Posts Tagged ‘life insurance’

« Older Entries

Life Insurance: Can it Be Extended?

September 8th, 2010 by Iris | No Comments | Filed in advice and how-tos, insurance facts, life insurance

Most life insurance agents will tell you that the question their existing customers most often ask if their term policies can be extended. Sadly, there is only one answer to this question: NO. Why? Because the term of a life insurance policy is set at the time of issuance, and there are no extensions after that term.

When you’re shopping for term life insurance, then, be sure to talk with your agent or financial advisor about what term length is best for you. In most cases, unless you are taking out a life insurance policy that needs to have a short term for a reason (ten years to cover a short-term loan, for example), the longest term available (generally 30 years) is the best plan.

When you do a close comparison of different types of term insurance, you might find that even though a shorter-term policy seems less expensive in the moment, the rates tend to be higher if something happens to cause your health to deteriorate, while a longer-term policy will ultimately cost you less money in premiums.

Bottom line: if you’re buying term life insurance, purchase a policy with the longest available term for your age.

Tags: ,

No PMI? Get Term Life for Greater Protection

August 19th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in insurance facts, life insurance

Even in today’s mortgage market, homebuyers call insurance companies asking about “mortgage insurance.” While there once were mortgage insurance products that had a decreasing benefit matching the decreasing loan obligation over the term of the mortgage (generally 30 years), these types of policies have become essentially obsolete.

Modern homebuyers told to get mortgage insurance are actually really looking for PMI – private mortgage insurance – which is insurance required by lenders whenever the down payment on a home is less than 20%. This insurance doesn’t give any benefit to the borrower, but protects the lender if the borrower defaults, by paying off the loan. In most cases, once the balance of the mortgage drops below 80% of the appraised value of the home, borrowers have a legal right to drop the PMI, but there are special procedures that must be followed in order to do that.

What can consumers who don’t have PMI do to protect their families from the burden of a mortgage if they die? One option is to purchase a mortgage protection policy. Basically, this is a form of term life insurance that pays off a mortgage after death so that the beneficiaries aren’t saddled with the bill. Many savvy consumers purchase such policies not just to cover their mortgages, but also to pay off other debts, and provide living expenses for their survivors, and sometimes even college tuition for children.

The bottom line? As term life insurance becomes less and less expensive, it’s wise to have life insurance with a large enough death benefit to take care of those you leave behind.

Tags: , ,

Self Improvement Can Save Money on Life Insurance

July 29th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in advice and how-tos, insurance facts, life insurance

Okay, we all know that insurance underwrites use actuarial tables to asses risk factors and set premiums for each applicant. When it comes to life insurance, the higher your risk of dying early in life, the more expensive your insurance will be. There are two risk factors that you can control, and doing so will not only improve your quality of life, but also help you save money on life insurance.

Lose Weight
If you’re overweight, and want to improve your health, lower your risk factors, and save on life insurance premiums, shedding pounds will help do all of those things. Please understand, we believe people are beautiful whatever their sizes, and we understand that one’s weight is not a measure of his or her self-worth, but losing weight can also help reduce high blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, and take you out of risk categories for heart disease and some kinds of diabetes.

Quit Smoking
The other act of self improvement that can lower your life insurance rates is quitting smoking. Again, we understand that smoking is an addiction, and we’re not judging anyone, but if you run any kind of search for life insurance as a smoker, and then again as a non-smoker, you’ll notice that those folks who are nicotine-free get lower premiums. Kick the habit, save some money.

Now, no one is saying that serious weight loss or ending decades-old smoking habit is easy, but many health insurance plans actually include coverage that can help you with guidance and/or treatment for both factors, and the hard work you’ll have to do may have positive effects beyond those you’ll see in your life insurance payments.

Tags: ,

Divorce and Life Insurance

July 26th, 2010 by Iris | 1 Comment | Filed in life insurance

There’s a common statistic which says that roughly fifty percent of all marriages in the United States will end in divorce.

If you’re among the fifty percent, because you’re in the process of or have gone through a divorce, chances are good that your life insurance policy wasn’t a major point of concern. After all, when you’re discussing custody or arguing over who gets the house and who gets the dog, insurance policies don’t seem all that important.

Nevertheless, one of the questions that will eventually arise is what to do about the spouse who is the designated beneficiary on your life insurance policy.

