In order to get a life insurance rate quote, you must first determine what kind of life insurance policy you want to purchase. There are two basic kinds of life insurance policies – term life insurance policies, and whole life insurance policies.
Term life insurance policies offer life insurance coverage for a “term.” This means, your life insurance coverage will last for a certain period of time. Most term life insurance policies offer coverage anywhere from five to thirty years. How long your term life insurance policy lasts is up to you.
Term life insurance policies appeal to people because of the lower life insurance rate quote. Term life insurance policies are usually less expensive than whole life insurance policies, because term life insurance policies don’t offer, or require, the components that whole life insurance policies do. When you purchase a term life insurance policy, you’re purchasing pure life insurance.
In contrast to term life insurance policies, whole life insurance policies offer life insurance coverage for the rest of your life. They also provide a required savings component along with the whole life insurance policy.
Some people are attracted to this savings component because it allows the whole life insurance policy to accumulate a cash value. The policyholders can use that cash value in certain times, such as times of financial stress, or times when they want to put the accumulated cash toward their policy premiums.
When you begin your search for a life insurance rate quote, take note that your life insurance rate quote will most likely reflect the type of life insurance policy you decide to purchase.
You’ll usually pay less for a term life insurance policy, and get simply the life insurance coverage you want. You’ll usually pay more for a whole life insurance policy, but get extras you might need. Consider the life insurance rate quote based on the coverage, and extras, you want with your policy.
Source:http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=20080213_how_are_life_insurance_rates_determined.htm
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Investing to save tax
Advisor: While it would be difficult for anyone to single out one single instrument that is best for everyone across the board, you must appreciate that the list of eligible instruments is kept wide enough to cater to different classes of investors by the income tax authorities.
For instance, someone who is risk-averse can opt for life insurance or five-year deposit with a bank. For someone keen on saving tax, even on income arising out of the instrument would prefer PF or PPF. Then, for the young and high net worth, with a good risk appetite can go for ELSS.
Investor: Tell me more about ELSS.
Advisor: ELSS is abbreviation for Equity-Linked Saving Scheme. This is one of several schemes by the mutual funds and is popular among high net worth tax payers because of their unique features Investor: What are these unique features?
Advisor: As the name suggests, this is a scheme which predominately invests in equity shares of companies. Under the regulations, the scheme has to invest 80 per cent of its corpus in the equity shares and the balance 20 per cent can be invested in other instruments like bonds, debentures, government securities and others.
Investor: This implies that by putting my money in ELSS, I am participating in the stock markets and therefore, exposing myself to risky investment.
Advisor: Yes, you are. But the advantage here is that there is no direct participation in the stock markets or in a particular stock. So, you have a basket of stocks that have been selected by professionals.
Since these professionals or fund managers, as they are known have access to elaborate research facilities and insights into the functioning of the companies and consequently, you get the benefit of those skills which go into systematic stock selection.
Investor: Are there any other benefits?
Advisor: The other benefits come on the taxation front. If you are making an investment in of Rs 1 lakh you will be entitled for a deduction equal to Rs 1 lakh from your gross total income under section 80C.
In other words, someone who is in the highest income bracket of 34 per cent (30 per cent + 10 per cent +3 per cent), investing Rs 1 lakh in ELSS reduces the tax liability by Rs 34,000.
Effectively, it means that you would have invested only Rs 66,000 because you are getting a benefit of Rs 34,000 on Rs 1 lakh. Assuming the mutual fund declares a dividend of 9 per cent, your return on Rs 66,000 would work to 13.63 per cent (9,000/66,000 × 100).
Investor: What else?
Advisor: This is not all. This dividend of Rs 9,000 on your own Rs 66,000 is totally exempt in your hands under section 10(35). In effect it is tax free return in your hands.
Investor: What are the other tax implications?
Advisor: There is yet another bonanza from ELSS awaiting you and that is: whatever capital gain that you will make on this investment after a lock in period of three years is also totally exempt from tax in your hands under section 10(38).
Investor: That is great news
Advisor: Yes. This is what makes ELSS the most attractive investment for those who have the appetite for moderate risk. However, before you rush, do select a good fund house based on its reputation and track record.
source:http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?autono=312368&leftnm=2&subLeft=0&chkFlg=
For instance, someone who is risk-averse can opt for life insurance or five-year deposit with a bank. For someone keen on saving tax, even on income arising out of the instrument would prefer PF or PPF. Then, for the young and high net worth, with a good risk appetite can go for ELSS.
