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14 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • November 2016 As it turns out, finding a life insurance policy that's right for you and your family can be difficult because there isn't a standard one that will work for everyone. Although choosing the best life insurance policy differs depends heavily on indi- vidual circumstances, the information in this article should help you to become, at a minimum, better educated on how to approach the process. There are two main types o f life insurance policies you can purchase: A WHOLE LIFE (also referred to as permanent) insurance policy and TERM LIFE insurance policy. WRITTEN BY HAILEY ROSS Term and Whole Life Insurance Term life insurance provides coverage for set period of time often ranging between one to 30 years. Whole life insurance lasts until age 100 or death, whichever comes first, and also comes with a cash value. Cash value builds similarly to home equity and becomes tax-free money which you can use for emergencies. Michael Smith, an insurance agent for State Farm, says term policies are typically better to start out with because they're a lot less expensive. "A lot of people start out with term. As they grow in their career or in their marriage and their needs change and maybe their financial situations change, [they're] able to purchase more insur- ance, [and] then they migrate towards the perma- nent or whole life coverage," Smith says. "There's a different policy for every individual—a lot of it depends on what you're able to afford." However, some fami- lies do a combination of term and perma- nent. For example, families might purchase a small whole life policy and a large 20-year term policy that will keep them until the kids get out of college. Then when the term goes away, they still have the permanent policy. Smith also recommends getting a policy for children as early as possible because the older you are, the more expensive insurance becomes. For State Farm, you can purchase a policy as soon as the newborn reaches 14 days. "The significance of getting it at that age is that you're never going to be in better health than you are at that point, and then you're locked into the lowest rate," Smith says. "It's affordable…and if you get one that builds cash value, which most people do because you're getting it so much less expensive, then you can utilize those funds for college, buying their first car, helping with buying their first home, or use on their wedding." Meeting needs now, in the future, and in special circumstances