A term life insurance covers a person for a substantial period of life, such as ten, twenty or thirty years. A person has to pay premiums, or insurance rates, on the term life policy during this period. Supposing the person dies within the life of the policy, then the value of the policy is provided to the beneficiary.

Term life insurance policies have a serious disadvantage. If the person remains alive when the policy tenure comes to an end, there can be no claim. There will be no monetary benefits at the end of the term. This implies the money paid as premiums is wasted.

A term life insurance policy can be made for a period of one to hundred years. If it is a one-year policy, then the cost of coverage is greater. If the policy is extended, then the cost of coverage rises. In general cases, a term life insurance policy can be taken until a person reaches 75 years of age. For policies going beyond that period, the term insurance rates or premiums are considerably higher, and it makes better sense to select a whole life insurance policy.

There are many kinds of term life insurance policies based on the coverage they provide. Of these, the five popular types are flat rate cover, decreasing cover, family income benefit, increasing term assurance and convertible term assurance. The flat rate cover is the most popular, as it has a fixed value of term insurance policy rates that are determined from the beginning.

There is a provision to convert a term life insurance policy into a whole life insurance policy later on. This depends on the state of your health. If one upgrades, then the whole life insurance rates are much higher than the term life insurance rates.