Life insurance is a gift children will grow to appreciate.

AT THE WPA golf tournament this July, I was approached by a good friend and fellow member, Frank, who said to me: “Hey Bob, why don’t you run an article about the greatest gift a grandparent can buy for their grandchildren: the gift of life insurance?”

Never one to turn down such a request — and seeing that September is Life Insurance Awareness Month — I thought I’d oblige Frank and discuss some of the benefits of purchasing insurance on young children, as well as a couple of great juvenile insurance certificates currently available through William Penn Association.

As children head back to school, now is the perfect time to consider starting them off with a foundation of life insurance. There are a few great options for getting your young loved ones off to an excellent start with life insurance.

First, if your child or grandchild is under the age of 21, consider the low-cost/high benefit options available with WPA’s Juvenile Term to Age 25 Plan. For a $25 annual or a low one-time payment (see chart at right), you can purchase a $20,000 “term to age 25” policy that is guaranteed to be converted to any permanent certificate when your child reaches age 25, and the new policy will be credited with up to 50 percent of the premiums paid for the juvenile policy. The payments are the same regardless of age, and the single payment option is the same for males and females. These certificates are extremely competitive in today’s marketplace.

Next, I’d like to focus on a couple of excellent “permanent” or whole life solutions.

Since life insurance involves a death benefit, it leads many to believe that life insurance is nothing more than death insurance. But, with permanent “whole life” certificates, there are many living benefits. Here are some of the benefits of purchasing a whole life certificate for your young children or grandchildren:

• The cost is established at a younger age and will never increase as the insured ages. You’ll pay the same rate at age 65 as you do at age 10, assuming you keep the certificate that long.

• Whole life certificates grow a cash value that can be borrowed against to pay for things such as a college education, car, home or wedding. It can also provide extra income if the insured should become disabled or lose their job.

• Dividends (while not guaranteed) are another way that whole life certificates accumulate extra cash and increase the death benefit. These funds are available in addition to the guaranteed cash values that accumulate within the certificate.

If you are interested in a whole life certificate, one of WPA’s most popular options for younger children is our 20 Pay Life Plan. With this plan, you make equal payments for a 20 year period. After 20 years, the certificate is “paid up” with no future payments, but all of the values continue to grow. Call your WPA agent or our Home Office sales team if you’d like a quote or more information on our 20 Pay Life Plan.

Lastly, I’d like to talk about an exciting new offer that is only available for a limited time for juveniles between the ages of 0 and 15.

William Penn Association is proud to offer a Single Payment Whole Life Plan that gives the insured an additional $5,000 of coverage with the purchase of at least $10,000 of life insurance coverage. The additional $5,000 is offered as a special fraternal benefit to all qualifying juvenile members as our way of saying thanks for becoming a juvenile life member. This contract begins building a nice cash value immediately, and for a low one-time payment provides your child or grandchild with a lifetime of benefits. See the box on the next page for details and standard prices for a $10,000 base certificate. This offer may not be around for long, so don’t delay — call today!

Of course, no matter which plan you decide upon, you can rest assured that all of our plans will provide your loved ones with the fraternal benefits you have become accustomed to over the years, including scholarships to all qualifying members seeking higher education.

If you are a parent or grandparent, perhaps it’s time to consider starting your young ones out on the path to financial stability by starting them off with one of WPA’s juvenile insurance plans. Then, as Frank put it, “you’ll be giving them the greatest gift a grandparent can give their grandchild”…and leaving a legacy as well.

Why not call on your WPA agent today to explore all the options available to you? Don’t have an agent? Call the Home Office sales team at 1-800-848-7366, ext. 120, and we’ll be happy to assist you.

Happy Life Insurance Awareness Month! (September)