Purchasing life insurance is similar to renting a comfort zone to ensure your families fortune. There are many complex issues that must be considered when deciding upon a life insurance policy. The following tips are guidelines to get you started in making the right decision and choice for your individual needs.
Before you commit to a life insurance policy, be sure to look around and compare rates. You do not want to be stuck with a policy that will not provide your loved ones with sufficient funds. If you are unsure of which companies are reliable, you can look at online reviews.
Avoid the whole life policy and go with the term life policy instead. Whole life policies combine an investment with the standard term policy. The term life policy will pay out the amount of coverage that you have selected either in a lump sum or over the course of 20 to 30 years.
You should understand why you need a life insurance policy. Don’t just go out and buy a policy because someone told you it was a good idea. You should only purchase a life insurance policy if someone in your family, a spouse, or children, depends on your income source for support.
Sometimes in life insurance, more coverage is actually cheaper. As the amount of coverage increases, the cost per thousand dollars of coverage will decrease. For some companies, the math works out such that buying a bigger policy actually costs you less per month in premiums. Always ask for price quotes for multiple levels of coverage when shopping for insurance.
One of the more common life insurance pitfalls is viewing a policy as an investment. Many whole life insurance policies come packaged in such a way that a part of your payment is saved and invested to be paid out upon your death. This is a mistake because there are better places to invest your money. You should view life insurance strictly as protection against death and not as an investment.
When purchasing a life insurance policy, you should refrain from purchasing expensive riders unless you really understand and need them. Your advisor may tell you that you should add certain types of riders, but most of the time, you don’t need them. Typically, riders do not give you any benefits except under certain circumstances.
If you want to save money on your life insurance, you should strive to improve your credit. If you have low credit, you will have to pay higher premiums than those who have good credit. The reason is because a person with a low credit score will be a higher risk to an insurance company; so therefore, this person will have to pay higher premiums to compensate for this risk.
To save money on a life insurance policy you should stay away from “guaranteed issue” policies. The reason is because these policies are given to most people who apply, and a medical exam is not needed. Therefore, companies that issue these types of policies have no way of knowing whether you are in good or bad health. Because of these high risks, the premiums you will have to pay will be high.
Some smaller life insurance policies out there, like those that are less than $10,000, might not require you to have a physical, but these are also usually costly for their size. The companies offering these policies are assuming that unhealthy people are opting for this option so they can be insured, so the prices are steeper per month.
Research the insurance company. You need to purchase your life insurance through a reliable company: this way you can be sure that in the event of your death, your beneficiaries will actually receive what they are due. There are a number of agencies that rate companies in terms of financial soundness and reliability. They assess the insurer’s ability to pay on time and meet all financial obligations. The four main agencies are Moody’s, Standard and Poors, A.M. Best and Fitch.
When you are purchasing a life insurance policy, you need to make sure you give accurate and thorough information as soon as possible. If you do not give correct information, your insurance policy will be void. As a result, if you were to die, your policy would be useless to your family.
Even if you are done raising your children, you should still think about life insurance. A good life insurance can help your spouse for instance. If you are not married, life insurance can cover your credit card debt or your unpaid mortgage, instead of your children or spouse inheriting this debt.
Being prepared and knowing that your family is protected should something happen to you is both responsible and loving. Take the time to look over all the information and choices that you have and decide the best policy for your family. Purchasing a life insurance policy is the greatest gift one can give to their family.
