Permanent insurance implies protection for life. It comes in participating (with profits) and non-participating, and can be whole life, limited pay life, endowment or Universal Life. Whole Life, often called Ordinary life or PAR is the original permanent life insurance contract. These plans have level premiums over the life of the contract and on death pay the sum insured to the beneficiary. Premiums are higher than term assurance and this difference in mortality costs builds cash values used to fund higher mortality costs at older ages. Cash values can be guaranteed and increase over the life of the contract.

PAR policies owners share in the risk and profits of the company’s participating policy funds. These funds are conservatively invested in bonds, mortgages, property and stocks to provide steady returns. PAR policyholders share in profits through dividends, which reflect investment experience after allowing for expenses, mortality and profits. Declared dividends can be used to return or reduce premiums, or increase the sum insured and cash values.

PAR products have a “bundled” design, where the premiums’ breakdown into mortality costs, expenses, investments and profit share is not disclosed. The policyholder’s statement shows their premium, cash value, current insurance coverage and the publicly stated dividend rate.

PAR policies are suitable for policyholders who are: more risk averse; want balanced, stable steady returns; want the insurance company to control their investments; have stable cash flow to fund premiums; and are satisfied with less flexibility.

Universal Life (UL) is the second type of permanent insurance. It has become very popular as it allows the policyholder considerable flexibility in the amount and timing of premium payments. The “unbundled” product design discloses the various pricing elements such as interest earnings formulas, mortality costs, and company expenses.

To understand UL, it is useful to think of it as a bucket of money into which you pour your premium dollars. The bucket has a tap at the bottom, which the company opens to take out the expenses for the policy such as the annual premium tax, the monthly cost of insurance and expenses. The money remaining in the bucket earns interest and growth based on how the funds have been invested in the selected investment accounts.

In a UL policy the cost of insurance and expense charges are guaranteed. UL policies offer numerous investment options in fixed income and equity linked indexes, and managed accounts where the policyholder can choose where his funds are invested. Certain fixed income investment accounts offer minimum guarantees.

UL offers more flexibility in life coverage, deposits, and investment choices. It is suitable for those who: want to exercise choice and control of their asset mix; are comfortable with normal investment risk; want to monitor and track their investment performance; want an unbundled policy with guaranteed costs; want ongoing flexibility to change their policy as needed.

A key advantage of PAR or UL is that, under section 148(3) of the federal Income Tax Act, assets accumulate within a tax-exempt life insurance contract free of annual accrual taxation. On death proceeds pass tax-free to one’s beneficiaries. However it is also possible to deposit amounts in excess of the normal mortality and expense costs and invest these extra amounts in the contract on a tax-deferred basis and provide future favorable income options.