Insurance Guide
How to Use Life Insurance To Maximize Your Pension Benefit
A major concern that many people face as we get older is providing resources and care for your family after your death. You want to make sure that your spouse, children, and any other family members that rely on you for support have enough money to live comfortably even when Read More »
Difference Between Life Insurance and Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance
At first glance, life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment insurance might seem like roughly the same thing. However, they are actually quite different and will protect you from different catastrophes. There may be instances where you need both, but for many people, you would only need one or the Read More »
What Is a Spousal Rider?
A rider within life insurance is categorized as something that you can add on to your life insurance policy and can provide substantial benefit coverage, all depending on what the rider covers. A common type of rider would be a spousal rider, which is a form of rider pertaining to Read More »
Can You Use Your Own Doctor For A Life Insurance Medical Exam?
When you sign up for a new life insurance plan, you will be required to have a medical exam. Your health factors into the cost of your life insurance premium, and the medical exam is used to determine your overall fitness level and assign you a health rating. The logic Read More »
Life Insurance & Genetic Testing: Does it Affect Rates
Genetic testing has become very popular lately, with companies like 23andMe popularizing at-home DNA testing kits. Many people are choosing to get their DNA tested to learn more about their heritage, but DNA testing can also provide you with interesting information about your genetic background and what sort of diseases Read More »
What Does it Mean for a Life Insurance Policy to Mature?
When a life insurance policy "matures," it has reached its maturity date and now owes the cash value or death benefit to the insured. Maturity of your insurance policy is looked at as neither positive nor negative, but it is important to understand what exactly it means and how it Read More »
Life Insurance For College Students
As a college student, life insurance is probably the last thing on your mind. You’re focused on doing well in classes and preparing for your future career. However, taking out life insurance as a college student can give you and your family some peace of mind in case an accident Read More »
Life Insurance Loans
Permanent life insurance policies with sufficient cash value normally allow for policy owners to pull money from their policy in the form of a loan. Loans from life insurance policies can have distinct tax advantages, and they do not permanently reduce the death benefit paid to beneficiaries. Here we discuss Read More »
Buying Your First Life Insurance Policy
Buying life insurance for the first time can feel daunting. Not only do you need to think about your mortality, which is highly unpleasant, you also are faced with the task of choosing a complicated insurance product being sold by a lot of companies. Sometimes, you can talk to three Read More »
What is a Life Insurance Rate Class? What are the Most Common Rate Classes?
There are various risk classifications and factors that enable life insurance companies to put you within a certain rate class. These risks and factors include anything pertaining to health (mentally and physically), family history, lifestyle, and others. The rate or price that you will pay is entirely dependent upon these Read More »
How to Buy Life Insurance On A Budget
Life insurance is important - it will cover funeral expenses and support your dependents in the event of your death. Many people don’t think they need life insurance, but it’s always important to have, because you never know what’s going to happen, and you don’t want to leave your dependents Read More »
What is a Collateral Assignment of a Life Insurance Policy?
A life insurance policy can actually help you get a loan, and lenders often accept life insurance as collateral because of guaranteed funds. This is to ensure that even if the worst was to come, they initially will be able to get their money back. More often than not, these Read More »
Term Insurance Riders Explained
Any insurance rider is an additional feature of a policy. A term insurance rider is an add-on to a permanent life insurance policy, most often a whole life insurance policy. The term rider adds additional life insurance, but instead of being permanent, the additional coverage expires. For the length of Read More »
Is Life Insurance Paid out in a Lump Sum?
Life insurance is a necessity for individual’s today that are seeking to provide financial security for their family and loved ones. With millions of people paying for life insurance, many beneficiaries do not understand how exactly the payout works when someone passes away. This means understanding how quickly benefits are Read More »
What Is Return of Premium Life Insurance?
You’re more than likely unfamiliar with return of premium life insurance. A relatively unpopular option (accounting for just 2% of term life sales according to a study by LIMRA). return of premium life insurance is a type of policy that most people overlook when it comes to buying life insurance. Read More »
What Is a 1035 Exchange?
As the name suggests, a 1035 exchange is an exchange of contracts covering annuity contracts, life insurance policies, long-term care policies, and endowments. These exchanges are popular due to their tax-free status. However, there are specific rules and regulations in place to ensure proper processing of the exchange. Therefore, it’s Read More »
Can You Get Life Insurance with Pre-Existing Conditions?
When you have a pre-existing condition, it suddenly becomes more difficult to get health insurance coverage, but what about life insurance policies? It’s true that life insurance companies can deny people for a variety of reasons, but fortunately, there is coverage available for nearly everyone, regardless of any pre-existing conditions. Read More »
Why Whole Life Insurance Gets Cheaper Over Time
Life insurance is one of the best investments you can make. It provides your loved ones with financial protection when you pass away, offering them – and you – peace of mind. But, if you’re shopping around for life insurance, you’re going to find that there are a few different Read More »
Are Brighthouse Financial and MetLife the Same Thing?
