Best Insurance Blog and Articles » term life

Do Work At Home Moms Need Life Insurance?

David — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:34:31 +0000

Do You Need Life Insurance If You Have No Actual Income?

Work At Home Parents And LIfe Insurance

Nobody needs to tell me the value of a work at home mom and wife! However, since these women do not usually generate an actual income, many families do not think the spouse needs life insurance. They figure that the only reason to get covered is to make sure a family can replace actual income. However, they may be missing the true value of the work that mom does, or the security that a policy can provide.

A recent article from Forbes estimates that stay at home moms would be paid salaries over $100,000 if they actually got paid! By the way, I do not mean to be sexist. The same logic applies to stay at home dads as it does to stay at home moms,

How much would it cost to replace the work that mom does at home?

If your family had to replace the car pool driver, tutor, home maker, cook, shopper, etc. in your family, how hard would that be? Sure, you may be able to get family or friends to pitch in and help, but you cannot rely on free services to replace all the chores that a stay at home parent does.

If the income generating parent is still at work, who will plan meals, go grocery shopping, make sure the kids get to school, help with home work, and keep cob webs off the light fixtures? I assume that some of these services will have to be replaced. This is always a lot more expensive and complex that anybody who is not responsible for these tasks ever thinks!

How To Get Insurance For Stay At Home Moms And Dads

You may decide to add a rider to an existing policy that covers the other parent. On the other hand, just to prevent future problems, it may make more sense to get the stay at home spouse covered with her (or his) own policy. Nobody can ever really predict the future, and this solution gives the spouse coverage no matter what the future brings.

Actually it may be a good idea to add a child rider for kids. Life insurance for children is usually very cheap, and some companies will allow this to be used to get the child his or her own guaranteed coverage when they become adults too!

Simple term or fairly small whole life policies should be fairly cheap for parents who are still in child raising years.

Life insurance quotes online are a fast and simple way to determine how much local companies charge to cover people in your family. You can get individual quotes, quotes for different types of life insurance, or see how much a bundle of coverage costs.

Best Term Life Insurance Rates (Really!)

FinanceGuy — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:16:24 +0000

Beware of The Best Term Life Insurance Rates!

Beware The Best Term Life Insurance Rates!

That may sound like a severe warning, to ask people to be careful of the best quote they got for a term life insurance policy. But policies and pricing schemes different. What looks like the best rate today may not look so good in 5 years. And yes, we have said before that insurers are different, and you can save money by comparing rates. But just be sure you are – as they say – comparing apples to apples.

Note: Take Advantage of Our Life Insurance Rate Quotes

Does The Term Policy Have a Conversion Option?

Some cheaper term policies do not have an option to convert, before the policy expires, to a permanent policy without having to resubmit to health underwriting. That cheap 10 year or 30 year term policy may be great now, but it is also prudent to keep your options open the future.

Many peope don’t even consider the value of an option to covert later. If you are healthy today, that’s great. But it is hard to know what will happen in a few decades, and it is nice to know you have left the door open to buy permanent coverage at standard rates, even if you do happen to get sick or old (as we all must).

Sure, rates for whole life will be higher, per amount of coverage. Most people solve this by settling for a much smaller death benefit to cover retirement needs. They an also use the permanent coverage in a senior life settlement, and actually sell that permanent policy for a percentage of the death benefit while they are still alive.

Are The Best Term Rates Guaranteed To Be Level Through The Whole Term?

Most of the time, the rates you are quoted in year one of your policy, will also be the rates you get in year 20. But sometimes, we have seen cheaper quotes because the quote was only guaranteed for 5 years! That means the price could go up in year 6, go up again in year 11, etc. Over the whole term of the contract, the policy owner would actually pay more.

Are You Really Qualified for That Super-Preferred Rate?

We have seen a lot of ads for cheap term life insurance that promoted the very best rate that only 6 people in the whole state would every qualify for. Once people applied, the actual price came back quite a bit higher, and those applicants were unhappy. But those best rates could be reserved for people who had no bad health habits, no family history of disease, great credit, and the perfect height and weight. Can you control all of this? We do not think that most people can.

