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Reasons Not to Cancel Life Insurance

Posted by Pamela Spencer On December - 1 - 2008

For some reason you might be fortunate enough to no longer need your life insurance. There could be several reasons for this, but the most common reason would be when you earn or receives a large sum of cash that would very easily cover all of your expenses when you die. If you happen to have millions of dollars in an account earning interest, a house that is completely paid for, and very few other expenses, then maybe you do not need life insurance. You should talk over your situation with your life insurance agent to see if this is accurate, but in certain cases it is.

If you feel that you do not need your life insurance policy any longer, should you go ahead and call your insurance company and ask them to cancel your policy? Keep in mind you have been paying on this policy for many years. Canceling it now could be like flushing your money down the toilet. You may be thinking yes it protected me when I needed it, but why should I keep the policy now that I don’t need it?


There are several good reasons for keeping a life insurance policy. You have already invested your money into the policy. Your family is taken care of when you die, so you could just change your beneficiary to someone who really needs it.

Another option to consider is leaving your life insurance benefit to a charitable organization. A local animal shelter is one good possibility. Your premiums may even be tax deductible if the beneficiary is a charity. Check with your accountant for more details.

Even if you feel you really don’t need the death benefit you should definitely consider keeping your policy.

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Life Insurance Policy Lapse

Posted by Pamela Spencer On November - 25 - 2008

A life insurance policy could lapse for several different reasons. The two most common reasons that an individual allows their life insurance policy to lapse are either that they forgot to renew their policy or they just don’t think that they can afford to pay the insurance premium.

Letting your life insurance policy lapse is not a good thing. You may mistakenly believe that you can just call up your life insurance company and have them reinstate your policy after it has lapsed for some time like you could a cell phone or cable or electric bill, but this is not true. If you allow the policy on your life insurance to lapse you will most likely have to re-apply for a new insurance policy. This can end up being quite expensive. For example, if you had a term life policy that was locked in a decade ago when you were healthy and young, then it is almost certain that your premium will be higher now even with the same death benefit. How much your premium cost goes up will depend on how healthy you are. If you health is not as good as it was, or you have begun smoking or if there are any other changes in your health, this will cause your life insurance premium to increase.


Don’t forget to renew your policy. Most insurance companies make it very easy for you to renew. One way you can ensure that your policy is renewed is through implementing automatic withdrawals out of your bank account. This way you won’t ever have to worry about writing a check and mailing in a payment. Your premium will automatically be deducted from your savings or checking account when the premium payment is due.

The second major reason that people let their life insurance policies lapse is because they think they cannot afford to pay the premiums. This is not a good excuse because you can not afford to not have life insurance. When you die there will be expenses and it is your responsibility to cover your expenses. There are things that can be done to make your policy more affordable. One of the most common ways of doing this is to adjust the payment frequency. Ask about annual, semi-annual and quarterly payments. Most insurance companies will give you discounts on these payment terms. You can also find out about having the death benefit lowered. The most important thing you need to do is ask your insurance companies what your available options are before your life insurance policy lapses.

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Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance

Posted by Pamela Spencer On November - 11 - 2008

Guaranteed issue life insurance policies guarantee insurance to anyone, regardless of any health conditions. That may sound very risky for insurance companies. They hedge their risks in two ways.

The first way is that guarantee issue life insurance has graded benefits. What this means is that if the insured person should die within a specified time period, their beneficiaries receive only a portion of death benefits (or none if it is a contestable period). A majority of the policies for guaranteed issue life insurance will only pay out full benefits two years after the policy has been issued. So if an individual buys a guaranteed life insurance policy in 2007 and then dies from cancer in 2008, the beneficiary will get none or only a part of the death benefit.

The second way that insurance companies profit from guaranteed issue life insurance is charging higher premiums. There are also age limits for these types of policies (usually someone older than seventy will not be insured).

Guaranteed issue life insurance is whole life insurance, but has higher premiums because no one is denied. What this means is the guaranteed life insurance policy accrues cash value over a period of time (generally this is after the first few years). Part of the premium pays for insurance and part builds up cash value.


Because it is permanent life insurance, premium rates and death benefits don’t change. Guaranteed issue life insurance is valid for life as long as the premiums are paid.

Most policies still pay the entire amount of the death benefit if the insured dies as the result of an accident. This is usually the only reason. So if you were to find out that you have only three more months to live, guaranteed issue life insurance can’t benefit you.

Because everyone is eligible for these policies there are no medical exams or medical history required for guaranteed issue life insurance. Only very general questions are asked like name, address and age.

A majority of guaranteed issue life insurance policies do have a limit on the death benefit. Most policies are not for over $50,000. One of the major reasons people get guaranteed issue life insurance policies is to pay for things like burial expenses, medical bills and debts of the estate.

You will still be able to withdraw cash value from the policy on guaranteed issue life insurance to pay for emergency expenses that you have while you are alive. You can withdraw money and accept lower death benefits or end the policy. Or another option is you can borrow against the policy’s cash value and retain the death benefit once you have repaid the loan.

Guaranteed issue life insurance is not necessarily for everyone. However, if you are having a hard time getting other types of insurance due to a health condition and you are expected to live for two years or more, your only option may be guaranteed issue life insurance.

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Life Insurance for Children

Posted by Pamela Spencer On November - 5 - 2008

The possibility of a child dying is certainly not something any parent wants to have to think about. However, life insurance isn’t all concerned with death. Child life insurance concerns preparing for the future. Taking steps today can make it possible to have a better future. The main concern for parents and grandparents is to make a better future for their children and grandchildren.

