Term life insurance or term assurance is life insurance which provides coverage for a limited period of time, the relevant term. After that period, the insured can either drop the policy or pay annually increasing premiums to continue the coverage. If the insured dies during the term, the death benefit will be paid to the beneficiary.

Term life insurance is perhaps the simplest form of life insurance. It was developed to provide temporary life insurance protection on a limited budget. Since term insurance can be purchased in large amounts for a relatively small initial premium, it is well suited for short-range goals such as life insurance coverage to pay off a loan, or providing extra life insurance protection during the child-raising years.

You buy a term life policy to provide coverage for a guaranteed number of years: 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 years

Decreasing term life insurance is one of the three major types of term life insurance.

Decreasing term life provides a death benefit that decreases in a specified manner.

For example, the benefit during the first year of a 5-year decreasing policy may be $10,000, and decrease by $2,000 every year. At the end of the fifth year, the face value is zero and coverage expires. Premiums for a decreasing policy usually remain level throughout the term.