Life Insurance & Annuities

What a time it is to save money now.  There are multiple reports each day televised, on the airways and in writing sighting that due to the changes in the economic environment more and more American’s are making lifestyle changes to carefully navigate their way through these challenging financial times. There are many suggestions of how and where to save.  There are a lot of good tips.  In fact, some are so good that the reality is that these are things that should be incorporated in good or bad times.  But in any economic situation free helps the budget.  And online makes it easy.  Free online term life insurance quotes are, in fact, available without any cost or obligation.  This is a very important insurance that families need to make sure is in place to protect their family.

Term life insurance can be used to pay off a mortgage by a spouse if there is a loss during the policy period.  One should be sure to take advantage of the low premiums that are possible with this type of insurance policy.  The access to free term life insurance quotes online makes the accessibility simple in a user-friendly way.  People are more informed because of the access to information on the internet.  This is a great aspect for people to gain knowledge and to turn this abundance of information into saving money.  Whether you are a big income earner or on a tight budget no one wants to spend more than they have to on any product.  With free term life insurance quotes there is nothing you have to spend to get a quote.  Once you have a quote you are armed with the information needed to make a good decision for not only the budget, but for the family.

Free term life insurance quotes will enable a potential insured see the different rates and premiums offered by multiple life insurance carriers.  When these quotes are laid out in front of the eye it is easy to see which company is offering the best rates and premiums for a policy.  An example of a term life insurance policy placed after obtaining a free life insurance quote online, a 31 year old woman in very good health applied for $500,000 of term life insurance.  She got a premium of $17.50 a month.  This policy was put in place after a simple medical exam, in which the nurse made an appointment and came right to the house.  This is a very good situation for the 31 year woman.  She has the peace of mind of knowing that her family has life insurance coverage in case anything should happen to her.

Each person applying for a life insurance policy has a unique situation.  Based on a person’s age, health and possibly life style rates and premiums can vary.  By requesting a free term life insurance quote a licensed insurance professional will assist with the quote process.

Term Life insurance is a very common and popular insurance product.  Even in the challenging financial environment our country is experiencing this important insurance is not something to be without.  Term life insurance is a life insurance policy which provides a stated benefit upon the holder’s death, provided that the death occurs within a certain specified time period. The policy does not provide any returns beyond the stated benefit.  It is important to talk to an industry expert to find out the product that is right for your financial picture overall. 

With the economy the way it is right now people are looking to cut the fat out of their budgets any way they can.  It is amazing the behavioral changes some people have made in an effort to stretch the dollar during our country’s financial struggle.  For some there have been big changes made, for some less drastic.

So by buying an expensive latte only three times a week from the usual five times a week can truly turn into a significant savings each month.  With this kind of rebalancing of spending you can free up more of your hard earned money. 

The other side of things is that there is no better time than now to take advantage of those items that are free.  For example, utilize the local library instead of buying books at a book store until your finances are in better shape.  The internet is a portal to many free services that should be taken advantage of.  Free life insurance quotes is a great place to start.   Getting life insurance or maintaining the policy that you already have is not something to put off when money is tight.  Free life insurance quotes can help someone get the information that they need to be properly informed before buying a life insurance policy. 

Free is the key.  There are websites that provide a wealth of information about all sorts of life insurance topics.  With free life insurance quotes you can do more than just read online about free life insurance quotes.  The sites are set up to take some basic contact information and connect an insurance agent to an individual to provide a side by side comparison, a free life insurance quote.

Life insurance provides the protection a family needs.  Free life insurance quotes make it simple to see the offerings of the top rated life insurance companies.  The rates and coverage options of the policy will all be of great value when the free life insurance quote is provided via email, fax or whichever method is convenient.

The formula to getting this very important insurance into place to fulfill the needs of an individual or a family is to get a free life insurance quote and compare the products and premiums offered.  Maybe the time is not right for someone to be purchasing a Universal Life Insurance policy right now because the premiums of a cash value policy are high.  Then look to a Term Life Insurance policy.  You can get good, quality coverage that started with a free life insurance quote that offers affordable monthly premiums.

