Life Insurance Tools

Our goal is to create savvy life insurance consumers that are able to get the policy they want while staying within their budget. To do this we've pulled together several life insurance tools that will help save big money on your term life insurance policy.

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Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid

We know buying term life insurance can seem daunting and we want to simplify the process for you by outlining some of the most common pitfalls. We hope the countdown of our "Top 10 list" will help you avoid making the same mistakes.

#10 Only Married People With Families Need Life Insurance
Obviously, protecting a spouse or a child is the primary reason most people buy term life insurance but it should not be the only reason. It can be used to provide future protection for other dependents such as elderly parents, siblings, even a niece or nephew. The death benefit will pay off your debts, your funeral expenses or medical bills so that your family does not have to. You might even consider designating a special charitable organization as the beneficiary of your life insurance.

#9 Depending Solely on Employer-provided Coverage
If your employer provides group life insurance you are fortunate indeed but for most people the coverage is not enough to meet your future needs. Typically, the policy provides your beneficiaries two or three times your salary, and that may not be enough to protect your family's financial obligations. By having a personal term life insurance policy with today's competitive rates, you can probably buy enough coverage for your specific term life insurance needs, while still taking your budget into consideration.

#8 Buying the wrong Coverage amount or Term Length
Life insurance coverage is not created equal and how much you need and for how long depends on your specific needs. The factors vary from how much your loved ones depend on you for their financial security to what sources of income they will have in your absence. For you, a death benefit of $100,000 or $250,000 can be enough. For other main breadwinners, $1,000,000 of coverage is what is needed to take care of a spouse and to someday pay for your toddler's college tuition. Our licensed agents can help you figure out your current expenses and assess future ones as part of the purchase of your life insurance.

#7 Buying No-Medical exam Life Insurance
An exam-free life insurance policy may be the perfect choice for someone with chronic medical conditions or whose health is generally not considered to be good. But healthy individuals will end up paying more than they have to for those types of policies. Without a medical exam, the life insurance company cannot determine who is healthy or not, so it spreads the mortality risk across all of the policies and averages the cost. With these types of life insurance policies, people with a higher mortality risk are paying the same rate as those who are healthy or at lower risk of dying. Medically-underwritten term life insurance is the way to go for healthy people.

#6 Thinking Smokers or People with Health Issues are not Insurable
Life insurance companies' underwriting guidelines can vary greatly when it comes to people who smoke or who have certain medical conditions. That will determine the rate they will pay for their insurance policy. Some insurers are more lenient than others in determining a smoker's rating classifications while others will place them in a riskier category. A heart attack patient under strict medical care for at least one-year might also be able to qualify for a lower rate, depending on the insurance company they apply with. That is why working with a licensed life insurance agent will help you find the appropriate coverage with the right company for your specific needs.

#5 Being Under-Insured
Term life insurance coverage is designed to pay a lump-sum death benefit to your dependents but sometimes people miscalculate a family's future needs. Some commonly overlooked expenses include health insurance coverage. Can your family afford to pay for it without you? Is there enough money to cover your childrens' college education? Is the death benefit enough to pay off a mortgage or the additional costs of childcare? These considerations and others should all be part of your future financial planning, of which life insurance is an integral part.

#4 Insuring Only the Primary Breadwinner
It is not hard to put a value on the loss of income provided by the family’s main breadwinner but services provided by others in the household also have financial value. Do not overlook the importance of the spouse or person responsible for maintaining the home and caring for a family, even if they don't earn a paycheck. If an individual takes care of children or another person in the home, such as an elderly parent, that caregiver’s death could create unexpected - and significant - expenses. These costs can add up quickly and must be taken into consideration.

#3 Forgetting to Review Your Policy
It’s important to periodically review your term life insurance policy because things change and your needs now could be greater than they were when you first bought that policy. It should be part of assessing your overall financial or retirement plan. Is your life insurance coverage adequate; maybe it's too much? You might even decide that you want to convert your term life insurance policy to a permanent cash-value policy. Our licensed life insurance agents can help you figure out your current needs.

#2 Thinking that all Online Life Insurance Quotes are the Same
Thanks to the Internet the choices for online life insurance quotes are endless. That's the good news. The bad news is that not all of these web sites have licensed customer service representatives ready to properly assess you and match you with the term life insurance quote that's right for your needs. It takes experience and hands-on to help you get an accurate life insurance rate. Your age, health, medical history, and budget are key to getting the right amount of life insurance and term length at an accurate price.

#1 Putting off until Tomorrow What you Can Do Today
Why wait until tomorrow for something so important that you can do for your family today? Delaying the purchase of life insurance coverage leaves your loved ones and assets vulnerable. And, we're not getting any younger. Premiums for term life insurance will only get more expensive as we get older. Declining health may also cost you more — assuming you can still get coverage. Most reasons you can think of for delaying such an important purchase in your life is risky financially for your family's future. The younger and healthier you are the better to lock-in a level premium rate. We know budget is a consideration that is why we are helping you stick to it.

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