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term life insurance

Term life insurance is a simple promise that the people you love receive an agreed sum of money if you pass away within a set number of years.

This is the kindest, plainest kind of life cover, and it is often the one that matters most. You choose an amount, say ₦20,000,000, and a length of time, say 10 or 20 years.

For as long as you keep paying the small premium, your named people receive that money if you pass away during those years. If you live past the term, the cover simply ends, and nobody is paid.

That can feel like a loss, but it is the very reason term life is so cheap. You are paying purely for protection, not building any savings inside it, and that focus is its gift.

For a parent with children, school fees, or a home to protect, this is what stands between your family and a money crisis landing on top of a grief. It replaces the income you would have brought home, so life can keep moving for the people who counted on you.

The sweetest time to buy it is while you are young and well, because the price is set from your age and health at the start. Name your people clearly, and tell them the policy exists, because a gift nobody knows about cannot reach anyone.

At 32, you take ₦15,000,000 of cover for 20 years and pay roughly ₦18,000 a year. If anything happens to you in those years, your family receives ₦15,000,000, enough to keep the children in school and steady the home.

Questions people ask

What if I stop paying?

The cover pauses and then lapses after a short grace period, and no payout comes later, so it is worth putting the premium on a standing order and forgetting about it.

Is it better than a savings plan?

For pure protection, yes, because it does the job far more cheaply. Saving and protecting are two different jobs, and asking one product to do both usually short changes you on both.

Who should I name?

The people who lean on your income, most often a spouse, or your children through an adult you trust completely.

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