Posts Tagged ‘Disability’

Life Insurance, Why We Need It

Saturday, October 9th, 2010

If you’re looking for a life insurance policy then you should look for one that will not only benefit you in the future but is also affordable in the present.

This policy offers the financial assistance when the need is present. The benefit of having information at the touch of a keyboard makes it easier to gather the necessary data to gain a complete understanding. Although that is one resource, another great resource is a discussion with a life insurance broker to avoid confusion when making such a critical decision.

It allows us to see the pros and cons from many different policies at once, although, before making a final decision, you should always speak to a life insurance broker to make sure all your information is correct and to help decided which one best suits your needs.

A consultation is a wise choice that will provide you with advice from an insurance professional. You will benefit from their experience about policy details and they will share their knowledge about recent important updates as well. This will ensure that you take the right course of action.

Owning a life insurance policy is a growing trend and important to maintaining financial stability. Policies with that offer the most benefit are the one?s most often chosen by purchasers. The Universal Life Insurance Policy is a flexible policy that permits the revision of insurance coverage based on the policy holder?s requirements.

The main reason that people invest in life insurance is for fatality(death) security to the family members of the deceased. The Universal Life Insurance policy allows the policy holder to adjust the assistance or premium cost as their situation changes. A 5% surcharge is subtracted out of every premium and added to the balance.

This information is 100% accurate but to have something to cross-reference, a professional is available to help because it is better to have life time protection for ourselves and family members.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover portal.

Whole Life Insurance: Knowing It And Getting To Know Its High And Positive Trade ?Offs

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

There are two major groups of life insurance that you should know, namely the Whole and Term Insurance Policy. The insurance policy that includes life coverage is the term insurance.

If you want to continue paying the premiums of your plan, then you will have a whole life insurance policy that will cover for the lifetime. This type of insurance will let you avail all the benefits until you reach the age of 100 because it will earn cash value that starts in the first year of paying your premiums. The good thing of having this type of insurance is that instead of paying an increasing fee, you will just be paying the same amount for the rest of your life while in the term insurance, your premiums will increase every time you renew your policy. Aside from that, the whole life insurance will guarantee you a cash value, but both types of insurance should be paid continuously in order to avail their benefits.

First of its highly positive trade-off is the accumulation of cash values, which could be a good way of investing money on a tax-free way. In addition, the policy holder gets a permanent lifetime insurance protection. Most importantly, this kind of insurance policy may be surrendered at any time with great accumulated cash values. This kind of insurance is suitable for long-range investments.

Depending on the performance of the stock market and how interest rates are credited, it is actually possible to receive a greater amount of cash value than the amount that is guaranteed with your whole life policy. Future performance of your chosen insurance provider may also affect cash values. Variable whole life insurance policies do not have guaranteed cash values as whole life insurance policies do.

Whole life insurance policy can be compared to fixed income investment since it can lend money to the policy holders and can be paid on a loan basis.

Another striking feature of the whole life insurance is the benefit of enjoying dividends. Usually, dividends are given annually to the different policy holders. The dividend is taken from the overall return of investments in a particular year; hence, there are greater returns under this investment scheme.

Preparing a budget for the whole life insurance coverage is a good choice and you should do it now while you can still afford it. A fixed death benefit is also included in this insurance and it is to your advantage. So, what are you waiting for? Call your insurance agents now and have a fulfilling life.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover portal.

Differences Between Term Life Insurance And Whole Life Insurance

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

All life insurance policies are either term, whole, or some combination of these two types of policies. However, there are many different forms that life insurance can take, even within these types.

Universal life insurance allows you to adjust the premium and policy amount to what you feel you need.

On the other hand, a person who wants control over the financial and investment aspects of their insurance policy should choose variable life insurance.

Description of a Term Life Insurance Policy

The term life insurance policy provides insurance protection for a particular period of time. The term may be extended to 5, 10, or 20 years. When the term ends the policy also expires without any benefits and without any saved or accumulated cash value. But if you die during this term then the death benefit will be paid. The term insurance policy can be said as insurance that is actually designed to expire before you do.?

Usually the premiums on the term insurance are not that big, but as you grow older you will have to pay more. So considering the profits a term life insurance policy is more economical when bought at a younger age along with a longer term. Even though the short term renewable policies are substantially lower when people are young, it will be highly expensive when purchased after middle age.