Investor: Tell me more about ELSS.
Advisor: ELSS is abbreviation for Equity-Linked Saving Scheme. This is one of several schemes by the mutual funds and is popular among high net worth tax payers because of their unique features Investor: What are these unique features?
Advisor: As the name suggests, this is a scheme which predominately invests in equity shares of companies. Under the regulations, the scheme has to invest 80 per cent of its corpus in the equity shares and the balance 20 per cent can be invested in other instruments like bonds, debentures, government securities and others.
Investor: This implies that by putting my money in ELSS, I am participating in the stock markets and therefore, exposing myself to risky investment.
Advisor: Yes, you are. But the advantage here is that there is no direct participation in the stock markets or in a particular stock. So, you have a basket of stocks that have been selected by professionals.
Since these professionals or fund managers, as they are known have access to elaborate research facilities and insights into the functioning of the companies and consequently, you get the benefit of those skills which go into systematic stock selection.
Investor: Are there any other benefits?
Advisor: The other benefits come on the taxation front. If you are making an investment in of Rs 1 lakh you will be entitled for a deduction equal to Rs 1 lakh from your gross total income under section 80C.
In other words, someone who is in the highest income bracket of 34 per cent (30 per cent + 10 per cent +3 per cent), investing Rs 1 lakh in ELSS reduces the tax liability by Rs 34,000.
Effectively, it means that you would have invested only Rs 66,000 because you are getting a benefit of Rs 34,000 on Rs 1 lakh. Assuming the mutual fund declares a dividend of 9 per cent, your return on Rs 66,000 would work to 13.63 per cent (9,000/66,000 × 100).
Investor: What else?
Advisor: This is not all. This dividend of Rs 9,000 on your own Rs 66,000 is totally exempt in your hands under section 10(35). In effect it is tax free return in your hands.
Investor: What are the other tax implications?
Advisor: There is yet another bonanza from ELSS awaiting you and that is: whatever capital gain that you will make on this investment after a lock in period of three years is also totally exempt from tax in your hands under section 10(38).
Investor: That is great news
Advisor: Yes. This is what makes ELSS the most attractive investment for those who have the appetite for moderate risk. However, before you rush, do select a good fund house based on its reputation and track record.
source:http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?autono=312368&leftnm=2&subLeft=0&chkFlg=
ESTATE PLANNING column: Two ways to sell life insurance policies
Q: I have a couple of paid life insurance policies that have a significant cash value. I was thinking about cashing the policy, but a friend suggested that I sell them. Is it possible to sell a life insurance policy?
A: There are a couple of ways to dispose of a life insurance policy. The most common is to surrender the policy to the company and receive the cash value.
Another option, which will grant you access to the cash value without disposing of the policy, is to take a loan from the policy. You can borrow the cash value or a portion of it and still retain the policy. The death benefit will be reduced and you may have to make payments on the policy, but the face value of the insurance proceeds should remain.
Under certain circumstances, life insurance policies can be sold. There are companies in the marketplace which can assist you with the sale.
Generally, the sale of a life insurance policy falls into one of two categories: life settlements and viatical settlements.
Life settlements involve the selling of a life insurance policy on the life of a healthy individual, usually over the age of 65. If you choose to investigate life settlements, don't be surprised if the cash offer is less than you might expect. The life expectancy of the insured will determine the policy's value. In other words, the longer you are expected to live, the less someone will likely be willing to pay you for the policy.
Viatical settlements are similar to life settlements, only they involve chronically or terminally ill individuals. Viatical comes from the Latin word "viatic," which means really creepy guy hoping you will die soon. Just kidding.
Viatical settlements usually result in a higher sales price, since your life expectancy is limited and the investor will recover his investment sooner.
Death is usually expected within two years. Viatical settlements were the big thing years ago as the AIDS epidemic ravaged society. However, with the invention of new treatments, investors soon found themselves owning life insurance policies on the lives of people who outlived expectations.
I suggest that if you are serious about cashing out of your life insurance, you contact your agent and discuss your options. You likely are going to get the hard sell and probably have to look at a bunch of graphs, but you are also going to get answers from someone in the business who really understands life insurance. Your agent might be able to get you some cash and leave in place a policy that will meet your needs.
