Saving on Life Insurance: Scoring the Best Deal

Author: Megan L. Mahan
Source: articleage.com

Most people know they need life insurance but are afraid they’ll
have to spend an arm and a leg to pay for it. Truthfully, there
are multiple ways to score affordable life insurance and they’re
much easier than you might have thought.

Getting Started

Knowing what kind of life insurance appeals to you will help
ease you into the shopping process. Generally speaking, there
are two types of life insurance: term life insurance and
permanent life insurance.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance covers you for a “term” or certain period
of time. This means a death benefit will only be paid out if you
die during that term. Terms range from five to 30 years; 20-year
term policies are most common, according to the Insurance
Information Institute (I.I.I.). Most policies can be renewed
after they expire, although the premium may increase as you age
and insurers typically won’t renew a term policy after you reach
your 80th birthday.

Permanent Life Insurance

Permanent life insurance comes in four forms: Whole, Variable,
Universal and Variable-Universal, and all of them will pay out a
death benefit whether you die right after you sign the policy or
decades from now. Each form of permanent life insurance has
different characteristics, although most permanent life
insurance includes an added cash value that grows over the
years. Because of these and other benefits, permanent policies
tend to be more costly that term policies.

A Time to Shop

Once you’ve researched the different policy types and found one
that appeals to you, it’s time to start looking.

Start by inquiring about employer-sponsored life insurance.
Group life insurance tends to be less expensive because some
employers subsidize the cost of premiums for their employees.
Another large benefit to employer-sponsored life insurance is
that you’re less likely to have to pass a physical exam.

However, the I.I.I. points out that you should still compare
group rates with individual life insurance to make sure you’re
getting the best deal.

Once you’ve discovered what your employer offers in terms of
life insurance, it’s time to look into individual rates. The
Internet has made this easier than ever, and independent
referral services like InsureMe can provide you with multiple
quotes from insurers to compare free of charge.

In addition to seeing which company can give you the best deal,
you should also investigate the following before choosing an
insurer:

Financial stability. The cheapest policy in the state
won’t do your family any good if the company can’t pay the claim
or becomes insolvent. Rating companies like A.M. Best can give
you this information free of charge.

Customer service. Few people know the value of good
customer service until they’ve had a bad experience. Prevent bad
experiences from the outset and check customer satisfaction
ratings with A.M. Best.

Make sure term policies carry a renewal guarantee. A
renewal clause will ensure that you’ll be able to renew your
policy after your term expires. While you may pay more to renew
your policy (due to your increase in age), chances are that you
won’t have to undergo a medical exam to renew–which will be of
major benefit if your health has deteriorated since you first
purchased the policy.

More Tips for the Road

You can ensure the lowest possible life insurance premium and:

Get healthy. If you smoke or are overweight, you’ll
almost certainly pay more for life insurance–especially on an
individual policy. So put down the smokes and develop an
exercise regimen to see your life insurance premiums fall.

Inquire about discounts. The I.I.I. reports that many
insurers grant discounts for specified amounts. For example, you
may actually pay more for a $200,000 policy than you would for a
$250,000. Ask about these discounts before you sign a policy and
see a reduction in your premium.

Buy young. While younger adults tend to let life
insurance fall by the wayside, purchasing a policy while you’re
young and free of most age-related ailments will help you secure
an affordable life insurance policy for years to come.

Start Planning for the Future Today

While life insurance may seem like just another bill to pay,
remember that it’s an important part of taking care of your
loved ones. But, it doesn’t have to eat up your paycheck–use
these tips to find affordable
life insurance today.

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About InsureMe

InsureMe links agents nationwide with consumers shopping for
insurance. Specializing in health, auto, home, long-term care
and life insurance quotes,
the InsureMe network provides thousands of agents with insurance leads every
year. For more information, visit InsureMe.com.

Low Cost Term Life Insurance – We All Want It, This Is How YouGet It

Author: Greg Haehl
Source: articleage.com

Life insurance is probably the most misunderstood of all
insurance purchases. It is by far the most selfless insurance
purchase that you will ever make. Life insurance was designed to
take care of the people that we love the most. The equity based
plans have sometimes unintentionally misguided us away from the
original concept of life insurance. Term life insurance is the
purest form of that original concept. Term policies are also the
most affordable forms of all life insurance. You can actually
say low cost and term life insurance in the same sentence with
no conflict of interest.

Term life insurance is low cost for a number of reasons. Term
policies are temporary. That means that the insurance company is
on the hook for a shorter period of time. That reduces the rates
and makes the product affordable .Sometimes the benefit
decreases and that reduces the premium even more. Term life
insurance is perfect for young families because they can
purchase large face amounts at very low cost. Term life
insurance is an excellent purchase for partnerships in business.
Buy and sell agreements funded by term life insurance is an
excellent option for new business start ups.

There are three basic forms of term life insurance. Decreasing
Term insurance has been a popular policy to cover a home
mortgage. The Mortgage decreases and so does the insurance
coverage. Level Term insurance is used to cover short term or
intermediate term debts. Annual renewable term has a level and
continuous face amount with an annual increase in premium.
Shopping for term insurance is much easier that the permanent
plans. Permanent life insurance has a lot more variables because
of the equity build up and cash value accumulation. Choose term
policy most appropriate for you and shop with confidence. The
simplicity of low cost term life insurance will make your job a
lot easier.