In a term life policy that renews annually and carries a $200,000 death benefit, the annual premiums might look like the example below. Remember, these are just examples to show the differences in cost with age:

$300 / year age 35

$900 / year age 50

Age 65: $2,500/year

Now we shall see what is a Whole Life Insurance Policy.

The most common type of insurance sold in the market today is the whole life insurance policy. A whole life insurance policy is valid till you die or until you reach the age of 100. But it must be taken care that you pay all the premiums as scheduled. Whole life insurance is otherwise known as the permanent insurance. Level premiums, level face amounts, guaranteed values, and a relatively high degree of safety compared to others are the main differential characteristics of a whole life insurance policy. The guaranteed cash value through the whole life insurance builds a huge benefit for the owner. This is very beneficial for the user, because this cash can be accessed during emergencies, and for other needs as well as a alternative source of retirement income.

Whole life insurance includes both insurance and savings: whole life policies are often used in long-term financial planning. The level premiums of whole life policies also mean that the premium will never change. This gives you the peace of mind of always knowing how much your premium will be; it will not increase as you grow older.

The risk factor of whole life insurance policies is quite different from that of an auto insurance policy, by definition. With auto insurance, the insurer hopes that the policy holder will drive safely so that they never have to pay out the claim; with whole life insurance, however, the insurance company knows that they will have to pay the claim someday.

Shopping for life insurance is now quite simple to do online. You can compare companies and policies to make sure you get the best premiums for the policy that meets your needs. It’s well worth the time to get several quotes, and to see how the companies are rated with the Better Business Bureau. It’s also important to look into the financial standings of the companies you’re considering before you sign up for any type of life insurance policy. If you do your research, you will easily get the best whole life insurance policy online.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover portal.

Having Life Insurance That Will Cover Your Debts

Saturday, August 21st, 2010

Most average people don’t have enough money saved up to pay for a burial and a funeral let alone a burial and a funeral due to an unexpected early death. Many people take the path of life insurance to help their families avoid having to pay for a funeral and burial as well as other bills that may surface. Life insurance is able to pay for not only the burial and the funeral but many other bills that will arise after your death. The biggest problem is that your debts may be passed on to your family and life insurance can help prevent this.

In most cases people get life insurance so that their family doesn’t have to pay for a funeral that can cost thousands of dollars. Since most people don’t have enough money saved up for a funeral life insurance can be a big help. Depending on the size of the life insurance policy that you get you will be able to cover the funeral expenses and even other bills. Being careful when choosing a life insurance plan is essential as some plans will not cover what you need them to. A term life insurance policy, for example, is a low cost plan but also has a low payout.

One huge problem with term life insurance policies is that they expire after a set period of time. This can often leave a person looking for another plan in their later years only to have trouble finding an affordable plan. When you decide to get life insurance you should make sure that your plan will be in place until after you’ve passed away.

You will find that some insurance plans will have extra money even after the funeral has been paid for. The first thing this extra money should be used for is to pay off your debts so that it doesn’t get passed on to your family. Credit companies are able to and will pass your debts on to your spouse or children. If they do not pay the company it would be as if they got the credit and didn’t pay it. This means it will hurt their credit when they didn’t even get the loan. You should avoid this problem by simply having a life insurance policy that will have extra money to pay off your debts.

If there’s still money left over after your debts, bills, and funeral have been paid for then it will be split between your beneficiaries. It is essential to get an extremely good life insurance policy if you want to have inheritance money left over for your family or other beneficiaries. Be sure to factor in any medical bills that may come up immediately before you pass away.

Otherwise your family may have to use the inheritance money to cover the costs of the medical bills rather than have it for themselves. As long as you plan it out ahead of time and take the time to search for life insurance plans you should have no problem finding a life insurance plan that will meet your family’s needs.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover website.

You?re Life Insurance Rights

Monday, August 16th, 2010

It?s important to know how your rights will affect you and your family when it comes to life insurance. You will want to understand your rights so that you can purchase a life insurance policy that will fit you and your family?s needs. You should remember that it?s easier to find a policy than it is to try to change one.

