Cash value


Cash Value

The amount of cash that becomes available to an insured person upon the cancellation of his/her insurance policy. Most often, this applies to the savings portion of a canceled whole life policy. This value is considered an asset and can be borrowed against or used as collateral. It may also be called a cash surrender value or a surrender value.

Cash value.

Cash value is the amount that an account is worth at any given time.

For example, the cash value of your 401(k) or IRA is what the account is worth at the end of a period, such as the end of a business day, or at the end of the plan year, often December 31.

The cash value of an insurance policy is the amount the insurer will pay you, based on your policy's cash reserve, if you cancel your policy. The cash value is the difference between the amount you paid in premiums and the actual cost of insurance plus other expenses.