The Term Period Matters Too

Even if you are comparing identical products, you must know that the best 10 year term rates will be lower than the best 20 or 30 year terms. The longer the insurer takes a risk, they more they will charge for that risk. The ten year term policy will be cheaper because the insurer only has to guarantee the price and coverage for one decade, and not for 2 or 3 decades.

Other Term Life Riders

Some policies may also come with other valuable features that make them more expensive, but more useful. Return of premium, waiver of premium, disability, or critical illness riders can add more coverage, but raise the premiums. If you do not want to pay for these options, that is your choice.

We just want you to be sure you understand what you are paying for!

Perm or Term Life Insurance Over 50?

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:02:16 +0000

Term Life or Permanent Life Insurance Over 50?

Many people over 50, or even well into retirement years, are considering the purchase of a new life insurance policy. Some people associate life insurance with younger people, but some of us reached middle age with many of the same obligations we had when we were younger. We are just older now, and we find that policies are a little tougher to find and more expensive when we do find them.

So how do we consider the alternatives now, and decide between term vs whole life insurance policies? And why do older people need to purchase a policy anyway?

We may have planned to pay off our mortgage and get our kids off on their own. But those things got delayed, and we do not have any coverage on our own lives. Why aren’t we covered? Well, we may have had a term policy that, thankfully, we outlived. Or we may have lost our group life insurance when we retired, quit, or were terminated.

Let’s consider some a few things before we start shopping for new coverage.

Term is Cheaper- Term premiums are bound to be lower than permanent life insurance premiums. Since we are older, and are rates are also likely to be a lot higher than they would be for a 35 year old,that is not trivial. But maybe we have a way to buy time. You can purchase term that is convertible to life without showing evidence of insurability. That means you could buy cheaper term now, and then decide to covert it to whole life in the future.
Why Do You Want Life Insurance Anyway? This questions is not trivial either. Do you just want coverage, or do you want to leverage other features of some policies like estate and asset building? If you want to use your policy as an asset, maybe a permanent policy would serve you better.

When you sit down with an insurance agent or financial planner, make sure you have some clear ideas about your reasons for purchasing your policy. Consider your immediate need for coverage, but also think about the future. Be very wary of any insurance professional who only fixates on one type of product without comparing other alternatives. He or she may be more interested in meeting sales goals than service you in the best way.

You should also walk in to any appointment with an idea about the cost of life insurance.That way you will not be surprised or make an impulsive decision that is just based upon the premium.

ROP Pays You Back!

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:32:08 +0000

Return of Premium (ROP) Gives Back Money

What if you could purchase an insurance policy, be lucky enough not to ever use it, and then get all of your money back at the end. This would seem like a win-win situation. You would be protected, but if you never needed to make a claim, you could get all of your premiums back in a nice check.

Well, this situation does exist in the real world sometimes. You can find return of premium term life insurance policies. You will still purchase your policy to last for a specified amount of time, like 20 or 30 years. Then, when the policy expires, if nobody has collected on the policy, a check comes back for the amount of all of the premiums paid.

An Example of ROP at Work

Consider the situation of a 40 year old man who wants to purchase a 20 year term policy with a death benefit of $500,000. Now understand that premiums vary by age, health, location, etc., but let us just say his premium is $50 a month. You can calculate his total premiums for twenty years by multiplying 50 * 12 * 20 = $12,000.

At the end of his term, he is now 60 years old. He has not passed away, so while he may be happy to be alive, he still has nothing left to do with that life insurance contract.

But let us say he choose to purchase a return of premium rider when he bought his life insurance. Now this additional benefit will cost a bit more, so for the sake of illustration, we will assume it adds ten dollars to his monthly premium. Now you can figure that he paid $14,400. In the end it cost him $2,400 more. than the basic policy without an ROP rider.

But now, instead of having a worthless piece of paper, this man will get back a check for $14,400! This seems like a good incentive to keep a policy in force. Not only do you have coverage for the period of your policy, you also get to look forward to collecting your premums if you survive it. If you do not survive the policy, the normal death benefit would be paid out ot your beneficiaries.

The Cost of Return of Premium Term Life Insurance

You understand that this example just used some figures for illustration. You can run some quick and free quotes to compare life insurance costs.

