What is life insurance?
What is 'term' life insurance?
What is 'whole life' insurance?
What is Universal Life?
What is Variable Life Insurance?
How much life insurance should I have?
What type of life insurance should I have?
Do I need to get an exam?
What does the exam consist of?
Which company do I choose?
Do you have the cheapest insurance?
Does my current health affect the cost of my insurance?
Does smoking affect my rate?
How do I pay for my insurance?
When does my coverage start?
How can I get the best monthly premiums for the highest coverage?

What is life insurance?
For many people, life insurance is the most important financial asset they will ever own. Everyone has financial goals that they hope to achieve some day, but no one knows for certain how long they are going to live. That’s why so many people purchase life insurance—they want to achieve their financial goals for their family even though they ran out of time. That’s what life insurance does. It provides tax-free money at the precise time when it is needed the most.

The uses of life insurance are many. You can provide an income to your spouse; or you can pay off the mortgage and any other debts so that your wife and family have a firm foundation on which to build a new life; or, if you have accumulated a large Estate you can use life insurance to pay the taxes so that your family gets what you built instead of the IRS; or, if you are a business owner you can use life insurance to insure key people in your company. You can also use “cash value” life insurance to save money on a “tax-deferred” basis.

  What is ‘term’ life insurance?
Term Life is a kind of insurance that lasts for a specific number of years. For example, “Ten Year Term” usually guarantees that the premium will not change for ten years.  However, in year eleven one of two things will occur: 1) the insurance will terminate, or 2) the insurance premium will increase, usually substantially.

  What is ‘whole life’ insurance?
Whole Life is insurance that offers protection for the “whole” life.  It doesn’t expire.  Whole Life insurance also offers a savings component, called “cash value,” which grows on a tax-deferred basis.

  What is Universal Life?
 These days, Universal Life is usually marketed to provide the lowest cost, guaranteed insurance premium that will last to age 100, or longer.  Unlike Whole Life, there is little or no “cash value” with Universal Life.

  What is Variable Life Insurance?
 Variable Life is similar to Whole Life or Universal Life insurance except that your money is invested in the stock market rather than invested by the insurance company.  This means that you, the policyholder, are entirely responsible for the investment results.  It also means that if the stock market doesn’t perform up to certain levels you could see the “cash value” of your insurance diminish to zero, possibly resulting in the termination of the insurance policy.

  How much life insurance should I have?
That’s a difficult question.  But, the three most common ways to calculate how much life insurance you should have are:

1. Human Life Value: Here you are considering the economic value of a family breadwinner over his lifetime, including increased income (money in) and inflation (money out). This formula yields the highest insurance amounts.
   
   
2. Income Replacement: Here the equation is this: how much money would it take to provide your current income for the rest of your beneficiary’s life?  For example, if you make $100,000 per year, how much money would it take, at current CD rates (say 3%), to yield $100,000 per year?  The answer is $3,333,333.  And that’s how much insurance you would purchase. 
   
   
3. Debt Retirement: Here the objective is to give your beneficiary a financial head-start by paying off all debts, including the mortgage.  In addition, we usually include a sum of money to get the spouse through the first year or two in case they need to do job training, and sometimes we also include some college funding for the kids.

  What type of life insurance should I have?
If you are looking for the cheapest type of life insurance, you should be looking at term life insurance. If you are looking for something that lasts for the rest of your life or maybe something that generates a cash value, give us a call. Life insurance needs are different for each person. We would like to help find what is right for you.

  Do I need to get an exam?
 Yes. Getting an exam helps to insure that you get the cheapest cost for your life insurance. There is no cost to you and a mobile paramed can come to your office or home any time you like.

  What does the exam consist of?
 It varies depending on how much insurance you are looking to purchase. Generally the paramed will come out to your home or place of business to collect a urine and blood sample. They will also ask about your prior health history.

  Which company do I choose?
 When buying life insurance, you are buying a “Promise” from the insurance company. They are promising to pay a certain amount of money in the event of your death. You want to make sure that you are picking a company that can deliver on that promise. Each insurance company is rated based on their financial stability and we make sure that you are choosing on the best rated companies available.

  Do you have the cheapest insurance?
 Buying life insurance is not like buying a car at a dealership. With life insurance, I have the exact same rates as anyone else showing you the same company. There are two things that we have that sets us apart from others: (1)We are not affiliated with any one insurance company. This allows us to offer as many insurance companies as possible to make sure you get the best rate. (2) We make the process of getting life insurance as painless as possible.

  Does my current health affect the cost of my insurance?
 Life insurance companies give you a certain health class determined by your health history, current health and your family history.

  Does smoking affect my rate?
 Yes. Some companies have different rules on being a smoker. Some companies don’t consider you a smoker if you occasionally smoke cigars or have an occasional cigarette. If you have smoked regularly in the last or occasional in the last 3 years, please give us a call. We will be able to find the best possible rate for you.

  How do I pay for my insurance?
 There are a few different options the insurance companies allow:

·        Annually- Each year they will send you a bill and you pay for the entire year.

·        Semi-Annually- They will send you two bills each year.

·        Quarterly- Four bills each year.

·        Monthly- You are allowed to pay for your insurance on a monthly basis, but you must set-up a monthly automatic draft from your checking account.

  When does my coverage start?
 If you are eligible, once you sign the application and send in a check for the first payment you are covered after the exam. If you were to die before your insurance was approved, the insurance company would continue to process your application. As long as you would have been approved anyway, the insurance company will honor your claim.

  How can I get the best monthly premiums for the highest coverage?
 Term Life has the lowest premiums for a given amount of coverage. Your first step is to get term life insurance quotes from as many companies as you can. Comparing term life quotes for the lowest term life rates makes it easy to decide which insurance company is best for you.