In 2017, MetLife, one of the biggest providers of life insurance in the United States, established Brighthouse Financial. The purpose of MetLife establishing Brighthouse Financial was so that the insurance provider could focus solely on selling life insurance, as well as annuities, to individuals. MetLife still continues to exist, but Read More »
All About Voluntary Life Insurance
When it comes to life insurance plans, there are so many different options to choose from. Different policies offer different advantages and different coverages. Two of the most common types of life insurance policies include term life (only effective for a predetermine period of time) and permanent life (insurance coverage Read More »
Difference Between Cash Value and Face Value in Life Insurance
If you have a permanent life insurance policy, there are two terms that you should familiarize yourself with: cash value and face value. As the name suggests, a permanent life insurance policy offers permanent coverage because it offers coverage for the entire span of your life, rather than just a Read More »
Reasons Why Your Life Insurance Claim Might Be Denied
The death of a loved one is hard enough, but finding out that a life insurance claim was denied can make the loss even harder. While there’s no amount of money that can ever replace the one you lost, it can certainly help to ease your worry – especially if Read More »
Can I Claim Life Insurance as a Business Expense?
Life insurance is one of the best investments you can make. Not only does it provide your loved ones with financial stability when you pass away, but if you own a business, it can also protect your company. If you’re a business owner, you might be wondering if your life Read More »
Are Life Insurance Payouts Taxable?
If you have a family, it’s likely that you invested in life insurance as a way to provide your loved ones with financial security in the event that you pass away. However, you may be wondering if, when you do pass away, the proceeds from your life insurance policy will Read More »
Can You Borrow From Life Insurance to Buy a Home?
If you are buying a home, you know how expensive it can be. The median home price is about $200,000 in 2017 and rising quickly. In some markets, you will be hard-pressed to find a home for less than $500,000. A standard mortgage requires a 20% down payment. In a Read More »
Life Insurance with Cancer and How to Get it
You can get life insurance if you have cancer. We help our clients obtain valuable policies every day when they have cancer or any number of other serious diseases. The caveat is that the process is a bit more involved than the standard way. It will take a little more Read More »
Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance Explained
Guaranteed issue life insurance is a form of "no medical exam life insurance". Just like it sounds from the name, a life insurance company can not deny a policy if someone applies for a guaranteed issue policy. While this sounds great, there are some very important catches to this type Read More »
Single Premium Life Insurance Explained
A financial advisor may propose a single premium life insurance policy instead of a policy that requires annual premiums, typically to high-end clients. A single premium life policy also known as (SPL) is a pretty straightforward life insurance concept, but this type of policy has some nuances that are important. Read More »
What to do if you Lose your Life Insurance Policy?
First of all don't worry. Insurance companies are required to pay death claims even if the beneficiary can't find the policy of the insured person. Just because you can't find a policy doesn't mean that the contract isn't still enforceable in it's original form. You don't need to buy a Read More »
Can I Avoid a Paramedical Exam When I Buy Life Insurance?
There are many reasons why someone might want to avoid taking a paramedical exam, which is also more commonly known as a life insurance medical exam or a paramed. Some are not sinister, it may make you nervous to have someone examine you for instance. Some people may want to Read More »
How to Get Lower Life Insurance Rates if You Are a Smoker
There's no secret about it. Smoking is bad for your health. Life insurance companies are not interested in politics or trends, they only care about the numbers and the numbers are clear. Smoking shortens lives on average. Smoking opens you up to a host of serious health problems, not the Read More »
Why Life Insurance Premiums Increase
When you purchase your life insurance policy, obviously, the most important factor is the type of coverage you are going to receive. You want to make sure that your loved ones are adequately provided for in the event of your passing. However, while coverage is extremely important, there is another Read More »
Am I Paying Too Much for My Life Insurance?
Life insurance is a really smart purchase, and a crucial one, if you have a family that you need to protect. However, not everyone really needs coverage from a life insurance policy; or, you may outgrow the coverage that you once needed. The result of this can end up costing Read More »
Incontestability Clause Explained
The incontestability clause in a life insurance policy makes it impossible for the company after a period of time (usually two years) to contest any statements made in the application or any concealment of material facts in order to avoid payment of the proceeds. The clause is usually a simple Read More »
The Basics of Juvenile Life Insurance
Juvenile life insurance is insurance written on the lives of children, usually those under age 15. Age classes for juveniles vary from company to company, commonly running from 0 through 9 or 0 through 14. There are a few cases of juvenile policies running from 0 to 4 and from Read More »
How To Get The Best Life Insurance Rates
Shopping around for life insurance can be time consuming and intimidating. There are so many options out there from a myriad of insurers. Just because the process is daunting, however, you should not be scared away. Good, affordable life insurance policies can be found, and often times, they are just a Read More »
Life Insurance Settlements Explained
A life insurance settlement is the sale of a life insurance policy to another person or a 3rd party. Sometimes called a "life settlement", a "senior settlement" or a "lifetime settlement", the life insurance settlement typically offers the original policyholder more money than the cash surrender value of the policy Read More »