Unfortunately, there is no one true solution to this issue. In some cases, you may not have a choice in how the policy should be handled, because the divorce settlement will dictate that, perhaps by preventing any changes to benificiaries or ownership, or making subsequent changes invalid. Alternatively, the court could rule that in order to ensure that child support or alimony continues, the life insurance policy must be maintained for a specific length of time. The court can also rule on which party will maintain ownership of the policy, and therefore has the ultimate decision on beneficiaries.

In some cases, courts also establish a lapse provision, which ruling will generally specify that if the policy lapses, the divorced spouse and children are entitled to a percentage of the policyholder’s estate that is usually equal to the death benefit of the lapsed policy.

We aren’t lawyers, and wouldn’t presume to offer legal advice, but if you are in the process of a divorce, we suggest you bring up any life insurance policies during the settlement negotiations. Doing so now could save a lot more heartache later.

Tags: ,

Friday Filmstrips: Life Lessons: Mashell Ewing

July 16th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in friday filmstrips, life insurance

Every year LifeHappens runs a scholarship contest, where people submit videos explaining why life insurance has (or would have) helped them. This video is one of this year’s entrants, and really brings home why life insurance is important – it can save your dreams.

After watching it, can you really doubt that the best time to buy life insurance is now?

Tags: , ,

IPO for AIG’s AIA?

July 13th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in insurance news, life insurance

There may be an IPO for AIG’s AIA.

If that seems like so much alphabet soup, let us explain: the board of directors of American International Group (AIG) is planning to meet later this week, in order to consider the future of one of it’s business units, and an IPO is the most likely outcome, according to a report in the Insurance Journal.

AIA, the Asian life insurance division of AIG is likely to have an IPO – that’s “initial public offering” – because it’s the most attainable option, as opposed to pursuing another acquisition offer and the attendant risks associated with potential funding issues for the buyer.

Company sources, who say that while they’re directly involved in the future of AIA, but are not authorized to make public statements, said that AIG’s board would gather in New York on Wednesday, but that as of yet, no final course has been determined for AIA.

On Tuesday, there was much attention given to the notion of AIA receiving an outside offer. The South China Morning Post reported that four Chinese groups had approached AIG and the U.S. Treasury Department not long after Britain’s Prudential had withdrawn its $35.5 billion bid for AIA last month, after it tried (and failed) for a price renegotiation.

While it’s possible that a second offer may come, the spectacular failure of Prudential to acquire AIA has taken its toll on both company, and sparked disagreements within the upper tiers of AIG’s management.

AIG chose not to comment on the Chinese offers or the likelihood of an IPO.

Tags: , ,

How Does Alcoholism Affect Life Insurance?

June 29th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in insurance facts, life insurance

If you’ve ever applied for life insurance, you know that the health questionnaire asks about whether or not you drink alcohol, and if so, how often. While some of you may be concerned that admitting to the occasional beer or cocktail will change your coverage eligibility, this is not the case.

According to The Life Insurance Blog, it is only when alcohol use is excessive that it has any impact on the way life insurance policies are underwritten.

Actual alcoholism may or may not cause a life insurer to deny coverage, in much the same way as any other pre-existing condition. (Life insurers are still allowed to exclude applicants. It is only health insurance that has been reformed.) In fact, more and more insurance companies recognize that alcoholism stems, at least in part, from genetics, as do other diseases.

What aspects of alcoholism affect life insurance underwriting? According to Prudential Life Insurance, there are several significant complications that arise from excessive drinking. They are:

* Cardiac: Atrial fibrillation, cardiomyopathy, hypertension
* Nervous System: Blackouts, seizures, delirium tremens (DTs), peripheral neuropathy, tremors, brain damage, psychosis, balance and gait impairments.
* Gastrointestinal: Fatty liver, hepatitis, cirrhosis, pancreatitis, gastrointestinal bleeding due to gastritis, cancer, diarrhea.
* Bone marrow: Abnormal blood counts including anemia.
* Miscellaneous: Aspiration, pneumonia, accidents and trauma.

One important thing to note is that if an alcoholic stops drinking without relapsing, after seven to ten years he or she will have a mortality rate more in line with that of the general population.

Tags: , ,

20% of 2008’s New Life Insurance Policies Came from the Internet

June 4th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in insurance facts, insurance news, life insurance

People shop for car insurance whenever they purchase a new vehicle, or pay off an auto loan. They begin to compare homeowners insurance rates while still looking for their dream home. But how do people begin the search for life insurance?

