Life Insurance✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 2/5
Which type of policy combines flexible universal life features with a guaranteed death benefit that stays in force for the insured's lifetime as long as a specified minimum premium is paid, even if the cash value becomes insufficient?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
Guaranteed universal life (GUL) offers the flexible premium of universal life with a secondary guarantee: the death benefit is guaranteed for life (or a specified period) as long as the policyowner pays the required premium, regardless of whether the cash value covers monthly deductions. This makes GUL a popular way to fund permanent needs at a lower premium than whole life.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) Variable universal life's death benefit and cash value depend on separate-account investment performance; there is no lifetime premium-based guarantee of the death benefit.
- C) Indexed universal life credits interest based on an equity index; like standard UL, coverage depends on the cash value supporting charges unless a guarantee is added.
- D) Decreasing term insurance has a level premium but a death benefit that declines over time and terminates at the end of the term; it is not permanent.
Memory hook
GUL = UL with a promise: pay the minimum and the death benefit is locked in for life.