The surrender period is the amount of time an investor must wait until they can withdraw funds from an annuity without facing a penalty. Surrender periods can be many years long, and withdrawing money before the end of the surrender period can result in a surrender charge, which is essentially a deferred sales fee.

What is one of the main reasons for a universal life policy to have a surrender charge?

What is one of the main reasons for a Universal Life policy to have a surrender charge? Surrender charges provide a means for the insurer to recapture their upfront expenses involved in issuing the policy.

What is surrender charge on universal life?

A surrender charge is a fee levied on a life insurance policyholder upon cancellation of their life insurance policy. The fee is used to cover the costs of keeping the insurance policy on the insurance provider’s books. A surrender charge is also known as a “surrender fee.”

What does it mean to make a partial surrender or withdrawal?

By withdrawing only some of the cash, the policy owner would be making a partial surrender, or a partial withdrawal. This partial surrender or withdrawal may come from the accumulation value or the amount of the death benefit relating to the policy.

What’s the surrender value of a life insurance policy?

After 10 years of making consistent, on-time payments, there is $10,000 of cash value in the policy. You consult your insurance contract and see that the surrender charge after 10 years is equal to 35%.

When do surrender costs go out of effect?

The surrender fees will reduce your surrender value. These costs and the policy’s surrender value can fluctuate over the life of a policy. After a certain time period—normally 10 to 15 years for a whole life or universal life insurance policy—the surrender costs will no longer be in effect.

Can you take a loan against surrender value?

The process through which you access your cash surrender value varies based on the policy you have, but many require that you cancel the policy before accessing the funds. Even if this is the case, it may be possible to take a loan out against the cash value in your policy.