The rights you have when it comes to life insurance are related to the type of insurance that you get. The most known type of life insurance is whole life insurance. This insurance provides your family with a monthly rate of money until the total is paid out. The other main type of life insurance is term life insurance. This type of insurance has lower premium rates however it expires after a certain number of years.

Both types of life insurance are protected by the free look period under state law. In every state you will be entitled somewhere between 10 and 30 days to cancel your policy if you don?t like the terms and agreements. You should review the policy and make sure you understand what everything means. If you decide that you no longer want the policy then you can cancel it by the final day by returning the papers with a written statement that says that you?re canceling your policy. The company is then forced to refund anything you?ve paid them and void your contract.

This period is extremely important for many people as they will be able to take it to someone and have that person help them understand the technicalities of the policy. The free look period varies from state to state and in some cases from company to company. Although contracts are supposed to be easy to read they are not in most cases. Thus you should take full advantage of this free look period so that you get what you want in your policy.

If you have chosen to get term life insurance then you should use your time period to reconsider getting whole life insurance. The problem with term life insurance is that it may expire before you die. If this is the case then you will have a problem getting affordable life insurance down the road. As people become older they become a very high risk for life insurance companies as they are expected not to live as long and therefore make many less payments. You may be able to persuade companies by making a lump sum deposit to them as it will lower your risk factor and it may even save you money on your monthly premium. You may also want to negotiate payment terms with your life insurance company. Many companies like to pay all of the money over an extended period of time which can make it hard on the family to pay for the funeral. You may be able to negotiate a lump sum payment to your family and then smaller payments after that to ensure they have enough money for the burial and other expenses.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover portal. For tips on how to save on your life insurance visit our website.

Life Insurance VS A Retirement Policy

Monday, July 26th, 2010

There are too many people who have insufficient retirement packages offered from their jobs and their security for financial well being is compromised for their old age. Some people do not have any type of retirement package and will be forced to live off of their social security payments. Social security alone is not enough for anyone to live the lifestyle they were accustomed to while working. Many people will be forced to sell their homes and their value of living will decrease incredibly.

A life insurance policy means to most people a way to pay out to loved ones after death. A life insurance policy can be much more than death benefits, its can offer a retirement package that is tax free payments after you retire. You can fund these policies with stocks and bonds, certificates of deposit, mutual funds as well as cash you have saved in your bank account.

Having the security of death benefits for your family is very important but having peace of mind about your financial well being after retirement is a huge concern for most people. The life insurance policies can be created to offer payouts over a specified period of time or can be paid for your entire lifetime. The best feature of the policies is that you put in it what you want to invest in your future and the payments will not be considered taxable income.

Retirement benefits can be utilized in many ways with the life insurance policies. You can borrow from cash values or have a payment plan designed to meet your needs. In both instances there will be certain pros and cons.

Money that is accumulated in the policy that offers retirement benefits is available for you or withdraw without suffering any penalties or taxes. A standard retirement package such as IRA benefits allows you to withdraw the money to but you suffer penalties for early withdraw as well as income tax on all finds you receive from the account. The insurance policy making payments to you that are tax free after you retire is a huge advantage it has over the standard retirement benefit package.

Some people use borrowing money from their retirement policy as a way to avoid income taxes but this can create big problems later down the road. If the cash amount borrowed reaches the policy amount then the policy holder is hit with capital gains tax on all amounts paid in excess of the premiums, this can be a hard thing to recover from for someone who has been paying in to the policy for 40+ years. At your retirement age you are struggling to pay for estate tax and cover the costs of your health care, a huge tax bill could cause you to lose everything you own.

Just because your agent showed you a great retirement policy at the rate you had when you bought it does not mean that it will remain the same, rates do change will also cause your benefit amount to change. Retirements from your employment may be more stable but the insurance policies offering the tax free income and a way to create more wealth by taking a few risks far outweigh the standard retirement policy.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover website.

Getting Life Insurance If Your Are HIV Positive

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Having a life insurance policy in place can bring peace of mind to individuals who want to ensure the financial security of their loved ones even after their death. If you have been diagnosed as HIV positive and you do not already have a life insurance policy in place it can be extremely difficult to obtain one. While many insurance companies will turn you down immediately, others will offer high premium policies that will cover only the cost of your funeral.