If after talking to your life insurance agent you still want to pursue selling the policy, contact your attorney and accountant. Your decision to sell should not be taken lightly, and you should be fully informed before doing so.
Opinions expressed solely are those of the writer. Christopher W. Yugo is a member of the Indiana Bar and a vice president and senior trust Officer for First National Bank's Trust Department. Address questions to Yugo in care of The Times, 601 W. 45th Ave., Munster, IN, 46321. Yugo’s information is meant to be general in nature. Specific legal, tax, or insurance questions should be referred to your attorney, accountant or estate-planning specialist.
source:http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2008/02/03/business/business/doc612d46c98d0d0041862573e1006c8fff.txt
A: There are a couple of ways to dispose of a life insurance policy. The most common is to surrender the policy to the company and receive the cash value.
Another option, which will grant you access to the cash value without disposing of the policy, is to take a loan from the policy. You can borrow the cash value or a portion of it and still retain the policy. The death benefit will be reduced and you may have to make payments on the policy, but the face value of the insurance proceeds should remain.
Under certain circumstances, life insurance policies can be sold. There are companies in the marketplace which can assist you with the sale.
Generally, the sale of a life insurance policy falls into one of two categories: life settlements and viatical settlements.
Life settlements involve the selling of a life insurance policy on the life of a healthy individual, usually over the age of 65. If you choose to investigate life settlements, don't be surprised if the cash offer is less than you might expect. The life expectancy of the insured will determine the policy's value. In other words, the longer you are expected to live, the less someone will likely be willing to pay you for the policy.
Viatical settlements are similar to life settlements, only they involve chronically or terminally ill individuals. Viatical comes from the Latin word "viatic," which means really creepy guy hoping you will die soon. Just kidding.
Viatical settlements usually result in a higher sales price, since your life expectancy is limited and the investor will recover his investment sooner.
Death is usually expected within two years. Viatical settlements were the big thing years ago as the AIDS epidemic ravaged society. However, with the invention of new treatments, investors soon found themselves owning life insurance policies on the lives of people who outlived expectations.
I suggest that if you are serious about cashing out of your life insurance, you contact your agent and discuss your options. You likely are going to get the hard sell and probably have to look at a bunch of graphs, but you are also going to get answers from someone in the business who really understands life insurance. Your agent might be able to get you some cash and leave in place a policy that will meet your needs.
If after talking to your life insurance agent you still want to pursue selling the policy, contact your attorney and accountant. Your decision to sell should not be taken lightly, and you should be fully informed before doing so.
Opinions expressed solely are those of the writer. Christopher W. Yugo is a member of the Indiana Bar and a vice president and senior trust Officer for First National Bank's Trust Department. Address questions to Yugo in care of The Times, 601 W. 45th Ave., Munster, IN, 46321. Yugo’s information is meant to be general in nature. Specific legal, tax, or insurance questions should be referred to your attorney, accountant or estate-planning specialist.
source:http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2008/02/03/business/business/doc612d46c98d0d0041862573e1006c8fff.txt
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Life insurance sector shrugs off volatile equity markets and rising interest rates
The latest Ernst & Young Insurance index shows that life insurance confidence remained at the maximum level in the fourth quarter of 2007. This strong confidence was measured despite slower premium and investment income growth. Even so, despite the tapering off in growth, both categories of income remain nevertheless, strong.
This is the 18th quarterly survey conducted to measure confidence in the life insurance industry. Life insurance confidence leads that of the banking industry (96 points), and investment management confidence (98 index points).
Comments Tim Rutherford (Pictured right), insurance industry spokesperson at Ernst & Young; ‘The perception of an industry under siege has passed. Life insurers fared well in 2007, and we expect the reporting season for the year to be solid. The interim results for the half-year to June were already buoyant, and indications are that operations were generally in better shape in the second half of 2007 for most life insurers.’
Continues Tim Rutherford, ‘ Investment income remained strong in the fourth quarter. This is despite more volatile equity markets, and is reflective of strong investment income stemming from commercial and retail property rentals, higher interest income earnings, and other realisations on investments.’
‘However’, cautions Rutherford, ‘ Life insurers are not expecting the strong investment returns to hold into 2008. The outlook is that investment income will contract in the first quarter of the year, and although they have proved to be pessimistic about investment income earnings, it is most likely that investment income growth will at least taper sharply downwards in the quarters ahead.’
