Life Insurance can seem a little intimidating, but truth be told, it really isn’t. The trick is understanding the different types of insurance available to you. Once that is out of the way, picking your plan is a piece of cake.

1. Whole Life Insurance is one of the most common types out there. The premiums on this plan don’t ever change. This may be a good plan to go for if you aren’t too concerned about price, and if you have a thing for consistency. Whole life insurance is one of the more expensive policies, but it comes with a death benefit as well as cash value. Something else you may like is that the death benefit can be increased through using policy dividends.

2. Term life Insurance is a less common policy. This is similar to whole life, but less expensive, and you don’t get any cash value. Doesn’t sound very appealing does it? Well it isn’t, if you are over forty years of age. But if you haven’t reached the big “four-oh” yet, it may be something to consider, especially if your family doesn’t have hereditary diseases.

3. Variable Life Insurance is probably the most expensive of all the plans. The company will build up a cash reserve with your money, and then you get to choose how to invest it (depending on the options they provide you with, of course.) The only not-so-great aspect is that you can lose that money just as fast as you earned it. It all depends on how well your investments perform. So if you’re not a fan of taking risks, I would not recommend this type of life insurance.

4. Last but not least is Universal Life Insurance. This plan boasts flexibility as its main attraction for most people. If you really like having control of all aspects of your policy, this is the way to go. With Universal Life insurance you can choose the value of your premium, and even your death benefit. The only downside to this is that the company usually tacks on a fair amount in administrative fees. So you pay for the flexibility. But for some people, it’s more than worth it. In terms of price, this plan will be more expensive than term life insurance, but less expensive than variable life insurance. So you have a nice middle ground option in Universal Life Insurance.

All of these plans have their pros and cons. What it really comes down to is how much control over the money you put in to be in your hands, and what’s important to you. And there you go…Life insurance isn’t too intimidating after all, is it?