You should look to see if you already have any policies in place that include death benefits and also to determine if they have any rider policies. You may have a life insurance policy through your mortgage on your home or even one that was offered as part of your employment package at your job. If you do have any policies in place keep them current, it is extremely important not to allow them to end as you may not be able to get them back with the HIV status.

You may have social security benefits available to you and by visiting your local social security office they will be able to explain if you do and give you the amount in which will be paid. You can make any changes that are necessary concerning your beneficiaries at the office during your visit as well.

If you need more information on your current death benefits or need help in selecting your beneficiaries an attorney can be helpful. You can have any questions answered that you might be confused about as well as make any changes to your will with their assistance.

Your employers human resource department can be extremely helpful in assisting with finding any available programs or life insurance policies that are part of their employment package. Several employers have a group life insurance policy program that is automatically extended to their employees and will require no pre qualification or underwriting to be accepted. The policies pay out a percentage of your wages to the beneficiaries you name on the policy at the time of your death. If you are not on this policy and it is available the human resource department will assist in getting you started.

If you are employed where no policies are available for death benefits then you may choose to look for an employer who does offer the benefits and switch jobs. Even if you take a cut in pay it is worth the peace of mind that your loved ones will be taken care of. Be sure this does not affect your health insurance coverage as many policies will refuse pre existing conditions.

An HIV AIDS case worker will be able to help you in your search for death benefits. They can offer you the many programs or life insurance policies that are available to you. Some insurance companies will offer policies to HIV positive clients with the new medications creating an effective way for the individuals to live a longer life than years before.

You can find guaranteed life insurance policies from companies that will insure anyone. The premiums will be much higher on this type of policy and you can expect that the pay outs will be much less. Some insurance companies will only offer burial costs at an extremely high premium for terminally ill clients such as someone who is HIV positive.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover website.

Life Insurance – The Risk Assessment

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

So many people apply for life insurance policies, but only a few of them get approved for the same. It is certainly not the easiest of jobs to get a life insurance policy. You may have enough money to pay the premiums, but it does not make you eligible for the policy. Your application for a life insurance will be assessed and analyzed. In other words, a thorough underwriting would be done on the application. Underwriting consists of the risk analysis to approve the application, and the decision on appropriate premium amounts to be paid by the individual.

Underwriters help the insurance companies in analyzing the risk involved in approving a particular application. At the end of the day, insurance companies are looking to make profits, and for this underwriting becomes an important exercise for them. Underwriting includes three steps, performed one after the other. The steps include examining the application, deciding to insure or not, determining the premium.

The first step needs the companies to gather information about the applicant. The application needs to be examined against many parameters, such as marital status, sex, type of living area, age, and current health status and so on. All these parameters are looked into one by one, and a final conclusion is then drawn.

After all the information about the applicant is handy, the risk assessment triggers. The applicant is remarked against all the above parameters one by one. These parameters are termed as the risk factors. The applicant needs to score low on these risk factors to get through this phase successfully. Each of the risk factors holds its own importance and value. However, most companies give extra significance to the age and health of the applicant. If the applicant is young and healthy, the chances of approval are very strong. As against this, if the applicant is old and ailing, the denial is on the cards. The living environment of the applicant has a huge role to play as well. If the applicant happens to live in a polluted and unhygienic area, the insurance company starts to feel a little edgy about approving the application. At the same time, a good and healthy living environment of the applicant makes it considerably easy for the companies to approve the application. Gender is another point of evaluation for many companies. Women are thought of living a better and healthier life as compared to men. This is because they are known to take lesser depressions in life. On the other hand, married men are believed to life a healthier life as compared to the married women. Another important aspect of consideration is the living habits of the individual. If the applicant smokes and drinks, there are likely to be negligible chances of an approval. The aim behind all these considerations is to ensure that the probability of the individual living longer is more.

The above risk factors not only determine the approval or denial of the insurance policy, but also the monthly premiums. Once the application is approved, the score of the applicant on the risk factors also decides his pr her monthly premium amounts. A young and fit individual would have to pay lower monthly installments, as compared to an old and ailing individual.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover portal. For tips on how to save on your life insurance visit our website.

