Posts Tagged Insurance Life
Shop Life Insurance Rate – Getting The Best Coverage For
Posted by Admin in Life Insurance on September 3, 2010
Shop Life Insurance Rate – Getting The Best Coverage For The Lowest Rate
The purchase of life insurance is so much easier because of the availability of so much online information. The buyer learn son much by studying the magnificent amount of web content about life insurance. Life insurance rates are easier to comprehend when you get a better understanding about the different types of life insurance. There are basically two types of life insurance that come in many different forms. Term life insurance and permanent life insurance are the two types.
Term Life Insurance is the most inexpensive form of life insurance. Term life insurance is purchased for temporary needs over a specific time period. Once that time period elapses then the policy terminates. The short term benefit is what makes the premium low in comparison to permanent forms of life insurance. Mortgage term life insurance is purchased to cover a mortgage debt over a specific period of time. A thirty year mortgage requires a thirty year mortgage term policy that has the death benefit decrease as the mortgage balance decreases. The policy terminates after 30 years when the mortgage is fully paid. You can also purchase level term policies that provide level death benefits for specific periods of time. These time periods can be as short as five year and as long as twenty years with most companies.
Permanent Life Insurance is different from term insurance because it is designed to stay in force until the death of the insured. This form of life insurance is very popular because of its inside build up of cash value. The cash value of permanent life insurance is what enables the policy to extend until the death of the insured. This cash value account is accessible to the insured. The cash can be borrowed at a very low interest rate. Universal life policies have a partial surrender feature also that requires no pay-back of the borrowed amount.
Do your online shopping for life insurance rates based on these two forms. Compare term rates with term rates and permanent rates with permanent rates and that will make your shopping a whole lot easier.
Selling Your Life Insurance (Viaticals and Life Settlements)
Posted by Admin in Life Insurance on August 20, 2010
Selling your life insurance is an option you might consider if you’re in a difficult financial situation for which you don’t see a close end. A terminal illness or old age could cause you to think twice about paying those hefty premiums at this stage of your life. Selling your life insurance carries with it complex implications and substantial risks, so it is important that you educate yourself regarding the big picture. If you’re interested in selling your life insurance, this is a good starting point to obtain some basic information.
Basics: Vocabulary
If you’ve already done any research on selling your life insurance, chances are good that you’ve come across two main terms: viaticals and life settlements. Both refer to the selling of your life insurance to a third party. So what’s the difference? “Viatical” is typically used to refer to the transaction involving a chronically or terminally ill insured, while a “life settlement” is a transaction involving a senior (generally over the age of 65) who is not terminally ill.
Even though you now know the difference, it does not mean that your state does. These terms might be used interchangeably, or your state might use one of them to refer to both transactions. For example, your state could use “Viatical Settlement” to refer to any type of transaction regarding selling your insurance. Be aware that this kind of ambiguity may exist in relation to the vocabulary used in the sale of your life insurance.
How it Works
The owner of the life insurance policy will sell it for a percentage of the death benefit a lump sum to a third party and, in exchange, receives an often substantial lump sum payment. The third party then becomes the new owner andor beneficiary of the policy and pays all of the future premiums and eventually collects the death benefit when the insured passes away.
Those considering selling their life insurance may either directly approach a viatical company or settlement firm, or they may choose to work with a broker. The broker will act as an intermediary and present the information to several different companiesfirms in an effort to find the highest price for the sale.
The settlement firms buy the insurance on behalf of investors. In this situation, the investors become the owners and beneficiaries, and the settlement firm pays the premium until the insured dies. The firm then collects the death benefit and either pays its investors a percentage of the annual return or repackages the policy for sale to another party.
Take comfort in know that the process of selling one’s life insurance is typically very confidential. Most viatical companies and settlement firms understand the discretion necessary to make the process run smoothly and easily. However, a company may act disrespectfully and become borderline intrusive by trying to keep track of the insured’s condition. For this reason, it is important to work with a respectful, experienced organization.
Who Considers Selling
Those with serious, life-threatening illnesses are most likely to consider selling their life insurance to provide cash for various expenses, such as mounting medical bills. For those who are not terminally ill, selling the life insurance might be a good idea for a number of reasons. If the owner’s beneficiary has died or if the owner can’t afford to keep paying the premiums, it would appear that they no longer have sufficient use for the life insurance. Seniors around retirement age may also consider selling their life insurance, even if they are free of debt, in order to receive a lump sum of money with which they may do whatever they please.
