The world of life insurance
Insurance is the building block or foundation of any financial plan. Insurance policies protect the insured from risks.
Insurance quotes:
Getting insurance quotes is rather simple these days. You can either search for companies on the Internet or if you have dealt with a number of companies in the past or have an agent or agency you trust, you can simply call them for a quotation. In either case, you should request at least three quotations for comparison purposes; however, you need to make sure the policies are equivalent. In most cases, if you are doing this for the first time, my advice is that you use an insurance broker to ensure that you fully understand the fine print.
Life Insurance, life insurance policies & discounted life insurance policies:
Life insurance is recommended for everyone. Life insurance is particularly important for newly weds and new parents. Life insurance premiums are quoted in dollars per 1000 of face value or death benefit. Premiums also depend on age and the health status of the insured. For this reason, it is strongly advisable that young couples and new parents purchase life insurance while they are young and in good health. There are a number of life insurance types to chose from, some of the more common policy types include: Whole Life, Term Life, Universal and Variable Universal policies.
The biggest difference between the policies is whether they include an investment vehicle as part of the policy or if the policy is a plain vanilla policy with only the risk premium included in the price of the policy. The decision as to the type of policy to purchase is a personal one. My advice would be to stay away from the hybrid policies if you are not very young, the reason for this is the fact that in the earlier part of these policies, they are loaded with various payments and may not be affordable for a lot of young couples.
The most prevalent type of insurance is Term Insurance; the word “term” refers to the length of time for which the policy premium is fixed. Terms could be 10, 20 or as long as 30 years. At the conclusion of the term, the policy can be renewed, but the underwriting has to be repeated and the premiums will usually increase due to the insured’s age and health status. Term Insurance is simply based on the risk the insurance company is willing to underwrite which as I mentioned before depends on the insured’s age and current health status.
Discounted policies can be purchased based on health status, the healthier the individual the cheaper the policy. The less the coverage, the less the premium the insured has to pay. Policies with shorter lengths – for example a 20 versus a 30-year life insurance policy cost less than policies with longer lengths. These days, a lot of insurers offer loyalty and safe record discounts. A host of car insurance companies now offer annual discounts to customers who have no accidents over a 12 month period.
Insurance settlements:
Insurance settlements are payments made for losses experienced by the insured as defined in the insured’s policy. Insurance settlements are strictly based on the contractual agreement and the determination of loss. Insurance companies will typically assess the claim and verify the legitimacy of the claim.
Insurance rates:
Insurance rates usually depend on the risk determined by the insurance company. Depending on the type of insurance: property, life, disability, long-term care, health etc. Insurance premiums are quoted to reflect the level of risk; the only exception is in cases where the insured’s employer provides group insurance. If the inured participates in a group plan, the risk is spread amongst all group members and usually there are no health or age requirements.
Credit Insurance:
Credit insurance covers debt incurred by a borrower in the event of the borrowers premature demise due to death. This type of insurance ensures that the lender receives payment for any balance on a loan in the even of the borrowers death.
Health insurance leads:
Leads are potential customers. The term refers to people who are likely to purchase a good or product based on their profile. Sales men and women use leads to prospect for sales. Many companies have created businesses providing leads to professionals in various industries. Demographic information exists to identify prospective leads for health insurance, some examples include, small business owners or new businesses and people who recently married or have recently had a child. These individuals need insurance and it is the job of the insurance agent to sell the value proposition to these individuals.
California Medical Insurance:
California’s health reform bill did not pass due to budget constraints. Currently, Massachusetts is the only state that is closest to enacting a universal health plan for its citizens. California attempted to institute a single-payer system in which the state would sponsor a program that would insure all California citizens with no cost to them, taxpayer money would be used to sponsor this program. The cost per individual for health insurance coverage is thought to be exceedingly high when one considers the cost in other countries. The California approach is predicated on the assumption that the state has the following advantages over individual purchasers: advantages of bulk purchase with the attendant cost savings, streamlined administration, cost controls and a focus on preventative care to mention a few.