Can Whole Life Insurance Be Cashed Out?

  1. 4330 POINTS
    Jerry Vanderzanden, CLU, ChFC
    Co-Founder, Coastal Financial Partners Group, California
    A policy owner may cancel life insurance. The coverage will cease. Whole life insurance, whether participating in dividends or not, may have a cash value if it has been in force for a few years. If the policy has more cash surrender value than the cumulative net premiums paid in, the difference is gain which is subject to income tax.
    Answered on May 10, 2013
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  2. 37376 POINTS
    David G. Pipes, CLU®, RICP®
    Business Development Officer, T.D. McNeil Insurance Services, Fresno, California
    The cash value represents the funds that the company has set aside to make sure that they can maintain your policy at a level premium until you die.  Any time that you don’t want the coverage, the company is willing to give you the cash value in exchange for releasing them of their responsibility to pay a death claim.  This is relatively simple and the company is generally quick to respond.
    Answered on August 28, 2014
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  3. 21750 POINTS
    Jim Winkler
    CEO/Owner, Winkler Financial Group, Houston, Texas
    That is a great question! Your whole life policy will indeed have a cash value that you can receive if you decide to get rid of the policy. But here are some things to think about before you do. How will you be protected if you do? (Hopefully you have purchased another whole life policy from somewhere else first) Does it make more sense to just borrow from the policy as opposed to cancelling it? If it's a matter of affordability, have you spoken with your agent about maybe taking the policy as "paid up insurance", or reducing the coverage to make the payments cheaper, or even end? It is important to not act without thinking about protecting your family first, okay? In the event that you want to go ahead and cash it out, contact your agent, and tell them you want to "surrender" the policy, and ask what the surrender value to you will be. The company will subtract fees, loans, etc from the cash value, so you will want to know the surrender value, as that's what the check will be written for. Once your request is submitted, the process is fairly quick. I hope that helps, thanks for asking!
    Answered on August 29, 2014
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