
Variable life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance policy with a built-in cash accumulation component that allows for the investment of the cash value in available options. Variable life insurance typically permits you to take out a loan against your cash value, which grows based on your investment choices. When you borrow from your policy’s cash value, it’s treated as a loan from the insurer. Variable life insurance involves investment risks, just like mutual funds do. If the investment options you selected for your policy perform poorly, you could lose money, including your initial investment.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Premium | Fixed if it’s a traditional fixed-rate variable life policy |
| Flexible if it’s a variable adjustable life insurance policy | |
| Cash value | Grows based on investment choices |
| Can be borrowed against | |
| Can be impacted by loans and poor investment performance | |
| Can be impacted by monthly charges | |
| Can be impacted by the payments made to the policy | |
| Can be impacted by the rates of return of the options in which the cash value is invested |
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What You'll Learn
- Variable life insurance loans are treated as loans from the insurer
- Variable life insurance policies typically permit you to take out loans without incurring surrender charges or paying federal taxes
- Variable life insurance involves investment risks, just like mutual funds
- Variable life insurance typically has fixed premiums if it’s a traditional fixed-rate variable life policy
- Variable life insurance is only appropriate for individuals with specific life insurance protection needs

Variable life insurance loans are treated as loans from the insurer
Variable life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance policy with a built-in cash accumulation component that allows for the investment of the cash value in available options. Variable life insurance policies typically permit you to take out a loan against your cash value, which grows based on your investment choices. When you borrow from your policy’s cash value, it’s treated as a loan from the insurer.
Variable life insurance typically has fixed premiums if it’s a traditional fixed-rate variable life policy. With this type, the premium remains consistent over time, with a portion allocated towards the policy’s cash value component. However, there is also a type called variable adjustable life insurance, where the policyholder has some flexibility to adjust premiums within certain limits. Paying above the minimum on these policies may help build cash value more quickly.
The performance of your policy is impacted by several factors: the payments you make to the policy, the rates of return of the options in which you invest your cash value, and the charges we deduct each month for the cost of insurance and any other expenses. Generally speaking, as long as your cash surrender value can support the ongoing monthly deductions, the premium you choose to pay is flexible.
Loans or poor investment performance may also lower your cash value. Failure to maintain sufficient cash value may cause your policy to lapse and terminate. Variable life insurance involves investment risks, just like mutual funds do. If the investment options you selected for your policy perform poorly, you could lose money, including your initial investment.
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Variable life insurance policies typically permit you to take out loans without incurring surrender charges or paying federal taxes
Variable life insurance policies typically allow you to take out loans on a portion of the policy's cash value without incurring surrender charges or paying federal taxes. This is because the policy is the sole security for the loan. The cash value of a variable life insurance policy grows based on your investment choices.
Variable life insurance policies have fixed premiums if it's a traditional fixed-rate variable life policy. However, there is also a type of variable life insurance called variable adjustable life insurance, where the policyholder has some flexibility to adjust premiums within certain limits. Paying above the minimum on these policies may help build cash value more quickly.
The performance of your policy is impacted by several factors, including the payments you make, the rates of return on your investments, and the charges deducted each month for the cost of insurance and other expenses.
Loans or poor investment performance may lower your cash value. If you fail to maintain sufficient cash value, your policy may lapse and terminate. Variable life insurance involves investment risks, just like mutual funds. If the investment options you select perform poorly, you could lose money, including your initial investment.
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Variable life insurance involves investment risks, just like mutual funds
Variable life insurance policies typically permit you to take out a loan against your cash value, which grows based on your investment choices. When you borrow from your policy’s cash value, it’s treated as a loan from the insurer. For the borrowed portion of the cash value, the insurance company will charge loan interest, but you also continue to earn interest on the loaned amount, although at a rate lower than the rate charged.
The performance of your policy is impacted by several factors: the payments you make to the policy, the rates of return of the options in which you invest your cash value, and the charges deducted each month for the cost of insurance and any other expenses. If the investment options you selected for your policy perform poorly, you could lose money, including your initial investment.
Variable universal life (VUL) is a type of permanent life insurance policy with a built-in cash accumulation component that allows for the investment of the cash value in available options. Generally speaking, as long as your cash surrender value can support the ongoing monthly deductions, the premium you choose to pay is flexible.
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Variable life insurance typically has fixed premiums if it’s a traditional fixed-rate variable life policy
Variable life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance policy with a built-in cash accumulation component that allows for the investment of the cash value in available options. Variable life insurance typically has fixed premiums if it’s a traditional fixed-rate variable life policy. With this type, the premium remains consistent over time, with a portion allocated towards the policy’s cash value component.
However, there is also a type called variable adjustable life insurance, where the policyholder has some flexibility to adjust premiums within certain limits. Paying above the minimum on these policies may help build cash value more quickly. Variable universal life (VUL) policies generally allow the policyholder to choose a flexible premium, as long as their cash surrender value can support the ongoing monthly deductions.
With a variable life insurance policy, you can take out a loan against your cash value, which grows based on your investment choices. When you borrow from your policy’s cash value, it’s treated as a loan from the insurer. The policy is the sole security for such a loan, and you will be charged interest on the borrowed amount. However, you will also continue to earn interest on the loaned amount, although at a lower rate than the rate charged.
Loans or poor investment performance may lower your cash value, and failure to maintain sufficient cash value may cause your policy to lapse and terminate. Variable life insurance involves investment risks, just like mutual funds do. If the investment options you select perform poorly, you could lose money, including your initial investment.
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Variable life insurance is only appropriate for individuals with specific life insurance protection needs
With a variable life insurance policy, you can take out a loan against your cash value, which grows based on your investment choices. When you borrow from your policy’s cash value, it’s treated as a loan from the insurer. The policy is the sole security for such a loan. For the borrowed portion of the cash value, loan interest is charged, but you also continue to earn interest on the loaned amount, although at a rate lower than the rate charged.
Variable life insurance involves investment risks, just like mutual funds do. If the investment options you selected for your policy perform poorly, you could lose money, including your initial investment. Loans or poor investment performance may also lower your cash value. Failure to maintain sufficient cash value may cause your policy to lapse and terminate.
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Frequently asked questions
Variable life insurance is a type of permanent life insurance policy with a built-in cash accumulation component that allows for the investment of the cash value in available options. Variable life insurance typically has fixed premiums if it’s a traditional fixed-rate variable life policy. However, there is also a type called variable adjustable life insurance, where the policyholder has some flexibility to adjust premiums within certain limits.
Yes, you can take out a loan against your variable life insurance policy. This is treated as a loan from the insurer and is taken from the cash value of your policy.
If you are unable to pay back the loan, your policy may lapse and terminate.











