Keep in mind that different companies may have different eligibility requirements to be able to sell your life insurance policy.
Advantages to Selling Your Life Insurance
It might be easy to see some of these benefits, but others are a little less obvious.
mean that you’re definitely robbing your beneficiaries of their gift.
- Risks of Selling Your Life Insurance
- You might lose your eligibility for some public assistance benefits, especially those based on your income and assets (such as food stamps, welfare, Medicaid and some Social Security benefits).
- There could be tax issues. Selling the policy will
result in a tax bill if the settlement amount exceeds your cost basis. - With improved medical care, the ill person may live longer than expected.
- You might face unhappy heirs. This might not be a problem for you, but it could lead to a long road of (possibly legal) complications and battles. Some settlement actually companies require the beneficiaries to also sign off on any sale, which could be good or bad, depending on whether or not you’re dealing with a cooperative beneficiary.
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- Borrow against your insurance policy
- Cash out the policy if it has surrender value
- Look into accelerated benefits or living benefits
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- Borrow money (from family or friends perhaps) and use the life insurance policy as collateral
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- If you believe that selling your life insurance policy is the right decision for you, make sure you deal with a dependable, experienced broker or settlement company to ensure that you get the best service and results from your transaction.
Other OptionsIf you come to the conclusion that selling your life insurance policy is not for you, there are other options (though none that would provide you with such a large lump sum). An insurance agent should be able to help give you more information on some of these ideas.
Understanding the risks associated with selling your life insurance will help you make an informed decision. Be sure to consult a financial advisor or tax attorney to make sure you understand the implications of the sale.
Online Life Insurance
Posted by Admin in Life Insurance on June 11, 2010
Are you considering taking out life insurance? If so, its a good idea to review what life insurance companies have to offer by searching for life insurance online.
Over the past few years the online life insurance market has become very buoyant. Most major life insurance companies are now represented online, and they have been joined by smaller life insurance companies as well as life companies who operate exclusively online. As the Internet is akin to a level playing field, small life insurance companies now have just as much chance of selling a life policy online as do larger insurance companies. This has created some intense competition between insurance companies for online customers, many life companies providing discounts and incentives to attract life customers to their policies. Consequently, you can now pick up online life insurance for as little as 5 per month.
Online life insurancechoiceschoices!
The great thing about shopping online for your life insurance is that everything is at your fingertips. You can receive quotes online and make your life insurance application online, as well as review the different types of policies available and even read the policy’s terms & conditions online.
The first choice you will have to make when looking for life insurance online is what type of life insurance to buy. There are two basic types of life insurance available – term life insurance and reducing or mortgage life insurance.
Term life insurance pays out a lump sum on the death of the policyholder. It is a long-term life insurance product that can last up to 50 years, although it does not normally extend further than the policyholder’s 91st birthday. Mortgage life insurance is a shorter-term life insurance product that mirrors the life of the policyholder’s mortgage. It is designed to pay off the outstanding mortgage debt should death occur before the mortgage is paid off.
In terms of payout, the lump sum received on a mortgage life insurance policy reduces to zero in line with the outstanding mortgage balance. So, should the policyholder die when there is only 1000 remaining on the mortgage then the life insurance policy will pay out only 1000. Payout terms on a term life insurance policy are somewhat different, the lump sum being the same at the end of the policy as at the start of the policy, that is assuming the level of coverage required remains the same.
Both of these life insurance polices are of course available offline. However, phoning around different insurance companies to find the best quote is a time consuming job. You also don’t have the advantage of reviewing the ins and outs of the insurance policy beforehand as you do online.
Best places to look for online life insurance
The best places to look for online life insurance is in fact not on the web sites of the insurance companies themselves. Instead, it is best to look at specialist life insurance information sites and portals where you’ll find a collection of life insurance companies all in one place. You’ll even be able to receive the same discounts as you would by going direct to the web sites of each individual insurance company, leaving you quids in and with more time on your hands to enjoy life.
Life Insurers Use The Body Mass Index To Tighten The Belt On Fat People
Posted by Admin in Life Insurance on April 23, 2010
Life Insurers Use The Body Mass Index To Tighten The Belt On Fat People
Overweight people are in the firing line again. Life insurance companies are increasing premiums up to four fold for fat people. They’ve always charged more for those of us who over-eat, but during the last year the penalties have got worse.