Yes it is true that the Term policy will end after a certain selected amount of time.  But at that point you can make a decision of what to do.  And with all of the saving that is being done you can either get another term policy or try to build some cash value and put a policy into place that will last a life time, a Universal Life Insurance policy.

And don’t forget with these resources online, you can utilize these for your research and informational purposes.  If you are not ready to actually buy a policy and are just curious what you would be qualified for, there are no obligations to do anything.  You can just use the website and talk to a licensed professional as a learning exercise.  It is important to see what is out there in the market and what is available for one’s personal financial situation.  There is nothing to loose and everything to gain, the free life insurance quotes won’t cost anything but your time.  And on top of it all you will gain valuable knowledge.  Keep saving and keep learning.  Utilize the internet and get free life insurance quotes because there is nothing to loose.

Life insurance is a basic staple in the insurance shopping bag.  If you think about it, life insurance is actually an ironic term because its benefit doesn’t occur during life, it is a benefit paid when a death occurs.

No one ever wants to think about not being around one day.  But the truth is one should really take the responsible step and secure the financial side of life for those left behind.  If you are married and have a child or children, life insurance is truly a must.  If you are the main income earner that your family depends on to pay the bills each month, you need life insurance.  There is no gray area here, it is black and white.  Who would pay the mortgage each month if your income was gone?  With life insurance you can be sure that should it be needed the income will be there through the life insurance policy to provide for the everyday money that the family needs to continue without problems paying the bills. 

There are a few variations of life insurance.  There is the popular type of life insurance policy called Term Life Insurance.  The term life insurance provides coverage for a specific and stated period of time.  This type of life insurance is a very popular choice for a policy because it can be purchased for an inexpensive premium.  The way this insurance works is that you are covered by the policy for the time period specified.  When that period ends you can decide if you want to extend the policy, if you have bought a policy with a renewable option, or buy another policy.  The most commonly issued policies are 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 year term policies. 

The other types of life insurance policies are whole life insurance policies, universal life insurance policies, and variable life insurance policies.  There are many ways you can use one of these types of policies to enhance your finances.  Which policy is right for you and your family’s needs is something that you should discuss with a financial or insurance specialist.  They can help you maximize you financial portfolio and help you meet the needs that you are looking to meet.  If you goal is only to have some peace of mind with a basic policy, maybe a term policy is the best thing for you and your budget.  If you are looking to use insurance as a savings vehicle, maybe the universal life insurance policy is a better fit.  This kind of policy can build cash value that can be borrowed from in the form of a policy loan.  Maybe you are in need of paying for college tuition or some other large expense that a life insurance policy can help provide funds for.  It is important to understand all of the details and risks involved with putting a policy into place. 

Life insurance is an important policy to secure your family’s future.  By going on line, in this day and age of the internet, you can learn a lot about this very simple but most important insurance protection.  There are many websites that are definitely a great resource.

***This is a summary of general insurance terms and not intended for any kind of advising, counseling or sales.  Only a licensed professional can provide the proper advice on purchasing life insurance and/or other financial products.  This is a general editorial that bears no responsibility for the actions or inactions of individuals that may buy insurance products or any financial product.

What is underwriting?  You have heard this term from time to time when dealing with insurance or maybe even when applying for a mortgage.  But what is it?  In terms of insurance it is simply the name for the process of deciding what risk an insurance company is willing to take on.  What is risk, you are wondering?  It is the chance of a loss occurring as a result of an unfortunate consequence. 

There are many factors that an underwriter weighs when considering an application for insurance.  Ultimately, the insurance company will decide on an applicant’s insurability.  Each individual case, or application, is put through a process and a final decision on what the insurance company is wiling to do is made.  Always keep in mind that if you are working with an insurance agent that person may never guarantee a policy’s issuance or how it will be issued.