Also supporting higher confidence is:
* an improvement in lapse rates,
* continued improvements in efficiencies,
* a stemming in outflows from the life book, and
* improving risk profitability business.
Comments Tim Rutherford again, ‘ Operationally, the life insurers have been working at improving their processes and ways of conducting business. This has happened over a number of years, and is an ongoing exercise. I think we are starting to see the benefits from those projects paying off."
"Life insurers have not been alone as far as restructuring their businesses, but they probably felt the pressure more readily than most other industries. A few years back, they faced a contracting life book, squeezed profitability on the remaining business, and increasing costs of doing business.’
Continues Rutherford, ‘ It appears that the life book is at the very least not contracting any longer, with growth in inflows exceeding that of outflows for the last three quarters. Whilst it is too early to draw any definite conclusions, it appears that the life book is at least holding stable, after contracting considerably in 2003 and 2004, and more moderately into 2005 and 2006.’
Other findings include a fall in the lapse rate. The overall trend is one of improvement made in reducing lapse rates. Says Rutherford again, ‘ This is one of the areas where life insurers have placed a lot of emphasis on improving. In the past, rising premium income was often offset by sharply increasing lapse rates. Considerable effort has been made to ensure that a larger portion of new premium income was retained by reducing lapses post the sale.
Efficiencies have consistently improved over the last few years, despite higher employee numbers. Rutherford points out that it has been necessary to grow employee numbers to cope with higher capacity requirements.
However, he adds that unlike the banking and investment management sectors, employee growth trends at life insurers have been more erratic. This is most probably due to the aforementioned restructuring of business processes and operations that the industry has experienced.
Concludes Rutherford; ‘In line with the other financial services sectors, life insurance industry confidence remains high. In fact, life insurance confidence is the highest of all the financial services sectors. Life insurers are not as prone to interest rate increases and volatile equity markets as immediately as their banking and investment management peers, respectively are."
"However, slower consumer expenditure is likely to ultimately impact the retail side of their business, particularly in new market segments, where life insurers are playing more and more. For the moment, however, they are benefiting from business restructuring and process re-design. Despite slower profits and premium growth, both remain at high levels.‘
sourcehttp://www.itinews.co.za/companyview.aspx?cocategoryid=89&companyid=21727&itemid=05318001-1E07-416D-88AB-C624CBC66031
This is the 18th quarterly survey conducted to measure confidence in the life insurance industry. Life insurance confidence leads that of the banking industry (96 points), and investment management confidence (98 index points).
Comments Tim Rutherford (Pictured right), insurance industry spokesperson at Ernst & Young; ‘The perception of an industry under siege has passed. Life insurers fared well in 2007, and we expect the reporting season for the year to be solid. The interim results for the half-year to June were already buoyant, and indications are that operations were generally in better shape in the second half of 2007 for most life insurers.’
Continues Tim Rutherford, ‘ Investment income remained strong in the fourth quarter. This is despite more volatile equity markets, and is reflective of strong investment income stemming from commercial and retail property rentals, higher interest income earnings, and other realisations on investments.’
‘However’, cautions Rutherford, ‘ Life insurers are not expecting the strong investment returns to hold into 2008. The outlook is that investment income will contract in the first quarter of the year, and although they have proved to be pessimistic about investment income earnings, it is most likely that investment income growth will at least taper sharply downwards in the quarters ahead.’
Also supporting higher confidence is:
* an improvement in lapse rates,
* continued improvements in efficiencies,
* a stemming in outflows from the life book, and
* improving risk profitability business.
Comments Tim Rutherford again, ‘ Operationally, the life insurers have been working at improving their processes and ways of conducting business. This has happened over a number of years, and is an ongoing exercise. I think we are starting to see the benefits from those projects paying off."
"Life insurers have not been alone as far as restructuring their businesses, but they probably felt the pressure more readily than most other industries. A few years back, they faced a contracting life book, squeezed profitability on the remaining business, and increasing costs of doing business.’
Continues Rutherford, ‘ It appears that the life book is at the very least not contracting any longer, with growth in inflows exceeding that of outflows for the last three quarters. Whilst it is too early to draw any definite conclusions, it appears that the life book is at least holding stable, after contracting considerably in 2003 and 2004, and more moderately into 2005 and 2006.’
