Money or your life or both?

Life assurance is more of a flexible friend than you may think. It all depends on your needs.

There are so many different varieties of insurance linked to the life of the policyholder and so many life assurance companies with similar offerings that expert advice can be invaluable.

Term assurance
At its simplest, in exchange for paying a premium, the life office will agree to pay out a certain sum if the insured dies before a certain date.

If the policyholder does not die within the term, the policy merely lapses. There is no payout of any sort. These policies are usually cheap to buy and they perform the useful function of providing protection for those who benefit from the policy, such as family members, if the policyholder dies.

The same principle of protection applies to a number of other types of insurance whether the benefit is, for example, to provide specific help to the deceased's family, or to repay a mortgage.

Critical Illness Cover
Please see our health page for more information

Investment Bonds

Distribution Bonds

The main aim of the Distribution Bond is to provide a regular income of around 5% a year, with income options to suit your needs.

You want your money to produce a good income, but you also want the security of knowing that your capital is not exposed to a high level of risk. If you have a lump sum to invest over the medium to long-term, the Standard Life Distribution Bond could provide you with the steady and reliable income you've been looking for.

However what you get back is not guaranteed and depends on many factors including the investment returns achieved and our charges. The value of your investment can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you paid in.

With Profit Bonds

The With Profits Bond is designed to offer the potential for capital growth for the more cautious investor over the medium to long term. This means it should usually be held for at least 5 years. It offers the choice of charging structures (Level and Stepped), and can be used to provide a regular 'income' by allowing regular withdrawals.

What you get back depends on many factors including the bonus growth rates, the investment returns achieved and charges. You may get back less than you paid in.

Unit Linked Bonds

The Unit-linked Bond offers a range of unit-linked funds each having its own return/risk and control profile. This enables you to select funds that match your attitude to risk and control. You can either link your bond fully to one fund or link it to a combination of funds.

Unit-linked investment bonds are investment-based plans, which can offer the opportunity for better returns than a traditional bank or building society although with higher risk as your capital is not secure within a unit-linked investment bond as it would be within a bank or building society account.

These bonds are intended as long-term investments and therefore require sufficient time to grow.

Unit linked bonds do not guarantee to pay out a guaranteed sum assured. Your investment is made directly into the assets defined by the fund investment objectives and the value of your investments varies in direct proportion to the value of the underlying assets.

Unit Linked Bonds
With Profit Bonds
Distribution Bonds

Many policies provide not only protection but also investment. The principle here is that the premiums that are paid in respect of the policy are invested in order to benefit the policyholder or other beneficiary at a certain point in the future.

Endowments
These are a common form of investment policy. Regular premiums are paid, and when the term of the endowment expires a lump sum is paid out. The lump sum may be used to repay a mortgage, for example.

Most endowments have a protection element such that if the policyholder should die then a lump sum becomes payable.

Whole-of-life policies
Similar in nature to term assurances, whole-of-life policies provide cover for the whole of the insured's life. Generally more expensive than term assurance because there is certainty that the policyholder will die at some time. The benefit payable on death will be either a lump sum or the value of the invested fund, whichever is higher.

With-profits
A with-profits policy is a type of investment fund.

Policies that are with profits give the insured the extra benefit of a bonus that is a share of the profits from the funds that the premiums have been invested in.

How and where the premiums are to be invested is worth establishing if you are going to invest in a with-profits product, such as single premium insurance bonds for example. But as with all long-term investments in the stock market or in interest bearing instruments, it is important to stay with them for the long term. That way they have time to build up and "smooth" the short-term ups and downs in rates of return.

Some policies may also benefit from terminal bonuses if they are held for their full term. When choosing insurance products for investment it is important to be aware of what charges, fees or commissions may be attached to them and when profits and bonuses are added to the policies. Some, for example, will be heavily weighted with charges at the beginning of their policy life.

In summary, life related insurances are all about what sort of benefits you want from them. If it is basic protection for loved ones when you die, then the costs can be quite modest and the policies quite straightforward. For full-blown investment products inclusive of life cover, the terms may be more complicated, but the long-term returns can be worthwhile. No one said that life assurance was necessarily easy to understand but it is an important ingredient in many people's personal financial portfolio.