to have the highest. Variable life insurance policies will typically have the following costs:
Fee Description
Mortality and expense risk charges These are the costs to provide the actual death benefit.
Sales and administrative fees Costs to cover an agent’s commission, set up and maintain the policy, and the insurer’s ongoing expenses.
Investment management fees These vary depending on how you choose to invest the policy’s cash value.
Surrender charges Policies have a surrender period during which, if you withdraw part of the cash value or decide to give up your coverage, you will pay fees. The cash value of your policy typically isn’t equal to its actual surrender value for the first 10 to 15 years of coverage.
Withdrawal fees Each time you withdraw money from the policy’s cash value you can be charged a fee. This is often relatively small, around $25.
Policy loan interest If you take out a policy loan using the cash value as collateral, the insurer will charge interest on the loan.
Riders Riders are add-ons that can be used to alter the terms of the policy. Each needs to be evaluated as compared to its cost and your financial situation.
In particular, the administrative fees for a variable life insurance policy will be higher in part because these policies are SEC regulated investments. As the insurer passes these additional charges on to you, it should actually be consideration when you determine how to invest the policy’s cash value.
If you choose relatively conservative investments, you’re likely to have gains that are more similar to a whole life insurance policy’s cash value, but whole life insurance policies will have lower fees. Therefore, with the same cash value rate of return, you would actually perform worse with a variable life insurance policy.
Variable Life Insurance Death Benefit
The death benefit of a variable life insurance policy is typically structured in one of two ways:
Level death benefit - Death benefit is equal to the face value of the policy when you purchased it.
Face amount plus cash value - This type of policy will cost more but your beneficiaries will receive your cash value in addition to the policy’s face value.
Some variable life insurance policies provide other death benefit structures, such as equaling the policy’s face value plus all premiums paid, but these two are the most common.
No matter your death benefit structure, you’ll always want to check the policy’s actual terms. You should confirm whether the death benefit is guaranteed and, if so, if the guaranteed value is the same as what is projected. The death benefit is essentially a “target” using an assumption of cash value performance, such as a 4% annual rate of return. The insurer projects that, assuming it meets this rate of return, the cash value would equal the policy’s face value when you pass away. However, if your cash value significantly underperforms, it may reduce your actual death benefit, depending on your policy’s terms.
Flexible Premiums with Variable Universal Life Insurance
Variable universal life insurance policies have the cash value structure of variable life insurance, but you can use the cash value to pay premiums. You can also pay a larger amount in premiums if you choose to do so. Therefore, these policies are sometimes referred to as flexible premium variable life insurance.
While variable universal life insurance policies typically have minimum and maximum premiums, you’re free to pay whatever amount you choose that falls within these limits. This means you can: