OPP Increases Your Death Benefit And Builds Cash Value
Need additional paid-up life insurance coverage? Want to increase your policy's cash value? With the Option to Purchase Paid-Up Additions (OPP) rider, you can pay additional money into your policy (within certain limits) to purchase fully paid-up life insurance in addition to the coverage that already exists under the base policy without proof of good health.
The additional OPP payments paid into your policy not only increase your policy's total death benefit by providing additional paid-up life insurance coverage, but also increase your policy's cash value. The paid-up additions purchased under the OPP rider are also eligible for dividends, in addition to the dividends paid on your base policy (if dividends are declared by the Company).1 The cash value of these paid-up additions accumulates tax-deferred. (Dividends, of course, are not guaranteed.)
The OPP rider is automatically included with all regularly underwritten New York Life whole life products and it's to your benefit to use it.
Reasons to consider using the OPP Rider
The OPP rider: offers a convenient way to increase your policy's available death benefit without having to provide additional proof of good health, as long as your payments are within the limits we set. This becomes a valuable option if for some reason you are not able to purchase new life insurance in the future.increases your policy's cash value, which accumulates tax-deferred.allows you to assess your changing life insurance needs by giving you the flexibility to conveniently purchase paid-up additional coverage that increases your death benefit and is eligible for dividends.1creates additional loan value, which can be accessed to help provide a supplement to a child's education fund, your retirement, or other important needs.can be used in conjunction with competitively priced term riders2 to maximize life insurance coverage.
1 Dividends are not guaranteed. They are based on the policy's applicable dividend scale, which is neither guaranteed nor an estimate of future performance.
2 Speak to your New York Life Agent for further information on the Dividend Option Term (DOT) rider and other term riders.
Things You Should Know About the OPP Rider Minimums & Maximums
To activate your OPP rider, an initial OPP payment must be made by the policy's second anniversary. The minimum OPP premium is $100 for lump-sum payments and $10 for Check-O-Matic payments. The total of all payments in any given policy year cannot be more than 100% of the annual base plan premium.3 Under current rules, the maximum OPP payment allowed during the first year is ten times the annual standard base premium (ASBP), and two times the ASBP during the second and subsequent years.
3 Excludes premiums for any riders as well as the policy fee, and is based on a standard class of risk.
Payments to Your OPP Rider
Once the initial payment is made into your OPP rider, you must make at least one $100 payment every two years to keep the rider active. You may skip OPP payments. However, be aware that the OPP rider will automatically terminate if no initial payments are made by the second policy anniversary, or if no additional payments are made for three consecutive anniversaries after an initial payment. It's important to keep track of the policy anniversary and remember the last time a payment was made under this rider.
We have two simple ways of helping you make these payments. Billing may be established for the OPP rider in which you can be directly billed in the same manner as you are for your base plan policy premiums. You can also establish an easy and convenient way to make these OPP payments through the Check-O-Matic arrangement, in which money is automatically drawn from your checking account. This helps to maximize the potential of the rider by establishing a continuous flow of cash into your policy. If you elect to be billed, the minimum payment for each bill is $10.
How Much Insurance Can Be Purchased?
The amount of paid-up additional insurance you can purchase with each payment is based on the cost of purchasing $1,000 of paid-up insurance for your attained age. An expense charge will be deducted from all payments before the paid-up insurance is purchased. Reinstating a Lapsed OPP Rider: If your OPP rider lapses, it may be eligible for reinstatement with proof of your good health. If the OPP rider is reinstated, new paid-up insurance can be purchased as of the anniversary on or after the date of reinstatement.
OPP in Conjunction with the DOT Rider
To help maximize the policy's death benefit and increase the policy's cash value, the OPP rider can be used in conjunction with the Dividend Option Term (DOT) rider. The DOT rider uses term insurance to maximize the death benefit amount with a lower term premium. The lower overall premium provides additional dollars that can be paid into your OPP rider.
Each year, the Dividend Option Term insurance decreases as it is replaced by the "increase in paid-up additional insurance" that is purchased by dividends4 and by payments into the OPP rider. Contact a local New York Life agent today to learn how this competitive blend can work to your advantage.
4 Dividends are based on the policy's applicable dividend scale, which is neither guaranteed nor an estimate of future performance.
