If you have a spouse and children and are the main income earner of the family, you do not want to leave them in a position of hardship should anything happen to you. Yet without considering the purchase of a life insurance policy, this is a situation that could become a reality. Here are some things you need to know.
If you meet with an agent for life insurance or for that matter, any type of insurance and they listen to your needs and make recommendations on the spot, you may want to consider meeting with someone else. An agent should get to know you and your needs, do some research to find the best possible options and then meet with you again to discuss them and then, plan a course of action.
Make sure and only by life insurance from companies that are in a strong financial position. Rating agencies like Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and others give ratings to insurance companies. Do not work with any company that does not have an “A” rating from these agencies to protect your investments.
Don’t put off buying a life insurance policy. The older you are when you purchase the policy, the higher your premiums will be, even for the same amount of coverage. Also, if you are young and healthy, you won’t have any trouble getting approved for coverage, which might be a problem as you grow older.
Make sure that you are aware of how the insurance agents and financial planners make their money. They have to sell a policy or other insurance products to you in order to make a profit. The ones that work fee-plus-commission charge a fee and a commission for their products. The ones that work fee-only do not sell products. They sell guidance. In turn, you’d use that guidance to purchase your own policy.
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.
Before purchasing life insurance it is critically important that you research the different types of insurance policies available and select the policy that is best suited for you and your family. There are a wide variety of insurance policies available for purchase. The four major types of insurance are term life, whole life, universal life and variable universal life.
Many people research life insurance on the internet to learn more about the different types of policies that are available and which one would be right for them. However, much of this information is posted by insurance companies or internet marketers that may try to steer you toward a policy that is most profitable for them. Try to conduct your research on unbiased websites such as Publications.USA.gov, which is hosted by the Federal Citizen Information Center, a U.S. government service, or AARP.org., a non-profit organization catering to people over 50 years of age.
Believe it or not, you may already have some form of life insurance and don’t know it, so make sure to check up on that before pursuing a policy. If you’re employed by a large company, the odds are good that this company has a life insurance policy on you. If you find out about it, you are entitled to a portion of it according to new laws on the books.
When going in for your medical exam, it’s important that you appear to be as healthy as possible. Now, no one is suggesting that you game the system, but you need to understand what you’re in store for. Don’t eat any junk or drink or smoke before going into this exam. It could ruin your chances.
If at all possible, you should try to avoid start-up companies and there life insurance policies. You just never know when a new company is going to bite the dust and take your investment with it. The insurance market is very unpredictable and there is a chance however small that you could be a casualty.
Think through how you want to purchase life insurance. There are a lot of options available, so you will save yourself time and frustration by deciding how you want to buy your policy. Some of the choices include buying the insurance right from the company, purchasing it through an insurance agent or going through a financial planner.
Using the advice above, you should now be a little wiser as to whether buying a life insurance policy would be beneficial to you and your family. While it may have a monthly cost that seems like an extra burden, is the financial burden your family would face without you not just as much, if not more?