Other findings include a fall in the lapse rate. The overall trend is one of improvement made in reducing lapse rates. Says Rutherford again, ‘ This is one of the areas where life insurers have placed a lot of emphasis on improving. In the past, rising premium income was often offset by sharply increasing lapse rates. Considerable effort has been made to ensure that a larger portion of new premium income was retained by reducing lapses post the sale.
Efficiencies have consistently improved over the last few years, despite higher employee numbers. Rutherford points out that it has been necessary to grow employee numbers to cope with higher capacity requirements.
However, he adds that unlike the banking and investment management sectors, employee growth trends at life insurers have been more erratic. This is most probably due to the aforementioned restructuring of business processes and operations that the industry has experienced.
Concludes Rutherford; ‘In line with the other financial services sectors, life insurance industry confidence remains high. In fact, life insurance confidence is the highest of all the financial services sectors. Life insurers are not as prone to interest rate increases and volatile equity markets as immediately as their banking and investment management peers, respectively are."
"However, slower consumer expenditure is likely to ultimately impact the retail side of their business, particularly in new market segments, where life insurers are playing more and more. For the moment, however, they are benefiting from business restructuring and process re-design. Despite slower profits and premium growth, both remain at high levels.‘
sourcehttp://www.itinews.co.za/companyview.aspx?cocategoryid=89&companyid=21727&itemid=05318001-1E07-416D-88AB-C624CBC66031
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Credit Cards May Help With 'Life Events'
The two banks, along with some others, are more than happy to help defray some of the cost of your wedding, having a baby, moving, retiring, losing your job, or even a nasty divorce.
Yep, this is your chance to take advantage of one of these banks, just as they did when you were one hour late in making a credit card payment.Now before you ask my editors when they last had me take a drug test, what I am telling you is absolutely true.
But, before you even think about picking up the phone and signing up, you MUST DO EVERYTHING I TELL YOU. Banks and credit card companies that offer debt cancellation or debt deferment plans will make tons of money off you if you fail to dot one "i."
Now, once in a while I like to play with fire. If you don't have the stomach for it, just enjoy reading this column without taking any action. Live vicariously.
And before taking action, there are two musts. First you need to have, and be VERY familiar, with online banking to keep instantaneous track of your account and be able to make immediate payments. Second, you must READ EVERY WORD in the credit card company's offer. Yes, that includes all the fine print.
So far, these plans have pretty much flown under the public radar. They were originally geared mostly to provide a sort of insurance in case of death, disability, identity theft, and involuntary loss of your job.
My focus is on the more recent features. Neither Consumer Reports editor Charles Fields, nor Justin McHenry, research director of IndexCredit Cards.com, had heard of the "life event" features.
They both cautioned consumers not to take these plans for death and disability benefits because the cost tends to outweigh the benefit. And McHenry, while intrigued with my experience, warned that it's not for average consumers who aren't willing to keep close track of their finances.
To explain how it works, I will tell you my experience. About two weeks before my October wedding, while checking on the status of my Bank of America credit card, the service representative suggested I enroll in its Credit Protection Plus plan.
I asked why I should be interested, as I already have life insurance. She said the plan has many other features, including paying benefits if I get married. Those were the magic words.
So let me get this straight, I said. If I enroll in this plan tonight, and I get married in the next two weeks, Bank of America will make three of my minimum payments on my credit card? And all it costs me is a one-time fee of 95 cents for each $100 of my balance? Yes, she replied.
And, I asked, I can then cancel and not have to pay another fee. Yes, she replied. The fee, if I don't cancel, would then be tacked onto my bill each month, increasing my balance.
Since I was carrying a high-balance, low-interest introductory loan (the maximum the policy covers is $25,000), I quickly calculated that the bank would be paying me about $500 a month in return for less than $250 from me.
I told her to sign me up. I then checked with Chase, where I also have a sizable low-interest credit card loan (did I mention I like to play with fire?), and was told they have a similar, but less generous plan. Chase would waive up to five months of minimum payments, saving me substantial interest, in return for my taking out its plan at 89 cents per $100. Sign me up, I said.
After our wedding, I immediately notified both banks that I wanted to trigger the benefits. They both promised to send me a packet and told me I would have to get proof of marriage.
I mailed the applications and marriage certificates to both banks and waited, while my stomach turned a little as I wondered if I had done something stupid. It would not be the first time.
I consoled myself knowing I would at least get a column out of the experience. I had some doubts, though, that the bean counters in our Chicago headquarters would approve my expenses if I included the payments I had made to purchase the plans.