How Life Insurance Policies Work

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:38:30 +0000

A life assurance policyholder pays a certain amount of money in his or her lifetime to an insurance company to safeguard their future or the future of their dependants. People do this by paying the insurance company a premium either at regular intervals or in one sum depending on the type of life assurance policy. In the event of the policyholder’s death, his or her dependants receive the stipulated amount that has been paid for in the policyholder’s lifetime, which helps greatly especially in case their children are young and incapable of looking after themselves.

Note: Term or Whole Life Comparison

Some life assurance policies pay back the premium paid during one’s lifetime in case of illness or any grave injury according to the agreements in the policy. There are various kinds of life assurance policies and before taking one, the policyholder should discuss all the pros and cons at length with their insurance agent, and fill out the life assurance form honestly, as there could be repercussions later such as non-fulfillment of claims.

Different life assurance products can confuse the individual who wants an insurance policy, hence choosing the right agent from a reputed insurance company helps settle qualms arising when making these choices. The most common life assurance product is the term policy, where you receive nearly 80% of your premium in case of any illness befalling you. In the case of death, the beneficiary gets the money that you have insured, provided it is within the period specified by your life assurance policy.

A whole life assurance policy allows the insurance company to invest your money in funds. Since you pay out more than the amount, you insure yourself. These rates change every 10 years and once you cross 65, you may have to pay premiums while the amount invested as stock in your name may or may not yield proportionate dividends. This is not a very popular life assurance policy unless you have many estates and are wealthy enough to want your dependants to reap maximum benefits from the estate.

Mortgage protection insurance and mortgage repayment protection are different types of life assurance products available with life assurance companies, which deal with repayment of loans for your home. There are several options with these types. Get the best life assurance deal as you shop around and always make sure you read the fine print at the bottom of any life assurance policy that you sign, as most often there are hidden catches, not spelt out by the insurance agent. Income protection insurance gives you cash benefits in case you are unable to work due to some serious illness and if you are self employed. The amount is non-taxable as long as your condition does not improve. Critical or serious illness insurance, on the other hand, will pay you a lump sum if you have one of the serious illnesses specified in your life assurance policy at the time of filling out the form. When choosing a policy, make sure you compare the costs against benefits before signing on the dotted line.

What Is Mortgage Life Insurance?

admin — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:25:51 +0000

If your purchase a new home with a mortgage, or if you refinance your home, you are sure to get some offers for a product called mortgage insurance or mortgage life insurance. The card in the mail, or the phone call on your answering machine, will probably offer to protect your home mortgage in case of death, and maybe disability, and critical illness. In addition, you will see some mention of mortgage unemployment benefits.

In general a mortgage life insurance policy is a no medical exam term life insurance policy with a face value that matches your mortgage balance. Sometimes other obligations are added in too, since there is really no rule about having the face value matching a mortgage in most cases. In some cases, this is a decreasing term life policy since the premiums will be lower since the coverage gets lower as time passes, matching a lower loan balance.

Sometimes the policy offers a ROP Term Life Rider which will actually refund the premiums if the insured person survives the policy. The unemployment benefit on most mortgage insurance policies simply pays the premium during unemployment, though other forms of mortgage unemployment benefits are available.

Cutting Life Insurance Premiums At Any Age.

admin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:37:30 +0000

It is a fact that life insurance premiums have dropped since the 1990′s. In fact, the drop is so severe, that the old and time worn advice about never replacing a life policy, may need to be re-examined. Of course, everybody should do their due diligence first, and make sure they are trading apples for apples, or if they are trading apples for oranges, that they understand and accept the exchange! OK, enough about fruit…..

For instance, term life insurance for older people is being sold at older ages, and at cheaper rates. If you were 50 years old in 1998, and purchased a 20 year term policy, you may do better to pick up a new 10 year term policy today, and that is even with you being 60 years old now.

What caused cheaper life insurance rates then? Well, insurance is very competitive, and insurers have found ways to cut the costs of marketing and distribution, as well as the requirements for physicals. In fact, you can find many term policies with reduced pysical requirements, or even no medical exam term life insurance.