According to a joint project conducted earlier this year by LIMRA (the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association), roughly 20% of the life insurance policies sold in 2008 – and about 5% of the premium – were sold via direct channels.

In an article posted in a the Life Insurance Blog, last March, Ron Neyer, senior analyst for LIMRA was quoted as saying, “For the first time, we have been able to quantify the amount of individual life insurance sold through direct channels, like the Internet, direct mail and telephone.”

In fact, LIMRA and LIMDA researches estimate that direct channels were the source of more than 2 million individual life insurance policies sold in 2008, and account for a total of $675 million in new premium in the same fiscal year.

Since 2006, the number of consumers using the Internet to purchase life insurance has doubled. The key factors influencing these buyers were convenience, price, and the quality of the website. As technology continues to advance, industry researchers predict that even more consumers – especially those in younger generations – will use direct channels to purchase their coverage over the next five to ten years.

Tags: ,

Americans will Work Longer to Keep Luxuries, Survey Says

April 28th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in insurance facts, insurance specialists, life insurance

MainStay Investments released a report recently which shows that more and more, American citizens are postponing retirement in order to maintain lifestyles which include little luxuries.

The company surveyed more than five hundred financial advisors – professionals who deal with everything from life insurance policies to general accounting – 61 percent of whom said that their clients are less concerned with retirement needs than they are with little luxuries like eating out, and being able to travel from time to time. These results point to a significant gap between fantasy and reality present in many American households. With the future of Social Security uncertain, health insurance premiums getting higher, and retirement funds still reeling from the economic crises of the last two years, MainStay feels that working families are wearing rose-colored glasses.

The general consensus is that there is a significant need for Americans to be better educated about the realities of retirement. According to various financial advisors, less than half of their clients truly comprehend the amount of money they need to save in order to retire in comfort. Further, they agree that there clients require guidance on the care and use of their nest eggs, in order to retire without wiping out their financial security.

Another point revealed by the survey was that more than half the clients of those advisors who participated have postponed their retirement, either because of stock market losses (46 percent) or health insurance and medical care costs (40 percent).

.

Tags: ,

Don’t Fear the Life Insurance Medical Exam

January 21st, 2010 by admin | Comments Off | Filed in health insurance, insurance facts, life insurance

Horror stories abound about life insurance medical exams. Smokers, you may have heard, never pass, and you don’t have to just be within normal weight ranges, but actually skinny or you get disqualified. We won’t even discuss the rumors about what happens if you took an antihistamine the day before you provided your blood or urine sample. With all these myths about what can cause you to be labeled “uninsurable” it’s no wonder people who are generally healthy are paying higher no-exam life insurance rates just to avoid being told “no.”

The reality is that if you’re reasonably healthy you have nothing to worry about when it comes to these exams. They’re fairly routine, and don’t take that long. Typically, they’ll include blood and urine samples, a blood pressure check, height and weight measurements, and a medical questionnaire. While people who are overweight, smoke, or are in poor health will generally end up being classified as “high risk” and paying higher premiums, most people have little to worry about.

Still, it pays to be prepared, so while you can’t exactly cram for a medical exam, there are a few things you can do to present yourself in the best possible light.

  1. Fast for at least eight hours before the exam for more accurate blood test results. The easiest way to do this is to schedule your appointment first thing in the morning, and skip breakfast.
  2. If you have to eat before your exam, keep it light: nothing heavy, and no caffeine.
  3. Avoid salt for 3-4 days before the exam; doing so might improve your blood pressure.
  4. Avoid alcohol for at least 24 hours before the exam, for the same reason.
  5. If you smoke, don’t puff anything for at least 30 minutes before your exam, since smoking constricts artery walls. Abstain longer, if you can.
  6. If you have an acute, temporary illness, like the flu or strep throat, reschedule your exam, as either the illness, or the drugs you take to treat it may affect the results of blood and urine tests.
  7. If you’re female, and have your period, be sure to inform the examiner (generally a nurse) as this will affect your urine test.

Remember that an insurance medical exam is never a substitue for an actual wellness exam, nor is it a measure of your total health, just a snapshot of your condition at a specific moment in time. Either way, there’s nothing to fear in such an exam.

Tags: , ,

« Older Entries