About Life Insurance

Paying for life insurance hurts! But few can do without it. The key is to buy life insurance only for losses that you can not replace, such as your income. Avoid narrowly defined life insurance policies that only cover specific loss of life, such as accidents, plane crashes or cancer. You’re better off with insurance for any loss of life for a small increase in premium.

Term or Whole Life Insurance?

If the effect of your life insurance is for a specific time period only, it is called a Term life insurance. Term life insurance, also called temporary insurance, covers a person against death for a limited time, the term. For example, the term might be until children are grown, or until college is paid for, or until retirement. You pay for the policy period and at the end of the term, the contract or policy expires. If no claims are made against the policy during the term, you don’t receive any benefits after the policy expires, just like auto or homeowners insurance.

The beneficially will only claim the death benefit if the one insured dies during the specified time period or term. This form of life insurance is a cheaper way to buy considerable amount of coverage.

Whole life insurance, also called permanent insurance, is permanent and does not expire (assuming you continue to pay the premiums). It provides coverage similar to term life insurance, but it also provides an investment vehicle. A portion of the premium goes for life insurance, while the rest goes into an investment account. This account can be an interest bearing account or a variable (stocks and bonds) investment account.

Which is better? A young family with large financial obligations is usually better off with a term life insurance policy. The substantially lower premiums enable them to purchase sufficient coverage to protect against loss of income. Any discretionary investment funds can be placed in other vehicles (mutual funds, money market accounts, etc.) that are likely to generate returns similar to or better than a life insurance policy. Whole life insurance is often purchased by people for tax and estate planning purposes. Recently, some advisors have started recommending life insurance as an investment. You should consult with your financial advisor.

Choosing an Life Insurance Agent

Almost all life insurance companies sell their products through agents, rather than directly to the public. Some companies use “captive” agents, who can only represent one company. For insurance with a competitive life insurance company (such as those featured at this site) you will use an independent life insurance agent, who is free to represent several companies. Whether you need term life insurance or a whole life insurance quote, your agent can help you find the best life insurance policy.

You should first obtain online life insurance quotes before making a decision.

No related posts.