Term Life Insurance on MetLife.com
Term Life Insurance: image of smiling young couple
What is Term Life Insurance?

Simple, temporary, generally short-term coverage.  It’s usually the most economical—at least initially.

 

Level Term Life Insurance
Compare Types of Life Insurance

What is Term Life Insurance?

Term life insurance is generally the least expensive and least complicated type of life insurance. It provides insurance protection for a specified period of time, such as 10, 20 or 30 years.1 If you die within the term period and the policy is in force, a death benefit is paid to your beneficiary. If you are still living at the end of the term, protection ceases unless your term life insurance policy is renewed. There is no "accumulation" element, or cash value with term life insurance.

Who's it for?

  • People with a temporary need for life insurance protection. 
  • Those who need a large amount of insurance protection but have limited budgets. 
  • People with specific business needs (e.g., business owners who want to cover the life of a key employee who has a set number of years until retirement).

Benefits of Term Life Insurance:

  • It provides insurance protection for a low cost (at least initially).  
  • If your needs change, most term life insurance policies allow you to convert to a permanent life insurance policy without having to take a medical exam or provide other information about your health. 
  • Term life insurance is a good way to supplement other coverage when you have added financial responsibilities for a given period of time (e.g., mortgage, college expenses). 
  • Death benefits are generally received free from income tax.

Things You Should Consider:

  • Premiums generally increase with age and they could become unaffordable later in life. There is no cash-value element with term life insurance, so you miss the tax-deferred growth of the cash value of permanent life insurance policies, such as Whole Life Insurance. 
  • Once the term period expires, unless you renew your policy, the insurance coverage ceases and the policy has no further value.

Level Term Insurance
Compare Types of Life Insurance

To learn more, request a no-obligation consultation with a

MetLife Representative.

 


Life insurance issued by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York, NY, 10166, MetLife Investors USA Insurance Company, Irvine, CA, 92614 (except in NY), and First MetLife Investors Insurance Company, New York, NY (NY only), members of the MetLife family.

Like most insurance policies, MetLife's have exclusions, reductions of benefits and limitations and terms for keeping them in force. Your representative will be happy to provide you with the costs and details.

1 Policies may differ depending on the state in which issued. Policy terminates at age 80 in New York. In Oregon, where the policy is convertible in the level term period only (e.g., 10, 15, or 20 years). 30-year policies are not available in Oregon and Washington


 
Log In to Your
Account
Skip related links
RelatedLinks
Life Insurance Calculator
Life Insurance FAQs
Life Insurance Glossary
Message to Policyholders in the Midwest
Term Life and Disability Package - Learn More
Privacy Policy
Legal Notices

Copyright 2003-08 Metropolitan Life Insurance Company NY, NY - All Rights Reserved - L12060384
PEANUTS Copyright United Feature Syndicate, Inc.