Insurance

Cheap term life insurance is not an oxymoron. In the past 5-10 years term life insurance rates have dropped dramatically. Why is this?

It is well documented that the price transparency that the Internet brings in allowing consumers to view competing companies prices has dramatically decreased the cost of term life insurance rates over the past 10 years. According to Kerry Hannon in the July 5, 1999 issue of Business Week, “What costs less than half what it did two years ago? Term life insurance. Term-insurance buyers have been enjoying some of the lowest rates in history thanks to increased competition and the ability to buy policies over the Internet or the phone without going through an agent.”

Even as far back as 1999 the affects of the price transparency of the Internet on the life insurance company’s rate was clearly evident. What was once a matter of thumbing through the yellow pages and listening to an agent’s spiel over a dusty paper proposal is now a matter of a few mouse clicks away and instant rates from multiple insurance companies can be compared side by side online.

If an insurance company cannot compete on price alone or differentiate its product or company from the commoditized term life insurance arena then they do not stand a chance in this hyper competitive and highly transparent insurance environment. There are many top notch insurance companies with stellar AM Best ratings (a rating used to measure the financial strength of insurance companies) and affordable term life insurance product offerings. Be a discriminating and smart consumer and be sure and do your research. Take advantage of the price transparency of the Internet to find cheap term life insurance!

Take a few moments to compare cheap term life insurance quotes at Life Insurance 360 and learn how to find the best life insurance plan for your and your family’ s needs.

Short term health insurance or temporary health insurance is a good way to alleviate the risk of an unforeseen and unfortunate event while in the midst of a transitional period. All of that to say that it is extremely important to make sure that you keep continuous coverage and do not let your health insurance coverage lapse.

Short term health insurance is very affordable as most plans are comprehensive major medical plans but without all of the extra benefits like copays for prescriptions and copays for doctors visits that can be quite pricey. Short term health insurance is a great way for students that need cheap health insurance coverage to obtain coverage in an inexpensive and easy manner. (Note, that temporary health insurance should not be a permanent substitute for a “real” health insurance plan but is most suitable when the student has a job offer with health benefits soon on the horizon or is getting married and will then have health benefits or some other similar scenario).

Many temporary health insurance plans can be compared, purchased, and then be made effective all online and within a couple of days or even hours. Medical exams are almost never required for short term health insurance (or for most individual health insurance plans for that matter – unless maybe you are approaching your 60’s and have not had a physical for 10 or more years). Almost all insurance companies offer online quoting for their individual and short term health insurance plans.
Although short term coverage is very cheap you will still want to shop around and find a well known and reputable insurance company. You can request health insurance quotes directly at the insurance company’s website but it is usually easier to request quotes from an independent website as they will show you health insurance quotes from 3 or more insurance companies that offer coverage in your area side by side for an easy comparison.

Compare short term health insurance quotes from multiple health insurance companies, learn how to find California health insurance, and get free Texas health insurance quotes.

Take a few moments to learn about the different health insurance plan options in your area so that you can be better equipped to find the most appropriate health care coverage for you and your family!

Did you know that there are firms that will buy your life insurance?

For those that no longer need the coverage or are tired of paying annual premiums, there is no short list of firms that want to give you some money, take over your premium payments, and become your beneficiaries. Why would they want to do that? Simple. They have figured a way to invest money for your premium payments, pay you some money on top of that and receive a nice profit based on your life expectancy and upon the face amount of the insurance policy on your life.

There are variations on this theme. Firms are encouraging people to sell their excess insurance capacity. They view this insurance as an asset. Now, why should you consider this? For example, you are age 78. You are approached with an offer to buy life insurance on you and pay the premiums so that a third party (investment firm) will ultimately receive the death benefit. This might be a great deal for the investment firm that is purchasing the life insurance policy on your life, but it does nothing for you! You wouldn’t even have a reason to allow an investment firm (a Wall Street Brokerage firm, Hedge Fund, Bank) to do this unless you accept an offer to purchase your insurability.

You might receive an offer for up front money, or an offer to pay you at the end of the contestability period which is two years after the policy commencement date.

Legal? Absolutely, except in New York, where there have been issues raised as to whether or not institutions financing life insurance have insurable interest in the party selling their insurability.

A little morbid? But upon some reflection it kind of makes sense. Most people never buy as much life insurance as they could. The money that they receive for selling their insurability can be used for charitable gifts, to purchasing regular life insurance for your heirs, or funding a more comfortable retirement.

Here is an example. John is approached by a life insurance agent to “sell his insurability”. After two years, he receives a sizeable check, $150,000. The amount he receives is based on his age, and net worth, and this net worth (or insurable interest) is tied to how much insurance can be obtained on an individual. John then decides that instead of giving this money to charity, or spending it on cruise, to purchase life insurance on himself so that he can leave more money to his children or grandchildren. So he purchases a single pay life insurance policy with the $150,000 that provides a tax free benefit to his heirs of $375,000. This new policy cost John nothing as it as obtained with the proceeds fo selling his insurability to another investment firm. And as a result, John’s heirs will have a lot more money upon his passing.