Americans are also living longer, and transportation safety requirements have cut the accident death rate. When you look at life insurance rate improvements, it’s all good! So use a safe, fast, and free online life insurance quote form to compare rates from the comfort of your home pc!

Buying the Best Life Insurance For You and Your Family

admin — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:53:17 +0000

We always get the same question. What is the best type of life insurance for my family? I cannot give a one size fits all answer because the choice of coverage will depend upon your own needs and expectations for a life insurance product.

If you just want coverage, and especially if you are fairly young, then term life insurance is probably the product for you. Because it is a temporary product, usually lasting 10 to 30 years, and because it does not usually have any cash value, it is usually the cheapest coverage to buy. Find the best term life insurance quotes in your area here. If you are older, say middle aged or even in retirement years, you may be able to find term policies too. We are living longer, and insurers are promoting term life insurance for older people now.

On the other hand, you may want permanent protection that will not expire. The problem with term is that it tends to expire just when we are older and harder to insure at a low price. Consider adding a permanent policy to your coverage. If you are not familiar with permanent policies, look at whole life insurance explained so you can understand the product.

In a perfect world, a larger term policy would cover a family during their working and child rearing years. It would have enough of a death benefit to pay off a mortgage, plus more included to replace income, help pay for the chidren’s education, and provide money for burial expenses. In addition, I would want a smaller permanent policy to build cash value and be available in senior years.

Term Life Insurance For Mid Life and Beyond

admin — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:01:01 +0000

Most financial experts will advise clients to choose term life insurance, rather than whole or universal life insurance. Since term is pure life coverage, it is cheaper than whole life, and the rest of the money can be deposited into other investments that will provide a sort of self insurance later.

For 30 year olds, this choice may be a no brainer. But older people find it harder to qualify for term policies, and of course, find that rates are creeping up. If your old term policy has expired, or if you lost coverage from your workplace, you can look into term life insurance for older people. Middle aged people can find some good information on life insurance for over 50. You can still find coverage at age 60 or 65, but are unlikely to find a 30 year term.

If you have some health issues, or are well into retirement, you may need to look at a smaller whole life insurance policy. We explain whole life insurance here, and have some great ways to find life insurance for seniors. Sometimes seniors life insurance is called final expense, and here are final expense insurance quotes for you.

Return Of Premium Term Life Insurance

admin — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:40:01 +0000

Compare Term Life Insurance With Return of Premium (ROP)

We put up a new page on Return of Premium Term Life Insurance. We would like to explain this a little more here. Return of Premium (ROP) is actually a rider you can select to add to some term life policies. It costs a little more, but you do get a big benefit. So sometimes a rider can cost more, but it can leave you with more money in the long run.

Let us say you purchase a 30 year term policy with $200,000 of death benefits. If you pay your premiums for 30 years, you have coverage in case you die. But if you do not die, your policy has turned into a worthless piece of paper at the end of 30 years. You can consider yourself lucky to be alive though!

But consider an example of purchasing that same 30 year term policy with a ROP rider. At the end of 30 years, if you kept your policy in force (paid the premiums), you will get a check back for every cent you spent! How much luckier is that?

Look at Ms. Davis who purchased a 30 year term policy with a $250,000 death benefit when she was 32. Remember that I am just using some example numbers, so do not think these represent actual premium prices. But let us say her monthly premium for term life is $32. If she choose the return of premium rider on her term life policy, she would pay $5 a month more. So that would make her term life with return of premium cost $37 a month.

With just the term policy, she could make it to the age of 62. After having paid over $11,000, she gets to tear up her policy. What if she had decided to pay extra for the return of premium benefit? Well, she would have paid more. She would have paid over $13,000 over 30 years. But, at the end of that time, she can collect a check for that amount back from her insurer!

This can be a handy tool for retirement planning too. You have purchased coverage for your working years when your mortgage must be paid off and children have to be supported. Then, when you face retirement, you can get a handy check to help you fund your accounts. Or sometimes, a year or so before the term policy will expire, insurers will offer to convert to whole life so you can use your check to fund retirement life insurance. A seniors life insurance policy is usally a smaller face value whole life policy that can pay for final expenses.