Life Insurance

Rule No. 1 with life insurance is to shop around. Another smart move is to buy separate 'his' and 'hers' policies, instead of a 'joint life, first death policy', which pays out once and ceases after the first death, leaving the survivor uninsured. By buying two individual policies, you can get two payouts - potentially twice as much cover - for just a few pounds a month more. Also, individual policies make life easier when it comes to inheritance tax, and if you separate or divorce.

The offer doesn’t usually happen on a dingy street corner, it’s more likely to be a phone call with a phony introduction speech. “Remember when you took that cruise a few years ago? You filled out this form and it went into a draw? Well, you won a prize and we’re calling to invite you to visit our offices and collect it.” Of course you fall for this hook, line and sinker. You rush to tell your wife. You, Jimmy are 78 and she, Annie, is 75. You are both bored and a prize out of the blue is just what you need. Perhaps you have won another cruise…

The life settlement industry is a relatively new one and there are many people out there eyeing the market and looking to see how they can profit from it while it is still untested. The potential buyers target seniors who may be in financial straits or in poor health and prone to aggressive sales tactics and abuse.

In your quest for life insurance coverage adequate information on what is available out there is important. There are two main types of life insurance on offer today, term life and whole life or “permanent insurance”. We will be looking at whole life insurance and where it falls in life insurance planning.

When you are considering estate planning it is also good to have term life insurance policies as an integral part of the whole package. This becomes true whenever you are using life insurance policies as part of your overall estate planning. The term life insurance policy will serve as an option to cover additional needs that may arise as an estate appreciated or increases from inflation.

The first and overriding principle is to stay healthy. This may mean a refrain from smoking. Smokers are always on the record as high risk customers to the insurance industry. This is because your life lies open to terminal illnesses such as cancer. Refrain from smoking does not only mean you will not be classified as a high risk consumer, but you end up saving money that can be used to subsidize the whole life insurance premium. In addition to quitting smoking, try as best as possible to stay healthy. Do a lot of exercises to loose more weight.

Whole life insurance refers to an insurance policy that provides for a life contribution by the insured. This is not for a fixed phase as in term life insurance, but for the whole of the insured’s life. Most people have classified whole life insurance as a forceful scheme manipulated by most employers, giving employees no choice over their future. This proposition is not founded and there are options such as single premium, interest-sensitive and traditional whole life insurance policies.

Term life insurance has become a major boom business in recent decades. The relatively low cost of the coverage, added to the ease of purchasing it draw thousands of new customers regularly. However, is term life insurance worth anything to you?

What would happen to your family if you never made it home from work today? If you were to die, would they be able to continue to live in the same house, and still be able to make the rent or mortgage payment? How can you be sure that you can provide for your family even after you’ve left this planet?