Other Permanent Life Insurance Options

Indexed universal life is a type of universal life insurance that puts investments into index funds, designed by the insurer, which try to track the stock market. IUL policies are more complicated than plain universal life policies, often including caps on returns and complex fee structures.

Variable universal life is more flexible and more complex than IUL. It allows policyholders to invest in many other channels to try to increase their returns. However, those investments come with a lot more risk.

Variable life sounds a lot like variable universal life but is actually different. It’s an alternative to whole life with a fixed payout. However, policyholders can use stocks and other investments to grow the cash value of the policy. Both variable universal life and variable life come with increased risk and both are treated as securities — i.e., stocks and bonds — by the government.