What is the face amount of a life insurance policy?

Question: What is the face amount?

Answer:

The face amount is the life insurance benefit stated on your life insurance policy. The face amount may differ from the actual death benefit paid to beneficiaries, particularly for whole life insurance policies. For example, the death benefit could be higher than the face amount if the dividends of a participating life insurance policy were used to purchase additional insurance protection. However, the death benefit could also be smaller than the face amount if loans against cash value were unpaid at the time of the policyholder's death.