The items that an underwriter will use to consider your application are the application forms themselves, a physical exam, information obtained by various consumer reports, an attending physician’s statement, and an inspection report.  Different cases require different underwriting requirements, so not all cases require any or all of these items listed here.  However, when the case applies, and depending on the amount of insurance applied for, usually higher amounts, the insurance company may want to have an inspection report be done to verify things like, verifying a person’s character and reputation.

The underwriter will eventually be able to match the proposed insured to a risk classification.  This is a grouping of people of similar insurability.  You may have heard of the common names of these groups such as, Standard, Preferred, Non-Smoker and Smoker, to name a few.  Someone who has been deemed a substandard risk may still be able to obtain insurance coverage.  They will get it based on being a higher risk.  The health implications of someone who is a smoker will allow for the company to apply a higher rate and therefore, charge a higher premium for taking on their risk. 

There are different ways that companies figure out the extra amount due for a substandard risk.  One example is the insurance company may apply charges based on something called the “health age” of an applicant.  But, a more common way of assessing a higher rate, and therefore premium, is the Tabular Rating Method.  With this way, tables are created and utilized by the insurance company to apply the proper percentage more of premium that would be due.  This can range from approximately 25% higher to maybe 400% higher, which would be indicated by referencing a respective table assigned by the company.

When thinking about getting a life insurance policy in place to protect your family in a time of need, there are many aspects of obtaining insurance that can be educational.  With the common practice of using the internet there are very easy ways today to log on to a website and get connected with an insurance agent that can help you continue your learning process. 

There are many different types of life insurance.  There are two types of ordinary life insurance.  One is the very common, Term Insurance.  The other is what is called Permanent insurance.  The two types of insurance are absolutely separate forms of insurance with well distinguished characteristics, respectively.  If it is Permanent insurance that is being referenced that means insurance that will last for the life of the policy owner. 

Conversely, Term insurance is only valid for the Term, or period of time, that the policy was written for.  Most commonly used terms are 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years.  Sometimes this is referred to as Temporary coverage.  It does not build cash value. 

Moreover, there are other life insurance products that are deemed Permanent policies. There is Whole Life, Variable Whole Life, Universal Life and Variable Universal Life.  For Whole Life there is a fixed death benefit and a fixed premium that are characteristics.  The growth of the cash value has fixed and guaranteed features.  With Variable Whole Life there is a variable death benefit with minimum guarantees and a fixed premium characteristic.  The growth of the cash value here is variable and there are no guarantees like with the regular Whole Life.

The next kind of product mentioned is the Universal Life policy.  The death benefit with this type of policy is adjustable.  Unlike the Whole Life policy features, Universal Life policies have two death benefit options, a level and an increasing.  The increasing death benefit is when the amount of the face value of the policy is added to the policy’s cash value.  These two added together create the increased death benefit to be paid out.  To purchase this type of policy would be somewhat more expensive than a policy with a level death benefit.  But the advantage with the increasing death benefit Universal Life policy is that the insured is buying more pure insurance protection in this scenario. 

Then there is Variable Universal Life policies where the death benefit is variable and adjustable.    The variable feature is based on an underlying securities account, such as stocks, bond or a money market.  A policy owner would allocate a selected percent of the cash value to be invested.  Additionally, another characteristic of these types of policies is that the growth of the cash value is variable and doesn’t have guarantees.

The difference between the Whole Life policies and the Universal Life policies with reference to the premium payments is that Whole Life has premiums that are fixed.  With Universal Life policies the premiums are flexible.  This means that premium payments can be made in any amount and any frequency desired by the policy owner.  The only thing that needs to be done is that their needs to be enough premium paid to keep the policy in force. 

There is a lot to learn about life insurance.  If you are thinking of getting a quote for a purchasing a policy it is a good time to start learning about the different and unique aspects of life insurance. 

Settlement options, Dividend options, and non-forfeiture options are three life insurance payment selections available for life insurance policies.