While a child is young and healthy, it is possible to obtain life insurance at a very minimal price. However, if a child should develop a health problem such as a chronic disease, then life insurance can be virtually impossible to get. So by purchasing an inexpensive term life insurance policy today that has an option for a guaranteed periodic policy, it will make it easier for the child to get life insurance when they become an adult.

Another option is to buy a whole life insurance policy that lasts for their entire life. The state of their health and age will not matter, nor will whether or not they are employed in dangerous occupations or serve in the military.

This type of child insurance is ideal for making preparations for the future due to the fact that the cash value of the policy would accumulate. When they became an adult they would be able to borrow against the cash value or have the option to cancel the policy and withdraw the accumulated value as a means to pay for college or other things.


Grandparents, parents and legal guardians are all eligible to buy child life insurance. Young parents often have a lot of financial responsibilities when their children are young, so being able to afford insurance can be difficult. Grandparents might be in a better financial position to buy insurance for the grandchildren.

Coverage being immediately when you buy life insurance for a child. There aren’t any medical exams required, just a couple health questions on the insurance application is usually all that is needed for a child to qualify.

The cost of child life insurance varies. With whole life, the rate remains the same. The rate for term life depends on factors such as the policy and the age of the child. The policy renewal agreement can vary as well, so it is important that everything is clear before you sign up for a term policy. You may have an option to buy a term policy and then switch to whole life when the policy period ends.

You can decide how long you want a policy for child life insurance to last for. If you want it to last for the child’s entire life you can get a whole life policy. If you want one for a specific amount of time, then there are term policies available.

When it comes to child life insurance, the beneficiaries are the parents or legal guardians. However it is the child who benefits the most. She or he benefits from the security that a life insurance policy provides and will continue to provide even if the child becomes diagnosed with a serious disease. So you can secure your child’s future now through child life insurance. It benefits them and it benefits you. Contact your insurance agent to see if child life insurance is the right thing for you.

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Where to Find Whole Life Insurance

Posted by Pamela Spencer On October - 31 - 2008

Whole life insurance is widely available. It is a very popular type of life insurance due to the fact that it allows an individual to be covered for their entire life. Other forms of life insurance do not provide whole life coverage, and with other types of life insurance you may discover that you are not covered as frequently as you would like. For example, with term life insurance it only covers you for a specific term and not your entire life unlike whole life insurance.

However, it is very important that you select the right insurance company to buy your whole life policy from to ensure that the policy meets all of your needs. It used to be that whole life insurance policies were only sold by dealers who specialized in those kinds of policies. However, now that this type of insurance is so popular, you can find whole life insurance with almost any life insurance company.

This is one of the main reasons why it is very important to sit down and discuss with your life insurance agent what type of insurance policy you would like to have and what form of coverage you need. If you just tell them you want life insurance, you can’t be certain what type of insurance you will end up of. In addition, whole life insurance policies can be difficult to understand, particularly if you are not good with figures, numbers and estimates. That is why the best thing you can possibly do is sit down with an experienced and qualified insurance agent and discuss with them about the type of policy that you would like to have. If you do this the insurance agent has a better chance of helping you find the best insurance policy for you.


There are also insurance companies that will sell you simple whole life that you can potentially use later on in life to cash in for different reasons. Some of these policies can be cashed in if you become diagnosed with some sort of terminal illness. You will want to explore these types of policies because if these things should happen to you, you will be able to cash in and use the proceeds to make your arrangements and provide for your family before you die. Another form of whole life insurance that you may want to consider are policies that can be cashed in to help pay for some parts of your retirement.

All of these are good reasons why you may want to consider purchasing whole life insurance. It is extremely important that you understand the differences between the various types so that you can obtain the best whole life insurance that will fit your individual needs as well as your family’s needs.

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Life Insurance Offers Security

Posted by Pamela Spencer On October - 25 - 2008

Now days, people do understand that they could potentially be leaving lots of problems for their families when they die. Because death is unpredictable, family members who are left behind could end up struggling to fix things and take care of the deceased family member’s unfinished business. There could be difficulties in paying hospital bills along with other debts the deceased may have, along with funeral expenses that all need to be paid immediately. It is these types of problems that could hinder the family from having the proper mourning time for the loss of their loved one. In some circumstances, it could even diminish or tarnish memories of the family member. For these reasons, it is a very wise decision to purchase term life insurance to cover most or all of these potential problems.

Term life insurance is not permanent life insurance. What it means is, that for a term agreed upon by the insurer and insured, the insured party is insured for specific risks that could potentially occur during the term. If one of these things happens, the insurer will need to pay the proceeds of the insured’s term life insurance policy to the beneficiaries.


Once the term expires, the insured can drop the insurance policy and then the risks will no longer be paid out on if they occur after the term has ended. The premiums that have been paid also do not revert back. With term life insurance, the premiums on the insurance are not returned. When the term expires it doesn’t mean that the individual can not be insured. In most cases the individual can renew their policy with the same insurer if they wish. Terms are often renewed at the end of a term. Depending on what the agreement is, a term can either be renewed or continued by paying another insurance premium payment.

Term life insurance can really help beneficiaries cover any of the miscellaneous expenses and debts that will need to be paid when the insured dies. It can pay for hospital bills of the deceased as well as other types of outstanding debts such as a home mortgage. Term life insurance helps to protect families from financial problems that could occur due to the death of a family member and allow them to go through the grieving process of losing a loved one.

There are several different types of life insurance. Some of the other types could also be just as helpful to families. However, what is nice about term life insurance is that it is the easiest form of insurance to understand. It is very important to understand how helpful term life insurance can be in protecting family members from problems that can arise due to death. Protecting your family should always be your top priority.

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