Vince Bazemore Policy Management Guide

Author: Darren Yates

Cheap life insurance is practically guaranteed if the insured is a child. Yes, as terrible as it may sound, even a child can get a policy in his or her name. Many people are taken aback by the thought of purchasing life insurance for their children or their grandchildren.

After all, life insurance benefits are not paid out until a person dies, and no one likes to consider the very real truth that children can die too. Death is not something that is reserved for the elderly. Life insurance for a child is cheap, and if you are purchasing it for yourself, you should expect that your insurance agent will at least mention this opportunity.

No one likes to think about it

Unfortunately, children are not immune to death. It can happen to any child, at any time. It can happen in an automobile accident or while walking to the bus. It can happen tragically, at the hands of another. It can happen as a result of a previously undetected condition such as leukemia.

While your life insurance agent won’t dwell on the ways your child might die, the agent will certainly remind you that such an occurrence will result in unexpected funeral and burial expenses. Your agent will continue by reminding you that these costs will be considerable, and possibly even more so because the occasion is for a child.

Expect the agent to proceed with extreme caution because parents just don’t like to think about the possibility that their children might die before they reach adulthood. The agent will subtly mention how cheap life insurance is for a child and how this insurance can be easily bundled in with your other policies.

Your agent may offer other reasons why you should consider purchasing cheap life insurance for your children. One high-pressure method is to suggest that purchasing a policy right now is an opportunity that may not happen again or that won’t be available again for a number of years. This sometimes pressures parents into purchasing before the agent walks out their door. Don’t allow this to happen because it’s just not true.

Here’s something to consider

There is one good reason why it makes sense to purchase cheap life insurance for your child now. Doing so can protect your child in the event he or she develops an illness later on in life which an insurance company might consider uninsurable or that may be insurable but will be so at a high price.

While such a situation is impossible to predict, purchasing cheap life insurance for your child now guarantees that your child will have the protection that life insurance offers. When your child reaches adulthood, he or she should be able to renew a policy at the rates given originally.

Author: Jeffrey Voudrie

Don’t cancel your life insurance policy without reading this first! Depending on your situation, you may be losing tens of thousands of dollars if you do. If you have a life insurance policy that you no longer can afford or need, consider selling the policy. Read on to find out how.

Lots of investors have life insurance. Most people think the only way to collect on a life insurance policy is to die first. But there’s another way to benefit financially from a policy while you’re still alive and kicking. It’s called a life settlement.

There are a lot of companies that buy life insurance policies. These companies aren’t buying policies to do you a favor; they buy them as an investment.

When they buy a policy, they pay you up front and take over payment of the premiums. The amount they pay will vary on several factors, but usually averages to about 15% of your policy’s face value. You benefit by getting more money out of your policy than if you cancelled it or surrendered it.

Not every life insurance policy can be sold. In general, the policy holder usually has to be age 55 or older with a life expectancy between 2 and 12 years. The insurance policy has to be transferable. It must be a universal life, variable universal life, second-to-die or term life policy. Face amounts need to be at least $100,000.

Several changes in your life could cause you to consider a life settlement. Estate tax law revisions might mean your heirs no longer face a hefty tax bill at your death. Perhaps your universal life premiums have become too expensive for you, or maybe you no longer have to worry about replacing your income.

In these situations, you have several options. You can view your policy as an investment and keep it. You may be able to lower your amount of coverage. You can let it lapse or surrender it for its cash surrender value. But sometimes a life settlement is a better solution.

For instance, because of estate tax law changes, a lady in her late eighties no longer needed her universal life insurance policy. She didn’t want to keep paying the premiums on her $600,000 policy. Instead of canceling the policy for the $518 cash surrender value, she sold it instead for $80,000.

A recently-retired gentleman had a universal life policy for $1,000,000. He became very ill and was having trouble paying his medical bills. He passed on the $2,128 cash surrender value and collected just over $100,000 through a life settlement instead. This allowed him to pay for the medical care he desperately needed.

Keep in mind, though, that these people received far less than if they held the policy until death. For those considering a life settlement, there are a few words of caution. Be aware that the commissions on life settlements can be as high as 33%. These commissions are negotiated between the advisor and the purchasing company, but are not always disclosed to the client. If your state doesn’t require such notification, make sure your advisor clearly states their cut.

Have your advisor show you offers from several companies. You will want to know the gross offer, the commission and the net amount you will receive. An advisor may recommend a company based on which pays them more, not you.

Beware of advisors who approach you about life settlements. In this case, it’s far better to be the pursuer than the pursued.

There is a big difference between selling your policy and buying someone else’s policy as an investment. I don’t believe any small investor should buy someone else’s life insurance policy as an investment. These were sold as ‘viaticals’ over the last several years and many took the bait to their regret. Don’t buy a viatical!

