Depending on the position you hold as a correctional officer, the type of corrections department you are employed by, or even if you are a full-time or a part-time correctional officer may determine the level of life insurance you are eligible for or if it is even offered at all.

I want to stress the importance of ensuring that you have life insurance as a correctional officer, being aware of the type of policy that you currently have, and, based on your family and financial needs, looking at the available options for supplementing your current level of life insurance coverage to ensure that your loved ones are adequately cared for and supported financially in the event something were to happen to you as a corrections officer in the line of duty.

So if you don’t know where to start, and you haven’t contacted an insurance agent locally, or you simply don’t know what to look for in life insurance policies, we can start by looking at the 3 different types of life insurance policies available, the most popular type of life insurance coverage, and which type of life insurance policy increases in real value throughout the duration of the policy, so let’s get started.

Term Life Insurance

When someone is in need of life insurance and does an online search for life insurance, the least expensive type of life insurance that you will initially come across at the lowest prices is that of term life insurance policies. Term Life insurance basically provides an established level of coverage at low premiums for a pre-determined amount of time, which is generally 10, 20, or 30 years.

For most people in there younger years just getting into the workforce, or of any age, term life insurance provides a great amount of coverage for affordable prices. The one thing to be aware of when purchasing term life insurance is that it doesn’t provide you the policyholder any cash value on the premiums paid in on the policy, which for most people isn’t an issue if they already have other types on investments in place.

Whole Life Insurance

Now the most common type of permanent life insurance available to correctional officers looking to increase overall coverage is whole life insurance. Where whole life insurance differs from term life insurance is this. Whole life insurance will remain in effect as long as you continue to make the premium payments, as opposed to term life insurance being in effect a certain amount of time.

Additionally, whole life insurance provides the policyholder with the ability to build cash value within the policy that they withdraw from if the need arises. The amount of the cash value accumulated is determined based on the percentage that is allocated to the cash-value account, which will grow on a tax-deferred basis, which is a great thing.

Universal Life Insurance

If you are a correctional officer or member of law enforcement that is looking for the best of both worlds, a combination between term life and whole life insurance then you’ve found it here in universal life insurance. Universal Life or “UL” combines the low cost of term life insurance with the ability to accrue cash value like with whole life insurance.

If you are a corrections officer, prison guard, or jailer, do the right thing for yourself, and your family by assessing the current level of your life insurance coverage if you currently have it, and if you feel that it isn’t quite sufficient then contact an agent or life insurance provider and discuss some of the options that are available to you today.