To help you to make an informed decision when you come to choose a life insurance policy, you need to understand exactly what a life insurance policy is, who needs a life insurance policy and how to distinguish between the different types of policy

In simple terms, a life insurance policy is a guarantee on the life of the insured person. When the insured person dies, the insurance policy will give their beneficiaries a specific amount of money. The insured person makes a payment, known as a premium, usually on a monthly basis for a given period of time.

The amount of the life insurance policy premium is usually determined by factors such as the age of the person, their gender, occupation, whether or not they smoke, medical history, along with the amount that is required to be paid out on death.

There are four main kinds of life insurance policy.

Whole life insurance policy. - a whole life insurance policy lasts for the entirety of the insured person?s life, as long as the premiums are kept up to date. As the life insurance policy matures, it builds up interest, so the longer the insured person lives, the higher the payment to the beneficiaries will be. Some types of whole life insurance policy programs also offer dividends for the insured person.

Term life insurance policy ? a term life insurance policy is policy that pays out to the insured person?s beneficiaries as long as the insured person passes away within the fixed term specified in the term life insurance policy. For example, a 10 year term life insurance policy would only pay out only if the insured person passed away within the 10 years. This is the least expensive type of life insurance.

Universal life insurance policy ? a universal life insurance policy is the most flexible type of life insurance policy. This type of policy allows you to adjust the term and the premiums to suit your personal needs. Universal life insurance stays in effect as long as the cash value can cover the costs of the policy

Variable life insurance policy - a variable life insurance policy allows the insured person to decide exactly how the insurance payments should be invested. With a variable life insurance policy, it?s possible to tie the performance of the policy with the financial markets.

In general, every person should take out a life insurance policy, but this becomes even more important if you have any loved ones such as a spouse, children, or aging parents who are dependent on you. It?s a difficult enough time when a loved one passes away, but a life insurance policy at least allows you to make sure that the loved ones you would leave behind would be taken care of in their time of need.