How Did Insurance Start

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

Life insurance or life assurance is an agreement between the plan owner (the insured) and, the insurer (insurance company) where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money fixed in the contract at the time of the insured?s demise. This may also comprise but also promise to include indicants such as an incurable disease. The plan owner agrees to pay a certain sum each month, three months, six months or a year which is affirmed upon by the contract. The policy can also state that the insurer will pay for memorial service and some health expenses independently from the agreed compensation sum.

Insurance has been around since society began. The earliest form of insurance was the old protection rackets that organized crime families still use even today. Criminals or rulers of a country would ?guarantee? that a business or home would not be damaged or destroyed by criminal activities for a weekly cut of said earnings of the business. This form of blackmail and extortion quickly led to merchants and shopkeepers living in their businesses. So that when the criminals came they would be greeted by sword and spear. These actions, taken by these early businessmen, led to the old saying, ?The greatest protection comes by the sword.?

The earliest known form of a true form of a contractual insurance agreement came as early as 3 or 2 millennia B.C. These simple agreements stated that a merchant, trader or transporter of goods would guarantee the safety of said cargo or shipment. If the goods were lost, the transporter of said goods would pay either the sender or receiver for the loss or both. Other insurance contracts were simply a fee paid by the carrier so that of the goods were lost then the fee would cover said loss of goods. These agreements were usually done by a verbal agreement, but they were later back up by laws etched in stone and papyrus.

As human civilization became more modern, many traders would hire retired soldiers, i.e. mercenaries, to help shepherd their goods from place to place. These men could in some ways be called the first security guards of human civilization. But it was dangerous and grueling work, but for the soldiers of fortune of that time it was some of the best work one could get.

Now in the modern age insurance is now a necessity for a normal life in every nation on Earth. Insurance now covers Life, property, health, and even liability from lawsuits. The insurance commodity is now a multi-billion dollar business. The first known insurance business was started after the Great London Fire in 1666. The fire destroyed-,200 houses. After this tragedy, Nicholas Barbon opened an office to insure buildings. In 1680, he established England’s first fire insurance company, “The Fire Office,” to insure brick and frame homes.

The first insurance company in the United States was founded in Charleston, South Carolina in 1732. The company insured against fire damage and Benjamin Franklin assisted in popularizing the concept of insurance in the country at the time. In 1752, Benjamin Franklin founded the Philadelphia Contributorship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire. Franklin’s company was the first to make contributions toward fire deterrence. His company also tried to warn against certain fire hazards, but it refused to cover structures that were at considerable risk of fire, such as wooden houses or warehouses.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover portal. For more information on the different types of life insurance visit our website.

Planning For Happiness With Life Insurance

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

Life insurance companies have many methods which allow for the supplementation of a family if the breadwinner were to come to an early, unexpected death. We now have the option of choosing a type of life insurance policy that will work for our needs and invest into it accordingly. Unlike others who ignore the necessity of investing into the future or immediate gain, those of us who put the effort towards investments are able to have peace of mind and relax regarding the security of our family?s financial future.

With a little added work in regards to our investments, life insurance can go a long way towards securing our future and creating a worry free life. By sharing the benefits of life insurance with friends and family, we can make smart investments that will save us from all of life’s misfortunes and protect us from hardships.

With the added security of insurance to cover us when unexpected things happen, we can safely plan out our lives with a foundation of known variables and minimized risks. The insurance industry is sophisticated and has a facet to deal with almost every aspect of your life, and this lets you make better financial plans with better results even if you’re unlucky. Don’t get lulled into a sense of false security just because you have a lot of money!

But with enough good judgment and planning ahead, we are better able to keep the risk at a minimum. If we make proper preparations with life insurance, then we know for sure that no matter how out of hand things get, our future is secured.

Think about what those close to you will do when you pass. If you’re married, how will your partner survive? If you have children, how will they get their educations in a climate of ever-soaring costs for college? Life insurance isn’t just to help you, it’s to help those close to you as well.

If you look for the best policy to meet your needs, buy from an honest and trustworthy company, and completely understand all the rules and clauses involved, there’s no way you will regret getting life insurance. Even if you never get thanked for it, it’s something you should do for yourself and your loved ones.

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Life Insurance provider. For more information visit: http://life.insurance123.co.za/