Life insurance cash value is easier to calculate on some policies than it is on others. If you have a traditional whole life insurance product, the cash value calculation is relatively easy. If your policy is a universal or variable, it becomes a little more difficult. You can estimate the values and come close, however. For variable products, watching the fluctuations of the market help you know when the cash value increases.
Instructions
1. Hunt for the cash value chart in the back of your policy if you own a traditional whole life policy. Calculating the cash value for this type of policy is relatively easy one you find the chart.
2. Count how many years you've had the policy.
3. Look for your age at the time you purchased the policy. Some companies use nearest age and some use attained age. Check the first sheet of your policy to see the age your company used at the time of purchase.
4. Find the chart with that age in the back of the policy. Normally, the number of years you own the policy is at the top of the chart and your age is on the side. You'll find the cash value per thousand where the line for your age intersects with the column for the number of years you've held the policy.
5. Multiply the number you found by the number of thousands of death benefit. If your death benefit is $100,000, you multiply the number from the chart by 100. That's your cash value.
6. Expect it to be a little harder to find the cash value of your universal life or variable. If you have an older statement, you can estimate the value of the universal by finding how much premium goes toward your cash value from each payment, multiplying that times the number of payments you made, adding the additional amount to the cash value on the statement and using the present interest rate to add the interest accrued.
7. Call the customer service line for information on either the universal or the variable life. Often you'll get an automated voice telling you the cash value. Variable life policies vary with the market. The policy value comes from the investment values at the close of the market day.
Tags: cash value, cash value, your policy, death benefit, find cash