Life insurance is a leveraged product. It is a simple concept. You give a life insurance company a bunch of money, and when you die they give a bigger bunch of money to someone you love or care about. The wonderful benefit of life insurance is that the death benefit is passed free of ordinary income taxes and if titled correctly, free of estate taxes.

Life settlement cases are somewhat controversial. The idea of having some intuition profit at your death seems somewhat surreal. It is a leveraged bet. If you life too long, the investment firm that purchases your policy does not make as much money as they would like, and if the insurance company makes more money because of the steady stream of premium payments. If you die sooner rather than later, the investment firm profits. There is a dynamic relationship. However for the insured that does not want to pay for life insurance and would like to sell their insurable interest, the substantial payments of 10-20% of the death benefit after two years is “free money”. If you are between the ages of 70 and 85, and have a minimum net worth of $2 million, this is worth looking into.

Gregory Costa is President of Sextant Financial & Estate Tax Planning and the AnnuityProfessor.com, with offices in Boca Raton and Hollywood, Florida. He can be reached at AnnuityProfessor.com

The life insurance industry has been misunderstood when it comes down to the sale of life insurance policies. Folks must appreciate the fact that dying is just a part of life.

There are many things that must be considered before purchasing any life insurance policy. There are 3 main types of life insurance policies to look at Term, Endowment and Whole Life. Let's take a look at these three.

Whole life insurance is designed to cover you for your whole life. When you pay your monthly premiums a portion goes to pay for your life insurance while the rest goes into a savings account. This savings account builds what is known as "cash value" that you can borrow against, if needed, after it builds, but it must be repaid.

These Whole Life Insurance policies "mature" when the insured individual turns 100 years old. At this point, the insurance company will cash out the insured person for "face value" and cancel the policy. Face value is the amount that the policy would have paid in the event of the death of the insured person.

Endowment insurance policies are designed to be paid for a specified amount of time until the policy "matures". Some reasons for Endowment Insurance could be college tuition, retirement, ect. Endowment policies are normally more expensive as they're designed to be paid in full after a certain period of time rather than being paid over the period of the insured person's life.

Term life insurance is the least expensive type of policy that you can buy. These policies can be purchased for a specific time period or "term" just as the Endowment policies, however there is no cash value accrued with term insurance policies.

Term policies are perfect for those that need additional security over a specific time frame. An example would be the breadwinner of the family needing additional insurance coverage during his or her working years when they would have more obligations to meet.

Before buying any life insurance you need to sit down, with your significant other, if you have one, and go through every bill that you have. Separate these bills by figuring out what your regular monthly expenses are for your household and how much you have going out in payments that will eventually be satisfied.
Examples of payments that will eventually be satisfied are car, boat furniture, home, ect. These should be figured into the amount of coverage needed in order to pay these off in the event of the death of the breadwinner.

The other pile will include what your living expenses will be like without those payments. This pile should include homeowner's insurance, life insurance for the surviving family members, food, utilities, clothing, etc.

You'll also need to take into account the loss of income from the breadwinner. This can be tricky, especially if you have children. You'll need to take into account their ages, how many years they have remaining in the home, medical insurance, dental insurance, school expenses, ect.

Finally, you'll need to allow for enough money to survive in the event that you're unable to work or simply need to take a period of "healing" time. The passing of a loved one is never an easy event, but it's made much worse when you're not allowed the time to gather yourself before being thrown back into the routine of life.

The things mentioned above are designed to give you some ideas as to what you need to be taking a look at. Each family and individual has different needs and expenses though and you'll need to take your time when doing your financial inventory.

For more information about the different types of life insurance then you should contact a licensed agent and set up an appointment at your earliest convenience.

We all know that comparison shopping is the key to conscientious consumerism. All the smart shoppers learn, and hone, the skill of comparison shopping early in life. We comparison shop at department stores, grocery stores, and even thrift stores! Yet, it’s important to know that comparison shopping should apply to all products – not just cleaning supplies or pet food. When a product is as long-lasting and important as universal life insurance, comparison shopping is a given.

Before you can comparison shop for universal life insurance rates, be aware of what it is you are actually shopping for. It’s difficult to compare what you aren’t familiar with, isn’t it?

Universal life insurance, similar to whole life insurance, is a permanent life insurance policy; however, universal life is more flexible than whole life.

When comparing universal life rates, look for the following features and talk with your life insurance agent about the flexibility of these features, as well as how useful they will be to you and your family, given your specific needs, wants, and life situation.

Some universal life insurance policies allow you to increase your death benefits as long as you pass a medical exam. Plus, once you have purchased your universal life insurance policy and have started accumulating money in your cash value account, you may be able to alter your policy premium payments. This means you can use the money in your cash value account to pay for some of your premiums, which is a great help in times of financial stress. Note that this option should be used sparingly – once the money in your cash value account has been exhausted, you risk losing your universal life insurance coverage if you aren’t aware that the premiums aren’t being paid.

To get free quotes and learn more about insurance please visit the following recommended sites.