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Term life insurance pays a death benefit to your beneficiaries if you die during the policy “term.” A typical term policy offers premiums that are guaranteed to remain the same for a period, say for 10 or 20 years, or to a given age such as age 65. After this “level-premium period,” you can continue the policy but premiums typically increase each year based on the insured’s age.

Next Term Life is brought to you by Next by Pacific Life. It is term life insurance that provides coverage to age 65 with premiums that are guaranteed to remain the same during that term unless you make changes to the coverage. If you want insurance protection after age 65, you can either renew your policy annually until age 95 (with substantial annual increases in premium) or convert to a number of eligible Pacific Life cash value products. This is called conversion and is available to age 65.

In the spirit of Next by Pacific Life, we chose to simplify things. 65 is the typical age when most of your financial obligations are taken care of, and there is less worry about financially supporting your beneficiaries should something unexpected happen to you. While in the early years, guaranteed premiums to age 65 may be more expensive compared to the 10 and 20-year products, the cost of Next Term Life insurance is significantly lower over time.

Unlike a typical term policy that generally lasts 10 or 20 years, Next Term Life insurance keeps you covered to age 65. It also differs from other term policies as it lets you easily and affordably increase your coverage. With a typical term policy, you either have to increase coverage on your existing policy or buy an additional policy, to get more protection. Both options generally require you to go through the underwriting process again. That means you may get declined for additional coverage or you may end up paying more for that coverage, especially if your health has changed.

Next Term Life, on the other hand, lets you increase your coverage for certain life milestones, which we call qualifying life events without having to go through the underwriting hassle again. And, Next Term Life locks in your health rating at purchase. So regardless of your health, the cost for any future coverage increases is based on your health rating when you first bought the policy.

Locking in your health rating is beneficial because the younger and healthier you are, typically the lower the premium. When you purchase Next Term Life, your health rating is locked in. For qualifying life events after that, you can increase your coverage with ease, without additional medical underwriting. And your premium for the increased coverage will be calculated based on your original locked-in health rating and your age at the time of the increase.

Next Term Life gives you the unique ability to increase coverage without medical underwriting when you hit some of life’s major milestones (aka qualifying life events). Qualifying life events require you to submit proof of the life event, and complete a change form, authorization, and terminal illness attestation (that states you are not expected to die within 24 months).

When you purchase Next Term Life, our underwriting process will determine your personalized Maximum Coverage Amount which represents the maximum total coverage you can increase to with qualifying events. Each life event also has its own limit for increases and must meet a minimum increase amount of at least $25,000.

Get Married: Whether it’s a marriage, domestic partnership or civil union, we’ve got you covered. For marriage, the proof of this qualifying life event is dependent on federal law or the law of the state in which the union occurred. Typically, that would be a copy of your marriage or union certification. For marriage, you can increase coverage up to your personalized Maximum Coverage Amount.

Add a Member to the Family: Get peace of mind for your newborn baby, newly adopted child or step-child with additional coverage. Required proof of life event would be either a birth certificate, adoption paperwork, social security number, or required attestation. You can increase coverage up to your personalized Maximum Coverage Amount.

Find a place to call home or buy a new car: Dial up your coverage to help pay off your new mortgage or personal loan. To increase up to the current outstanding loan balance, you'll need proof of your life event, such as the loan closing paperwork through an FDIC-recognized financial institution that documents the loan balance. Note this would exclude open lines of credit, credit card debt, or refinancing of a current loan. Your total coverage is capped at your Maximum Coverage Amount.

Celebrate a Promotion: Help protect your beneficiaries as your standard of living increases. If your salary goes up by more than 10% over the prior year, you'll need to provide proof with your current and previous W2s. You can increase up to your current coverage amount multiplied by the percentage of the year-over-year salary increase. Note, “salary” includes wages, bonuses, and commissions. And remember that your total coverage is capped at your Maximum Coverage Amount.

If you want more coverage than the qualifying life event allows, you can still increase your coverage but you will need to go through underwriting again.

Next Term Life lets you request an increase or decrease in your coverage at any time. An increase in coverage not due to qualifying life events would require additional underwriting and a new health rating, if applicable would apply to the additional coverage. The health rating and premium for the previous coverage do not change. On the bright side, there’s no need to buy a second policy, as your Next Term Life policy can easily flex up or down. If you ever need to decrease, just let us know and we’ll make the change on your coverage amount. (Note: you can decrease in increments of $50,000 but must maintain a minimum coverage of $250,000).