Posts Tagged ‘life insurance’

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Tips for Choosing a Life Insurance Website

December 22nd, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in insurance specialists, life insurance

There are a ton of websites out there offering life insurance. Picking one as the source for your quote requires some analysis. Here are some tips:

  1. Choose one website that represents many major life insurance companies, rather than wasting your time going from site to site. Whether you go through a broker or directly to an insurance company, the price is the same.
  2. Make sure you choose a site that doesn’t ask for personal information. You shouldn’t need to provide contact information, or any other personally-identifiable data just to get a quote.
  3. Choose a website that provides actual quotes, and not merely a list of companies for you to contact on your own.
  4. While it’s true that no quote is guaranteed, be certain that the quotes you receive are based in reality – your reality – and that they use the same underwriting criteria as the actual insurers.
  5. You should know who you’re giving your information to. Make sure the website has an updated privacy policy and legal notice. For this same reason, make sure you read the “About Us” section.
  6. Before entering any personal information, be sure the web page is secure. If it isn’t displaying a Secure Seal, it should at least have a quote engine web address that begins with ‘https’.

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Estate Taxes and You

December 15th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in insurance news, life insurance

So, unless a miracle occurs, at the beginning of next year, the Federal Estate Tax will revert to the rates that were in effect ten years ago, on January 1, 2001. By the numbers, this means that estates worth $1,000,000 will be taxed at 41%, those above $3,000,000 would be taxed at 55%, and the tax rate would be 60% for estates worth more than $10,000,000.

While much of the media coverage recently has been about the Bush tax cuts, and their extension, the fact is that most of what we’re hearing is about income tax. Estate Taxes, however, were also reduced by those cuts, which means those numbers above will go back into effect in January.

This is important, because tax rates could affect things like life insurance decisions and estate planning in general. This is why many life insurance brokers recommend joint survivor life insurance which is a kind of coverage that provides the heirs of a large estate with a way to pay estate taxes without having to sell off family assets.

If you are fortunate enough to have the sort of wealth these tax cuts affect, please take the time to consult your life insurance provider and make sure you’ve adequately prepared your estate for your heirs to easily take over.

Even if you’re NOT so wealthy, remember that even modest estates should be protected.

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Net Premiums up for First Time in 2 Years

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

A new report released by A.M. Best & Co shows that the American life/health industry’s nine-month net premiums risen increased 2.6% to $424.2 billion, the first such increase since the end of 2008. The same report also shows that admitted assets have improved 4.6 percent to $5.1 trillion since year-end 2009, aided by what Best calls “modest increases” in separate account assets.

Speaking on behalf of his company, Richard F. Kirk, senior business information analyst for A.M. Best’s Financial Suite products said, “”The U.S. life/health industry continues to recover from the economic crisis with improvement in a majority of the key financial results reviewed in the statistical study. It will be interesting to track the progress in net premiums written relative to challenges posed by (but not limited to) high unemployment, modest U.S. economic growth and continued uncertainty.”

Here is the list of percentages accounted for by the top 25 writers, as reported by the Insurance Journal:

admitted assets (78.2 percent); separate account assets (88.6 percent); net premiums written (67.0 percent); after-tax net operating gain (67.8 percent); realized capital losses (72.0 percent); and capital and surplus plus the asset valuation reserve (66.9 percent)

These results are included in an in-depth study of the insurance industry’s 2010 nine-month financial results. The U.S. property/casualty industry study is expected to be released shortly.

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Friday Filmstrips: Life Insurance 101

November 5th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in friday filmstrips, life insurance

For many of us, life insurance is something we know we should have, but we’re not quite sure why. This week’s Friday Filmstrip explains it. Enjoy.

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Life Insurance after a Heart Attack? You Bet!

October 26th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in advice and how-tos, life insurance

There’s no surprise that having “heart attack” listed in your medical history is a giant red flag when it comes to applying for life insurance, but even so, you are not automatically deemed “uninsurable” nor will your premiums always be astronomical. Depending on the treatment protocols you have used, the severity of your condition, and your age, you may still be able to get life insurance coverage at reasonable rates.

In the words of Christopher Graham, vice president and chief underwriter for Hartford Life, “We are able to offer an insurance policy to the vast majority of people with a history of heart disease.”

Dr. Robert Gleeson, a medical underwriter and vice president at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company emphasizes the same thing. “We spend our lives underwriting diseases,” he says, “And, as an industry, we’ve had a lot of experience with coronary disease.”
While your heart attack will likely disqualify you from getting the very best life insurance rates, you may be able to qualify for the second-best tier (“standard” as opposed to “‘preferred”).

Here are three tips to help you get lowest possible life insurance premiums after a heart attack:

  • Document Everything. When you do apply for insurance, be sure to provide documentation for everything you’ve been doing. It’s not enough for YOU to know. The insurer must know. Be specific: it will reassure the underwriters buy into your case. Dr. Gleeson explains why: “If someone tells me that they have high blood pressure but doesn’t give me any more information, I don’t feel very good about issuing a policy without getting more information.”
  • Stay in Treatment: While you’re waiting, you need to be proactive about improving your health. Work with your doctors to change your diet, increase your exercise and take the proper medications to keep your blood pressure stable.
  • Wait a While. You may be able to save money if you wait a year or two after having a heart attack before you buy life insurance, because the longer you can demonstrate that you are taking care of yourself – good cardiogram readings, for example, and low cholesterol, the less of a risk you will seem to be.

Remember that underwriting guidelines vary between insurers and that these guidelines are updated and revised as medical knowledge is expanded and different treatments move from “experimental” to “standard.”
Remember also that just because one life insurance company rejects you doesn’t mean another won’t say “yes.” As with all sorts of insurance, it’s best to shop around.

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Happy Life Insurance Awareness Month

September 14th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in insurance news, insurance specialists, life insurance

We’re already mid-way through September, and we’ve neglected to mention that it’s Life Insurance Awareness Month. While there are no greeting cards or themed foods to celebrate this, we agree with the folks at the Life Insurance Blog that this is an excellent time to review your life insurance policy, and consider adding coverage. If you don’t have a life insurance policy, it’s never too soon to consider it.

What else should you know before you go shopping for life insurance? Well, most experts agree that a significant number of Americans are underinsured. More specifically:

  • Half of U.S. households say they need more life insurance. This is the highest such number ever, and represents about 58 million households.
  • 11 million households with children under the age of 18 – the very demographic that needs it most – has no life insurance at all.
  • Only 44% of American households have individual life insurance, and this number represents a 50-year low.
  • It’s not just the economically challenged who are underinsured. One third of all households considered affluent (annual income over $100,000) say they don’t have enough life insurance coverage.

If those numbers represent your situation, consider this: the best way to celebrate Life Insurance Awareness Month is by making sure you and your family have life insurance.

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Life Insurance: Can it Be Extended?

September 8th, 2010 by Iris | Comments Off | 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.

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