An illustration shows how a policy could perform under stated assumptions. Some elements may be guaranteed and others are not. Your first job is to separate those columns and see what happens when the non-guaranteed assumptions are lower.
Find the load-bearing assumptions
Look for the guaranteed premium, guaranteed death benefit, guaranteed cash value, and the duration of each. Then identify projected interest, dividends, index credits, or other non-guaranteed elements.
If the policy works only in the most favorable illustrated column, that is not a small detail. Ask for lower-assumption scenarios and the premium required to keep coverage in force under them.
A clean chart can still hide a messy obligation
Illustrations can make decades look smooth. Real policies encounter missed premiums, loans, changing rates, and changing needs. Ask how each of those affects lapse risk and the death benefit.
The point is not to make permanent insurance look bad. The point is to understand the actual bargain before you commit to it.
- Projected values described as what you ‘will’ have
- No lower-assumption illustration
- Policy loans presented without interest and lapse consequences
Read the guaranteed column first. Treat every other column as a scenario that must earn your confidence.
Check the source
Regulator and government reading behind the plain-English explanation.