The Definitive Guide to Paid Up Additions: 2015 Edition

We love paid-up additions and we've gushed over them for years now, but we’ve made a little misstep in terms of being so broad in our discussion about them.

Not all paid-up additions are created equal.

While there are more characteristics with paid-up additions that are similar than different, there are some sharp contrasts that very much matter.

Here are four items we've included (for each of the 12 companies featured) in this guide to ensure that you have the information you need to make an informed decision:

1. Maximum annual paid-up additions payments

2. Lifetime maximum paid-up additions payments

3. Payment flexibility (can the policyholder adjust the paid-up additions rider up and down and can the policyholder make paid-up additions payments as lump sums throughout the year instead of systematically with the premium mode [annual, monthly, quarterly]?)

4. Paid-up addition rider load fees

You can’t just blindly assume that because a policy uses paid-up additions it meets the criteria that we would demand of a properly designed whole life policy.

That's why we feel this guide is so important.