If you were to take a poll, the majority of people would probably say that they felt they had little control as to when it is that they will be able to retire. Perhaps even more still would say that their retirement savings had been reduced by fluctuations in the stock market, pushing back the date at which they will be able to retire even further.

Everyone dreams of being able to retire at an age where they will still be physically capable of having the type of retirement experience they’ve been dreaming about. But travel plans and golfing on a regular basis may be out of reach if you don’t have an adequate amount of retirement savings in place. Your lack of retirement savings may also mean that you will have to work longer still, making you just that much older when you’re actually able to afford to stop working and to enjoy everything that retirement should have to offer. So how is it, then, that a life insurance policy can actually give you greater control of your retirement?

Most people think that life insurance isn’t about what a policy can do for the living but what a policy can do for a person’s beneficiaries after it is that the insured has died. In fact, if you own a permanent life insurance policy, the type that has a cash value, you can put your policy to great use while you’re alive and ensure that your retirement is everything you dreamed it would be.

How does this work? If you’ve been shopping for insurance, you’ve probably found that term life insurance quotes are more affordable than whole life or universal life policies. But, what term life offers in terms of lower priced premiums, it doesn’t provide through added benefits like a cash value.

If you own a permanent policy and allow the cash value to build over time, you may be surprised to learn that there is a tidy sum of money available, which can be put toward things like your retirement. Your cash value could be just what you need to allow you to retire a few years early, before your social security payments begin, or it could allow you to continue to live comfortably throughout your retirement, without fear of financial difficulties.

But what if the insured passes away before they reach retirement? Their policy’s cash value can then be used to provide their beneficiaries with additional support, or it can help support a spouse through their own retirement. The good thing is that although each life insurance company will have their own policies with regards to how their cash values work, there is great flexibility for when the money can be taken out and for what it can be used.

Everyone deserves an enjoyable retirement, to not have to worry about how they will survive financially and to have the funds they need to do the things they worked so hard and long to experience. Ensure your retirement is precisely how you imagined it would be by taking out a life insurance policy today.