A settlement option is a way to receive policy proceeds in a way that doesn’t include getting on lump sum of a payment at once.  The settlement option allows for the policy holder to choose while they are still living how they want the payment to be handled once they have passed.  If this is not set up during the life of the policy holder, when the time came the beneficiary would make this selection.  The different types of payouts are an interest option, where the interest earned on the proceeds is paid to the beneficiary.  The Fixed Amount works like a temporary annuity where the insurance company pays the proceeds plus interest to the beneficiary until all of the money is completely paid out.  There is also the Life Income Option, similar to the Fixed Amount but the payout is paid in installments to the beneficiary for the course of their life.

The non-forfeiture option is one that allows for the payment of the cash value of a policy when the policy is surrendered. 

A Dividend option is one where the policy owner would get paid a dividend.  This can only be done if the contract allows for it properly, and then the policy owner can be paid the dividend.  The dividend can be paid out in various ways.  One way is they can get cash payment.  When the policy is paid up this is a popular choice.  Another way to receive the dividend would by way of a premium reduction on the next payment due for the policy. 

Further, one can accumulate interest on the dividend.  The insurance company would specify a rate for the policy.  It would be compounded on a yearly basis.  With this option you are allowed to withdraw against the policy.  When money is withdrawn taxes are going to need to be paid on the interest portion of this dividend option.  This would need to take place during the same year that they credit the withdraw.  Any dividend set to be paid when a policyholder dies would then be paid to the beneficiary as part of the death benefit.  This would be paid with the accrued interest, of course. 

There is another way the dividend can be paid.  They can be paid with what is called a paid up addition.  You can use the dividend to buy more insurance.  This becomes a good option for the policy owner because with this feature you can get additional insurance coverage.  You can most times do this and obtain coverage at the policy owner’s attained age.  Also, most times you do not have to provide proof of insurability.  The attained age the insured will get this coverage with is described as the current age reached by adding the period between when the life insurance policy started and the current age reached by adding the period between when the life insurance policy started and the current time.  So, a paid up addition will be of the same type of insurance as the original policy.  You will not find this option available on Term policies.  Finally, another way to receive a dividend is by using the dividend to purchase a one-year Term policy. 

Whichever payout option you are interested in it is wise to find out more information by doing ample research on this subject.  The different types of life insurance policy payouts options explained here are just a snapshot of the variations of these payouts.  There are many different details regarding these options that can or may be explained in more detail.  A life insurance agent can be a great resource in providing this an other important information regarding life insurance.

Imagine getting to the point where you can actually retire.  Ah, the relief, the peace of mind and the excitement.  Not having to do the daily grind that comes with maintaining a full time career or job.  You have done that for so many years.  You are ready for a change.  And you have earned it.  Retirement for many can mean still being very active.  With the baby boomer generation retiring soon, they are more healthy and vibrant than ever.  There is an emphasis on healthy eating, with more organic choices and just general awareness of good and bad foods.  There are also many who are staying physically active from frequent exercise to travel.  Whether you have an active life style or are happy being less active, you want to make sure that you have enough income to cover your costs of living and have enough to enjoy retirement with.  This is where an annuity can help. 

If you are thinking about how you will finance your retirement years, there are several products that can help you not only plan for retirement, but ensure a stable monthly payment that you and your family can depend on.  Annuities are usually offered by insurance companies and millions have benefited since their inception.  If you would like to plan a bright future, one way is to find the right annuity product that fits your needs.

There are several types of annuity products available including fixed rate annuity, variable rate annuity and equity index annuity; they all can provide an individual or family with quite a nest egg for retirement.  Since there are so many of annuity products available, one way to find the right product to fit your specific needs is with annuity quotes. The internet offers an easy and convenient way to find several annuity products that fit your needs and your budget. 

By simply filling out a short, basic form to request an annuity quote, you can have an annuity informational e-booklet will be sent to you in a short period of time.  This is one of the great benefits of the internet.  Where else can you in the comfort of your own home get so much information so quickly and be on your way to not only learning about your options but having an agent assist you in the process.  The days of an agent ringing the doorbell and sitting at your kitchen table are over.  But that doesn’t mean the personal service and attention that this traditional way offers has to be lost.  Not at all.  The websites just simply connect you to an agent that will give you lots of personal attention and do everything in their power to satisfy your insurance and annuity needs.   

