what is adjustable life insurance 
adjustable life insurance is a policy that allows you to change features after signing up including the premium payment and the death benefit also known as universal life adjustable life policies include an interest bearing savings component the cash value account which you can tap into while alive adjustable life insurance policies take more work to plan and manage in exchange for offering much more flexibility versus other options here s what to know if you re considering an adjustable life insurance policy understanding adjustable life insuranceadjustable life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance that can last your entire life provided you keep paying the premiums 1it differs from other products like whole life because you have a lot more flexibility to change the policy terms after signing up for example whole life always charges the same monthly premium whereas adjustable life lets you change how much you pay each year provided you at least cover the underlying cost of insurance 2 you could pay more into adjustable life during years when you re earning a lot and decrease the premium while on a restricted budget like after a job loss as with other permanent life insurance adjustable life insurance has a cash value savings component that earns interest the cash value grows based on market interest rates the return can go up and down each year 3you can take out the cash value through a withdrawal or loan 4 you can also save the cash value to cover the future premiums on adjustable life insurance adjustable life insurance is the most flexible type of insurance available it is attractive if you want the protection and cash value benefits of permanent life insurance yet need or want some flexibility with policy features changing the death benefit may require additional underwriting or possibly an updated medical exam factors that can be adjustedthree factors can be changed in an adjustable life insurance policy these are the premium cash value and death benefit 5 all three elements can be adjusted because this policy is a permanent life insurance policy and does not expire as a term life policy does first premiums can be changed by frequency or amount of payments as long as you pay the policy s minimum cost for the life insurance second the policy s cash value can be increased by upping your premium payments you can decrease your cash amount if you withdraw funds or use the cash in the policy to pay the premiums however if you use up all the cash value your policy might lapse so check with your agent to make sure you have enough value to keep your coverage in force 1third you can adjust your death benefit by increasing or decreasing that amount for example you might use adjustable life insurance to increase the death benefit due to a life event like the birth of another child your premiums would go up for a larger death benefit in some cases your policy will have to undergo additional medical underwriting decreasing the face amount is done upon request or in writing and doesn t require underwriting advantages and disadvantages of adjustable life insuranceadjustable life insurance gives you much more flexibility than other insurance options you can adjust your premium payments and death benefit to meet your evolving needs adjustable life also earns cash value which is another source of savings while you re alive an adjustable life insurance policy can last your entire life these policies do not have an expiration date so long as you cover the underlying insurance cost however adjustable life insurance takes more work to manage than a policy that always charges the same premium like whole life if you don t pay enough into your adjustable life insurance to cover the insurance costs your future premiums will go up if you can t cover the rising costs yourself your policy will lapse and you ll lose coverage 2adjustable life insurance is more expensive than a temporary term life insurance policy 1 finally while the cash value does grow over time the interest rates are modest you might earn a higher return investing outside of a life insurance policy premiums can be changedyou can decrease or increase your death benefitpossible lifelong coverage