The first things to appear on my online bank statements were, of course, the charges from the two plans.
source:http://www.courant.com/business/hc-watchdog0127.artjan27,0,2336411.column
Yep, this is your chance to take advantage of one of these banks, just as they did when you were one hour late in making a credit card payment.Now before you ask my editors when they last had me take a drug test, what I am telling you is absolutely true.
But, before you even think about picking up the phone and signing up, you MUST DO EVERYTHING I TELL YOU. Banks and credit card companies that offer debt cancellation or debt deferment plans will make tons of money off you if you fail to dot one "i."
Now, once in a while I like to play with fire. If you don't have the stomach for it, just enjoy reading this column without taking any action. Live vicariously.
And before taking action, there are two musts. First you need to have, and be VERY familiar, with online banking to keep instantaneous track of your account and be able to make immediate payments. Second, you must READ EVERY WORD in the credit card company's offer. Yes, that includes all the fine print.
So far, these plans have pretty much flown under the public radar. They were originally geared mostly to provide a sort of insurance in case of death, disability, identity theft, and involuntary loss of your job.
My focus is on the more recent features. Neither Consumer Reports editor Charles Fields, nor Justin McHenry, research director of IndexCredit Cards.com, had heard of the "life event" features.
They both cautioned consumers not to take these plans for death and disability benefits because the cost tends to outweigh the benefit. And McHenry, while intrigued with my experience, warned that it's not for average consumers who aren't willing to keep close track of their finances.
To explain how it works, I will tell you my experience. About two weeks before my October wedding, while checking on the status of my Bank of America credit card, the service representative suggested I enroll in its Credit Protection Plus plan.
I asked why I should be interested, as I already have life insurance. She said the plan has many other features, including paying benefits if I get married. Those were the magic words.
So let me get this straight, I said. If I enroll in this plan tonight, and I get married in the next two weeks, Bank of America will make three of my minimum payments on my credit card? And all it costs me is a one-time fee of 95 cents for each $100 of my balance? Yes, she replied.
And, I asked, I can then cancel and not have to pay another fee. Yes, she replied. The fee, if I don't cancel, would then be tacked onto my bill each month, increasing my balance.
Since I was carrying a high-balance, low-interest introductory loan (the maximum the policy covers is $25,000), I quickly calculated that the bank would be paying me about $500 a month in return for less than $250 from me.
I told her to sign me up. I then checked with Chase, where I also have a sizable low-interest credit card loan (did I mention I like to play with fire?), and was told they have a similar, but less generous plan. Chase would waive up to five months of minimum payments, saving me substantial interest, in return for my taking out its plan at 89 cents per $100. Sign me up, I said.
After our wedding, I immediately notified both banks that I wanted to trigger the benefits. They both promised to send me a packet and told me I would have to get proof of marriage.
I mailed the applications and marriage certificates to both banks and waited, while my stomach turned a little as I wondered if I had done something stupid. It would not be the first time.
I consoled myself knowing I would at least get a column out of the experience. I had some doubts, though, that the bean counters in our Chicago headquarters would approve my expenses if I included the payments I had made to purchase the plans.
The first things to appear on my online bank statements were, of course, the charges from the two plans.
source:http://www.courant.com/business/hc-watchdog0127.artjan27,0,2336411.column
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Life insurance most important policy for consumers
Prudential has conducted research that reveals people would sooner relinquish non-essential goods/services such as mobile phone contracts before surrendering their payment protection or life insurance policies.
Recent fears regarding the credit crunch and rising energy and foods costs has led to people looking for ways to cut back, especially given the new worries about the prospect of a recession in the US.
According to seven out of ten of those surveyed, the first thing to go would be television subscriptions, followed by mobile phone contracts.
Only one in ten would give up their life insurance policy due to a tighter personal budget.
Over a third of respondents cited life insurance as their most important policy.
The second most important policy, ranked highest by a fifth of people, was income protection.
Sammy Rubin, PruProtect’s chief executive officer, explained that as the credit crunch continues and financial turbulence ensues some people will want to reduce their outgoings and look for areas to cut back on.
source:http://www.insurancedaily.co.uk/2008/01/22/life-insurance-most-important-policy-for-consumers/
Recent fears regarding the credit crunch and rising energy and foods costs has led to people looking for ways to cut back, especially given the new worries about the prospect of a recession in the US.
