Many families wonder what they would do to survive financially if they were to lose the main breadwinner. With a tough job market and skyrocketing costs of just about everything, it’s a very valid concern. Life insurance provides a safety net to protect your loved ones in the event that something happens.
Make sure you understand all the exclusions, inclusions, and terms involved in your contract before signing on the dotted line. Items like non-payment for pre-existing diseases, no coverage if you were doing an activity considered dangerous and other exclusions are very common. Read the fine print and understand fully what you are paying for.
Avoid the whole life policy and go with the term life policy instead. Whole life policies combine an investment with the standard term policy. The term life policy will pay out the amount of coverage that you have selected either in a lump sum or over the course of 20 to 30 years.
Even if your employer offers life insurance, you shouldn’t depend on this policy to meet all your needs. These policies are often fairly limited, and have the disadvantage of not being portable. If you leave your job, you will also leave your life insurance behind, which means you will have to find a new policy to replace it.
Save money on your insurance by buying more. There are companies which charge a lower amount for a higher coverage plan. This saves you precious dollars as well as giving you a greater coverage for your loved ones.
Get an idea of what you are going to pay before choosing a policy plan. You can accomplish this by getting your quotes online. There are plenty of sites such as Accuquote.com, FindMyInsurance.com, LifeInsure.com and many more that can offer you quick pricing information. Many will require more detailed applications and medical exams due to being online and not face-to-face.
You can improve your risk class by taking steps to better your health. This includes doing things like losing weight, quitting smoking, reducing your bad cholesterol, reducing your high blood pressure, and much more. You may also get exams prior to applying for insurance to avoid surprises. Some of these healthy changes can save you bundles of money over the life of a policy.
Always be truthful when applying for life insurance. Disclose all of your information truthfully, so that your insurance company has no reason to contest your coverage. Upon your death, the insurance company will review your policy information. Any withheld details could cause the insurance company to deny your insurance claim, which will deprive your remaining family from any insurance proceeds and defeat the purpose of all of your insurance payments.
When buying life insurance, it’s usually better to do so through an independent broker instead of an insurance firm. An independent broker can provide an extensive array of insurance options and products from a variety of sources. On the other hand, agents at a larger firm rarely offer options outside of their own products. Because life insurance requires a long commitment, shop around so you make the best choice.
If you want to save money on your life insurance, you should strive to improve your credit. If you have low credit, you will have to pay higher premiums than those who have good credit. The reason is because a person with a low credit score will be a higher risk to an insurance company; so therefore, this person will have to pay higher premiums to compensate for this risk.
To save money on your life insurance policy you should aim to pay yearly instead of monthly. Choosing to pay the premium in this manner will decrease your premiums. For those holding a small policy, the savings will not be so great. However, those holding a large policy will notice a significant amount of savings.
A lot of people with no dependents believe that they do not need life insurance. Well, someone has to bury you. You have some family or friends somewhere, and you probably do not want to burden them financially on top of grief. Even if it’s a small policy, it’s better than purchasing nothing at all.
When going in for your medical exam, it’s important that you appear to be as healthy as possible. Now, no one is suggesting that you game the system, but you need to understand what you’re in store for. Don’t eat any junk or drink or smoke before going into this exam. It could ruin your chances.
Continuing to build savings has been difficult for many families over the past few years, and some that could afford to self-insure, may not be able to do so any more. Life insurance can fill that gap and provide the means for families to carry on if disaster should strike them.