Author: Ryan Machara

If you are the breadwinner for your family or you provide a significant portion of your family’s income that they can’t live without it is important that you purchase life insurance. This ensures that your family will be financially taken care of in the event something unfortunate happens to you. While you can purchase whole life coverage that lasts until you die, many individuals and families are better off purchasing term life insurance.

Term life insurance provides coverage to individuals in the event something tragic happens. However, this coverage only lasts you for a specific time period as opposed to providing insurance for your entire life.

For example, you can purchase a term life policy that lasts until your children are out of the house or until you reach retirement. This is perfect for individuals and families who need coverage while working or raising children but don’t see it as necessary after the age of 65.

The fact that you can set the time period of your term is one reason many people choose to use it over whole life insurance. Individuals and families don’t necessarily need life insurance after children are out of the house or they have reached retirement. A term life policy allows them to set up their coverage to cut off at a specific age or point.

Of course the shorter term you have the less it costs. This is a major reason why people opt to purchase term life insurance over the coverage that protects for an entire life. Twenty-years of term life may cover raising your children, while individuals with whole life may have it for more than 60 years. It is less expensive to purchase insurance for twenty years than it is for 60, thus many opt for term insurance in order to save money.

Another benefit of buying a term life plan is the opportunity to invest. The lower premiums demanded by a term policy allow individuals and families the opportunity to put additional funds into investments. Many times these investments provide more money than what life insurance, both term and whole, pay out when someone dies. However this doesn’t mean you can afford to only invest your money and not use it to purchase good coverage. It takes many years for investments to build up and be profitable, whereas something could happen to you or your loved ones tomorrow.

One of the best ways to protect you and your family from the financial burdens that can result due to the death of a family member is by purchasing life insurance. While there are different types, term life often proves most beneficial for individuals and families. It not only provides you with security when you need it most, but it is often the most affordable option for families on a budget. While no one ever wants to plan for the unexpected death of a loved one, doing so can ensure a financial burden doesn’t remain after their gone.

Author: Michael Challiner

Immortality is no big deal. Just imagine getting up on a Monday morning 52 times a year for the rest of eternity. Really only two advantages of eternal life spring to mind - you could start reading ‘War & Peace’ and know that you would have time to finish it, and you wouldn’t need life insurance. However, as mere mortals, maybe we shouldn’t start on a very long book and we should take out life insurance, because we none of us know just how long we have got.

Not particularly cheerful advice, but very practical. Can you really face the idea of departing this life and leaving behind little more than the memory of you? If you have family or other dependants, it is vital that you provide for their futures especially if you are the main breadwinner. The trauma of the loss would be quite enough for anyone to cope with, without having to worry about how they are going to manage financially, and maybe even contemplate the loss of their home.

So if you haven’t got adequate life cover or perhaps have no life insurance of any sort, you should take action to correct that situation without delay. Perhaps you have considered it and perhaps you have even had a look at what is available, and then put off doing anything about it because there are too many options and it is difficult to know which to opt for. This is absolutely understandable because there are so many variations that anyone could be forgiven for being confused - but procrastination will not put food on the table for your dependents when you are gone.

So you need information. The following is a general guide to what is available, which should enable you to decide more or less which types of cover may be best suited to your needs. The fine detail is avoided because that is best left to the experts, whom you should be able to approach with a rough idea of what you are looking for, and equally important, which types would not be suited to your needs.

Term insurance in one of its forms is likely to meet most needs. Its name indicates that it provides cover for a period which is agreed between the company providing the policy and the insured individual. At the end of that term all cover ceases and there is no cash value remaining. Payment against the policy will usually be in the form of a lump sum on the death of the insured.

There are a variety of different forms of cover available under the umbrella name of term insurance, of which the following are the more usual examples.

Family Income Benefit is one of the best and must have been developed with bereaved families in mind. The death of the policy holder during the term of the insurance releases a tax free sum which will be paid every year right through to the end of the term. Costs for this type are at a minimum because the term during which the payments would be made is constantly reducing.

Level term insurance is very straight forward. It is well suited to covering the capital portion of an ‘interest only’ mortgage, because the value of cover is determined at the outset and is retained for the whole of the term.

A Decreasing Term policy on the other hand is better suited to covering a repayment mortgage, as it decreases in value over the term to nil at the end, effectively shadowing the reducing balance of the mortgage. The premiums are correspondingly low.

An Increasing Term mortgage maintains its value throughout the term by taking the effects of inflation into account, and is best suited to fulfilling a lump sum requirement at a constant value. The premiums are correspondingly high.

Finally it is worthwhile mentioning Whole of Life cover which is not actually term insurance, as the cover provided is effective to the end of the life of the insured person, subject only to the premiums being paid as due. The insured amount, plus the value of any benefits accruing to the investment, is paid out on the death of the insured

The above few examples give a generalised guide to some of the policies which are available, and should allow you to talk to a broker and discuss your needs in detail. It may well be that more than one type of cover will be required to meet all your needs, but find a brokers via the internet (which is an excellent source), and they will provide guidance.