According to seven out of ten of those surveyed, the first thing to go would be television subscriptions, followed by mobile phone contracts.
Only one in ten would give up their life insurance policy due to a tighter personal budget.
Over a third of respondents cited life insurance as their most important policy.
The second most important policy, ranked highest by a fifth of people, was income protection.
Sammy Rubin, PruProtect’s chief executive officer, explained that as the credit crunch continues and financial turbulence ensues some people will want to reduce their outgoings and look for areas to cut back on.
source:http://www.insurancedaily.co.uk/2008/01/22/life-insurance-most-important-policy-for-consumers/
Monday, January 14, 2008
The Convenience of the Online Life Insurance Quote
If you are the breadwinner in the family or not one thing that you should be thinking about is a life insurance policy. What would happen to your family if you were to leave this world? How would your family survive. You need to make this one of your main priorities. Today with the internet access if is quite easy to find a policy online that will meet all of your needs. Online life insurance quotes are right at your fingertips, so take advantage of the opportunity.
If you were to shop around for a life insurance agent to have he or she help you find what you need, you may get pressured into something that you don't really need or want. With online life insurance quotes, there is no pressure. Shop at your convenience, with no pressure and no underwriter pushing you into something that you don't want.
Get Your Quote Online
Before you start looking for your online insurance quote, you need to get your information in order and there are some things that you need to think about before starting. There are a lot of companies out there that will help you find what they think that you need. Now some of these companies are good at figuring out what you need, by the way that you answer there questions. But there are a lot of companies who will just about sell you anything, whether you need it or not.
Assess Your Current Situation
One of the first things that you need to do before going online looking for coverage is to make an assessment of your finances are what your present situation is. One thing that you must realize is, even though you know that you need to get your family some assurance for yourself, it does mean that you have the spare income to make the payments. For people who are on a tight budget, the best policy for you would probably be a term life insurance policy. What you don't want to do is to get some policy that the price of the premium is to high. You don't want the insurance bill to just pile up on your desk and you know that you can't afford the policy, even though you know you need it. Term life insurance is the cheapest policy around. But make sure that is the one for you. Read the other articles that I have explaining what the differences are.
Don't become miserable after you purchase the policy because the premium is to big. Make sure you evaluate you situation before starting. Consider this before you start your search for online life insurance quote. The purpose of the policy is to get coverage for your family after your death. Know how much money they are going to need to life the life that they currently live. Make sure that you know this information. Bills, mortgage, rent, etc. should all be added up to determine this amount. In fact this should be the basis when asking for a quote online. How much does my family need to live comfortably after I have left this world.
Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Convenience-of-the-Online-Life-Insurance-Quote&id=836029
If you were to shop around for a life insurance agent to have he or she help you find what you need, you may get pressured into something that you don't really need or want. With online life insurance quotes, there is no pressure. Shop at your convenience, with no pressure and no underwriter pushing you into something that you don't want.
Get Your Quote Online
Before you start looking for your online insurance quote, you need to get your information in order and there are some things that you need to think about before starting. There are a lot of companies out there that will help you find what they think that you need. Now some of these companies are good at figuring out what you need, by the way that you answer there questions. But there are a lot of companies who will just about sell you anything, whether you need it or not.
Assess Your Current Situation
One of the first things that you need to do before going online looking for coverage is to make an assessment of your finances are what your present situation is. One thing that you must realize is, even though you know that you need to get your family some assurance for yourself, it does mean that you have the spare income to make the payments. For people who are on a tight budget, the best policy for you would probably be a term life insurance policy. What you don't want to do is to get some policy that the price of the premium is to high. You don't want the insurance bill to just pile up on your desk and you know that you can't afford the policy, even though you know you need it. Term life insurance is the cheapest policy around. But make sure that is the one for you. Read the other articles that I have explaining what the differences are.
Don't become miserable after you purchase the policy because the premium is to big. Make sure you evaluate you situation before starting. Consider this before you start your search for online life insurance quote. The purpose of the policy is to get coverage for your family after your death. Know how much money they are going to need to life the life that they currently live. Make sure that you know this information. Bills, mortgage, rent, etc. should all be added up to determine this amount. In fact this should be the basis when asking for a quote online. How much does my family need to live comfortably after I have left this world.
Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Convenience-of-the-Online-Life-Insurance-Quote&id=836029
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