In moves to tighten the belts further, the life insurers are lowering the weight limits they use to categorise people. This tougher move means that those who are merely overweight and would have previously qualified for a standard premium, are now penalised with higher premiums and the premium rapidly rises the more overweight they believe you are.
Height and weight are just two of the questions you have to answer when you apply for life insurance. From them, the life company calculates your Body Mass Index and if that exceeds the limits they define as acceptable, they might ask for a doctor’s report. In bigger cases they might ask you to have a medical examination. If this confirms that your weight is of concern, then you can expect your premium to be loaded by at least 50% and as much as 400% if you’re really obese. Recent research shows that around 25% of applicants will experience problems getting life cover due to their weight. In extreme cases the insurer will even refuse the application.
In an acknowledgement of normal middle age spread, the insurance companies do take your age into account when deciding your premium. They accept that people naturally tend to put weight on as they age. If you’re young and overweight, however, they’ll certainly hit you hard. So overweight and 38 will be hit much harder than overweight and 58.
For example, a non smoking healthy man aged 35 asking for 150,000 level cover over 25 years will currently be quoted 18.77 by Scottish Provident but this could easily jump to 35 if he is overweight and up to 47 if he’s obese.
And obesity is certainly a growing problem. Over the last 20 years obesity in adults has rocketed with more than 60% of men and 50% of women being judged as overweight or obese. And signs are that the problem won’t improve. In children aged between 2 and 15, 28% of girls and 22% of boys are overweight.
How do you rate on the Body Mass Index?
Calculate your own BMI.
Note your weight in pounds and multiply it by 703.
Divide the result by your height measured in inches
Again divide the resulting number by your height in inches
The result is your BMI
The typical insurance company considers a BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9 to as normal. Above 25 classifies you as overweight. Over 30 and you’re obese.
To give you more of a fix on what this means for you, here are the BMI’s for twelve famous people:
Under weight
Paula Radcliffe Marathon Runner – 18.0
Victoria Beckham Footballers Wife – 17.0
Jennifer Aniston Actress – 17.5
Normal weight
Alan Shearer Newcastle Footballer – 24.4
Davina McCall TV Presenter – 20.8
Cilla Black Presenter – 20.7
Overweight
Russell Crowe Hollywood Actor – 25.6
Ann Widdecombe MP – 25.1
Charlie Dimmock Gardening Presenter – 26.0
Obese
Norman Schwarzkopf US General – 30.5
Michelle McManus Presenter – 34.4
Dawn French Comedienne – 43.8
Life Insurance UK
Posted by Admin in Life Insurance on April 16, 2010
Life Insurance a Small Price to Pay for Peace of Mind
We all reach the stage in life when we wonder whether we need life insurance or not. This isnt a great decision for any of us nobody likes to be reminded of their own mortality, after all! But, its a decision that comes to us all at some time or other especially if we have a family to consider.
To be honest its worth while looking at taking out life insurance at virtually any stage of your life especially as we reach adulthood and start to amass mortgages and other financial commitments. The fact is that it doesnt really matter if we have a family to care for or not if we have any kind of current financial commitments then we need to think about what would happen to them if we were to die out of the blue. And, you have to remember that it doesnt matter how healthy you think you are you could die in a car accident or get run over by a bus tomorrow!
The thing you have to consider here is what would happen to your financial commitments if you were to die unexpectedly. A lot of people dont realise that the money they owe on stuff like loans and mortgages doesnt necessarily pay for itself after their death somebody will have to take responsibility for its repayment. And, in the simplest of terms you have to think about who would pay for your funeral at the end of the day.
Life insurance may be worth thinking about at this stage it is essential, however, if you have a family to add to the equation. If you have a partner andor kids then think about how they would cope financially if you did die and your salary died with you. This isnt just about managing stuff like the mortgage its also all about working out how they would pay for lifes necessities never mind lifes luxuries. If you protect them with a life insurance policy then they could at least cope financially during what would be a very difficult time for them.
The key thing to remember with life insurance is that it doesnt have to cost the earth. Life insurance policies nowadays can be taken out at minimal cost you really could be paying just a couple of pounds a week to get the right levels of protection. To make things easier most industry experts recommend that you shop around for the best quote as the sector is extremely competitive at the moment. This is easily done there are loads of web sites out there that can help you sift through competitive quotes so you can find the cheapest policies in just a matter of minutes, for example. This is a great way of getting the life insurance cover you need without spending too much time or money in the process.