Being able to compare a wide range of products instantly makes using an annuity quotes feature extremely convenient. In addition, there is a high quality of information on a wide range of products making you a smarter and more informed shopper.  An annuity can help it is a great time to utilize the internet to find out more.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1-3-2009 Moorestown, NJ  - www.mybenelife.com is pleased to announce their approval with the Better Business Bureau.  Mybenelife.com’s online quote service offering life insurance and annuity information and quotes is now backed by the NJ Better Business Bureau.

Now it is even more prevalent to visit the website and see what so many have experienced already.  Easy to use forms, simply defined insurance terms and a quick turn around time to speak with a live insurance agent are all examples of the outstanding experience with visiting www.mybenelife.com.

Life insurance is an important financial tool.  Whether you have extensive knowledge about this area of insurance or if you are just learning, this website is a good resource to enhance what you know or start learning about life insurance or annuities.  Further, you can submit your contact information on the site and an agent will get in touch directly with you.  Since this is a completely free service so many people have utilized this site and we are hopeful that millions more will see the value.  The Better Business Bureau’s recognition solidifies the site’s value further.

For life insurance or annuity quotes there should be no other choice.  Log on to www.mybenelife.com and submit your contact information to get free information from an insurance professional.

For more information about www.mybenelife.com please contact:

PO Box 756

Moorestown, NJ  08057

OR

customercare@mybenelife.com

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An annuity is a financial product offered by insurance companies.  There are three types of annuities.  One is called a Fixed Rate Annuity.  These involve an initial lump sum payment or a series of small payments and in return the insurance company guarantees a fixed interest rate on your investment.  Most insurance companies also guarantee payment in a fixed amount, for example, $500.00 for 20 years.

Then next one is called a Variable Annuity.  A Variable Annuity is another financial contract; however, the payment amount is not fixed but is determined by the performance of the investment portfolio associated with the account.  Finally, the third kind is an Equity Indexed Annuity.  This kind of annuity is a tax deferred annuity that has returns based on the performance of an equity index market, such as the S&P 500.  Gains in the equity market add to the annuities’ returns.

For many individuals and families an annuity can be an excellent way to invest money for the long term, receive tax deferred growth on earnings and even receive a death benefit. However, since everyone’s financial situation is different, it is always a good idea to either talk to your insurance agent or your financial planner to decide if annuities are the right choice for you.  Log on to www.mybenelife.com for more information and to get connected to an agent right away.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Moorestown, NJ December 6, 2008 – People from all areas of the country are utilizing the free online service and making the most of the simple and user friendly internet experience that www.mybenelife.com provides.

It is fast and easy to compare many insurance companies’ premiums online at www.mybenelife.com.  Mybenelife provides a great service and it is free.  There is no charge for just getting quotes, or information, through the website.  There are no costs to go online and have contact with an agent to learn about the options for buying a life insurance policy. 

Further, there is no reason a person has to buy at all.  It may be found out when a quote comparison is done that buying life insurance is not right for a families’ situation.  However, it doesn’t cost you anything but a few minutes of your time to learn.  If it is decided it is a good option to buy then an agent will facilitate putting the right policy into place.  If not, there is no obligation to act in any way whatsoever.

The way this free service works is simple.  Within 24 hours of visiting www.mybenelife.com an assigned insurance professional will contact the interested party.  Together the agent and the interested party will discuss which policy is the right for them at the most competitive rates. Mybenelife’s goal is to be an educator about life insurance products, and aims to save time and money.

Buying a life insurance policy or an annuity is an important financial decision. Using the internet Mybenelife can make the connection between you and an actual person who will assist you in understanding more about buying life insurance or an annuity. They can also help get a better understanding of the marketplace, including the current rates that apply.

If you would like more information on this subject please contact us using the information below.

Mybenelife.com

PO Box 756