Biming Chen is a college student from Cleveland, Mississippi. Soon to graduate, Biming was approached recently by a life insurance agent, who set up a group meeting for several members of his fraternity. During the meeting, the agent presented six life insurance plans and was very persuasive about the benefits of a universal life insurance plan that his company calls Affordable Life II. Under the plan, the prospective graduate can buy $100,000 of permanent life insurance for a very low premium during the first five years and then pay a higher premium later when income presumably will have increased. Biming was somewhat confused after the meeting, as were his friends. Armed with your knowledge from this personal finance book, you have been asked to respond to some of their questions. (a) Do you think universal life insurance is a good deal for these people? Why or why not?
(b) How can the individual fraternity members decide how much life insurance they need?
(c) Life insurance cannot be as confusing as the agent made it seem. What clearer explanation would you give to the fraternity members?
(d) What type of life insurance, if any, would you advise for the fraternity brothers?