Our Insurance Products

When our organization began, in order to help each other, our members "passed the hat" to assist families of deceased members. Soon, however, this became impossible, as the number of our members grew.

Out of this simple process, we've evolved into a modern, dynamic insurance organization, and offer a wide variety of products to suit virtually everyone's needs.

The following is our insurance products designed to fit any need and budget a family or individual may have:

Permanent Life Insurance

Do you need life insurance that lasts as long as you live? Our permanent plans give you the security of:

Knowing your family is protected, as long as all premiums are paid as they come due.

Knowing your premium will stay the same, regardless of your future health.

A guaranteed cash value that will grow over time and can provide a source of funds for future needs.

Another valuable feature of our permanent life insurance plans is the opportunity to earn policy dividends. While dividends are not guaranteed and are declared annually by the Order's board of directors, our dividend scale has been - and continues to be - among the very best in the life insurance industry.

Our permanent plans include:

Whole Life – premiums payable for all of life.
Limited Payment Life – premiums payable for a shorter period.
Graded Death Benefit Whole Life - Guaranteed issued permanent insurance available for those with high risk or uninsurable health conditions
Discoverer – a custom blend of whole life and term insurance.
DuaLife – a custom blend of whole life and term, insuring two lives, payable upon the 2nd person's death.

A Word About Policy Dividends

Policy dividends represent a distribution to policyowners of surplus funds resulting from favorable investment, expense or claims experience. Because of this, they cannot be guaranteed, and may increase or decrease based on the Order's actual and anticipated results.

Term Life Insurance

Are your life insurance needs temporary? Many people’s needs are, indeed, temporary – even though they may be of long duration. Your mortgage, business loans, educational funds, and needs of children at home are some examples of temporary needs that can be met with term life insurance.

Term insurance – as its name denotes – remains in effect for the term of the policy. When the term ends, your coverage stops – although you do have the option of renewing the policy (for another term) or converting it to a permanent plan. For these wide-ranging needs, we offer a full range of term insurance plans. Because the protection they provide is temporary, these plans are lower-priced than permanent plans for the same amount. Here are some of our available policies:

Annual Renewable Term
Ultra Premier Term
Premier Term
Level Term Insurance
10 Year Term
15 Year Term
20 Year Term

Annuities and Retirement

Your Portfolio’s "Sure Thing!"

Take control of your retirement - establish a retirement plan of your own. Here at the Knights of Columbus, you can open a retirement annuity for as little as $300. Consistent and disciplined savings placed into that annuity over time can guarantee you at retirement an income that you cannot outlive. That's right - guarantee you an income you cannot outlive. That guarantee - and the fact that no one has ever lost money in a Knights of Columbus annuity - really will provide you with peace of mind.

To help you better understand and plan for the risks you will be exposed to in retirement - from the risk of living "too long" to the risk of needing costly long-term care services, to the risk of inflation eroding the value of your income stream - we suggest reading the booklet "Retirement Risk Matcher" published by the Life Insurance Market Research Association (LIMRA). To obtain your own free copy, e-mail field.mail@kofc.org and we'll send one along.

As you ponder all the things that may not work out as you proceed toward retirement, think about one thing you can do to help yourself - a Knights of Columbus annuity. It's reasonably priced ($300 to start), guaranteed, and controlled by someone you trust - you!

What works better for you?

Through our Single Premium Annuity, you make one payment and select the age you begin receiving benefits.

Through our Flexible Premium Annuity, you make periodic payments of as much as you want, for as long as you want.

Your principal is safe, and you’re guaranteed never to earn less than 3.0% on your money. Current rates are 4.5% in the United States and 4.0% in Canada for payments received prior to September 30, 2008. This rate is guaranteed through June 30, 2009.

VANTAGE Single Premium Deferred Annuity (SPDA)

Concerned about a comfortable and worry-free retirement? The Knights of Columbus VANTAGE Single Premium Deferred Annuity might be part of the answer.

The VANTAGE Annuity is a single premium contract, with a minimum premium of $25,000.* Surrender charges may apply for early withdrawal.

The VANTAGE Single Premium Deferred Annuity uses two interest rates. The first is the Minimum Guaranteed Rate, which, for contracts issued in 2007, is 3%. This is guaranteed for the life of the contract. The second rate is the Current Declared Interest Rate at the time of issue, which is guaranteed for 5 years.

All guarantees are backed by the Knights of Columbus.

The annuity owner has the ability to annually withdraw up to 10 percent of the value of the annuity without a surrender charge after the first contract year (assuming the value of the funds in the annuity after the withdrawal remains above $5000). **

The owner will also have several options at the fifth and tenth policy anniversaries, including keeping the funds in a VANTAGE Annuity, leaving the funds in a portfolio account where the interest rate can be changed on a quarterly or more frequent basis, or, if requested within the 30-day period prior to the fifth or tenth anniversary, withdraw the funds without a surrender charge. **

Your principal is safe, and you will never earn less than the minimum guaranteed rate (presently 3.0%) on your money. Current rates (which include the 3.0% guaranteed rate) are 4.55% in the United States and 3.80% in Canada on amounts under $100,000 and 4.75% in the U.S. and 4.00% in Canada on amounts from $100,000 and above. The current rate is guaranteed for 5 years from the issue date of the Vantage Annuity contract.

The VANTAGE Annuity is available in the U.S. and Canada for both tax qualified (IRA's and RRSP's) and non-qualified plans.

Long Term Care Insurance

We're all getting older.

Record numbers of people are living well into their 80s, 90s...and even past the age of 100. That translates into more time to do the things you want to do, to spend time with the people you love. It also poses new challenges.

In aging, you change in some familiar ways - and some ways that might be completely unexpected. In your 60's and 70s, tasks and activities that you once performed routinely or with ease might become increasingly difficult. And, over time, you may need more and more assistance with such activities. You might also experience a sudden, acute need for such help after a debilitating illness - such as stroke.

One recent national survey found that among people who turned 65 in 1990, 47 percent could expect to spend three months or more in a nursing home before they die. About one in four will spend more than one year there.1 On average, nursing home care can cost upwards of $61,000 per year.2 You may be able to manage with at-home nursing care. Yet this option, too can be quite expensive: on average, such services cost over $53,000 per year in the U.S.3 for eight hours of service, 365 days a year.

These figures can be expected to increase over time. As you grow older, the risk that you will need care increases. Since people on average are living longer, all of us face an increased likelihood that we'll be candidates for care services.

1. Lubitz, J. and Spillman, B.C., "New Estimates of Lifetime Nursing Home Use: Have Patterns of Use Changed?" Medical Care, October 2002.

2. 2002 Nursing Home Cost Survey, MetLife Mature Market Institute, April 2002.

3. 2002 Home Health Care Cost Survey, MetLife Mature Market Institute, April 2002