Kivulink
Every term explained before you sign. Always.
We design policies around your goals, and we review the one you already own for free.
Pick the length by the years, not by the round number. A 10-year term taken out today ends while a child who is eight now is still at university, and while a 30-year mortgage still has two decades to run. Buying the longer term today is also cheaper than re-applying at an older age.
Which one is for you.
Most people arrive knowing they need life insurance and not knowing which kind.
| Type | What it is for | How long it lasts | Cash value | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Replacing your income while people depend on it: a mortgage, young children, a spouse who could not carry the household alone. | A fixed 10 to 30 years, then it ends. | None | Lowest |
| Whole life | Coverage that has to still be there in forty years, plus a guaranteed savings component you can borrow against. | Your whole life, as long as premiums are paid. | Guaranteed, and slow at the start | Highest |
| Indexed universal life | Permanent coverage with flexible premiums and cash value tied to a market index. Powerful when it is structured well. | Your whole life, if it stays funded. | Market-linked, not guaranteed | High, and variable |
| Final expense | A funeral, a headstone, the flights that bring family in. Small, simplified approval, often no medical exam. | Your whole life. | Small | Low, on a small face amount |
What moves a term premium.
Six things decide the price of term cover. Two of them you control today, and one gets worse every year you wait.
| Factor | Effect on your premium | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Your age when you apply | Rises every year | The rate locks at the age on the application and stays there for the whole term. This is the one that never moves back. |
| Tobacco or nicotine | Rises sharply | Usually the single largest health factor. Most carriers reclassify you after a set tobacco-free period, so it is worth re-applying later. |
| Health at application | Rises | A diagnosis you do not have yet cannot be priced in. A diagnosis you already have usually can be covered, at a higher rate. |
| Coverage amount | Rises with the face value | Not proportionally. Doubling the payout rarely doubles the premium, which is why we quote two amounts and let you see both. |
| Term length | Rises with the years | A 30-year term costs more than a 20. Match it to the years people depend on you, not to a round number. |
| Which carrier | Varies widely | Carriers underwrite the same person differently. This is the part an independent agency is for. |
That is roughly what $250,000 of term cover runs for a healthy 35-year-old. It is one real example, not a quote for you: your age, health, tobacco use, term length and carrier all move it.
Estimated figure, shown for illustration. No premium, coverage amount or approval is guaranteed without a completed application and carrier underwriting.
Whole life and IUL are a different question.
Term is priced almost entirely on risk. Permanent policies are priced on risk and on how much of your money the policy is asked to hold, which is why two quotes for the same person can look nothing alike.
| What you decide | Whole life | Indexed universal life |
|---|---|---|
| How much you fund it | Fixed. The premium is set and does not move, which is the point of it. | Flexible, and that flexibility is the risk. Under-fund an IUL and it can lapse decades in. |
| What the cash value does | Grows on a guaranteed schedule, slowly at first. | Tracks a market index within a cap and a floor. Not guaranteed, and not an investment account. |
| Where the cost sits | Predictable for life. | Internal charges rise with your age. A policy that looked cheap at 40 can be expensive at 70. |
| What to read before signing | The guaranteed column, not the projected one. | The guaranteed column, the funding assumption, and the year cash value starts to build. |
Both are legitimate products and both are sold badly more often than they should be. Nobody should be sold a permanent policy without having been shown what the term version would have cost. Ask us to go through the illustration before you sign: the difference between a good permanent policy and a bad one is invisible until somebody walks you through it.
Cash value accumulation depends on the product, the premiums paid and the carrier's terms. An indexed policy is not an investment account, is not a savings account, and a policy that stops being funded can lapse. Guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing carrier.
Quote permanent cover ↗The policy that pays for a funeral.
People usually arrive at final expense for a specific reason: a parent in their seventies, a health history that makes a large policy expensive or impossible, or a wish not to leave the cost of a burial to whoever is left.
Face amounts are small by design. Approval is simplified, often on health questions alone with no medical exam, and there are guaranteed-issue options for people other policies will decline. The premium is fixed and the cover does not expire. For a family in this community it also has to cover what a funeral here costs, including flights for relatives who are not in Texas.
You can quote final expense yourself online through our Ethos link, including guaranteed-issue options. If you are helping a parent arrange this, sit down and do it together; if the application needs us, we are told and we follow up.
Quote final expense ↗One policy we were asked to look at.
We review policies bought anywhere, including from other agents, at no charge, and we would rather be the agency you call in five years than the one that churned your policy this year. Sometimes the answer is that the policy is fine and to keep it. This one was not.
An IUL is not a bad product. It is a product that behaves very differently depending on how it is built, and that difference is invisible until someone reads the illustration with you.
Have my policy reviewedThe cheapest policy is the one you buy today.
Someone in our community kept meaning to buy life insurance. He was young, he was healthy, and it was always going to be next month. He died before he got to it, and he left young children behind. A $250,000 term policy would have cost him less than a phone bill.
We tell that story because it is the honest reason this page exists.
Term life is inexpensive for most healthy people, the application takes minutes, and the rate you lock today is the rate you keep for the whole term. The only thing that gets more expensive is waiting.
Life insurance questions, answered.
How much coverage do I need?
It depends on your income, your debts, and who would struggle without you.
A common starting point is enough to clear the mortgage and replace your income for the years your children are still at home. We work it out with you rather than applying a one-size multiplier.
Can I get life insurance without a Social Security number?
Often yes. Several carriers accept an ITIN and other documentation. It narrows which carriers will write the policy, which is exactly the sort of thing an independent agency exists to sort out. Ask us and we will tell you where you stand.
Will I need a medical exam?
Not always. Many term policies now issue on health questions alone, and final expense products are usually simplified approval. Whether an exam is required depends on your age, the coverage amount and the carrier.
What happens to a term policy at the end of the term?
Cover ends. Most policies allow you to renew at a much higher rate or convert to permanent coverage before the term is up, and the conversion deadline is a date worth knowing years in advance. We flag it when we set the policy up.
Life carriers we hold 5+
One application is rated by all of them. Appointments vary by state and no carrier writes every product everywhere. See the full network.
Written and reviewed by Innocent Muvunyi, Licensed Insurance Agent.
NPN 22182172. AHIP certified, CMS FFM registered.
Last reviewed .
Check this licence with the Texas Department of Insurance.