Best Life Insurance Blog

Life Insurance :How Drug Use Affects Life Insurance Approval

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:51:19 +0000

With the recent passing of Whitney Houston, I am reminded of how devastating the effects of drug use can be on the human body. As we’ve seen in Whitney’s case and so many others, prolonged drug use can lead to a severely decreased life expectancy. So you won’t

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With the recent passing of Whitney Houston, I am reminded of how devastating the effects of drug use can be on the human body. As we’ve seen in Whitney’s case and so many others, prolonged drug use can lead to a severely decreased life expectancy.

So you won’t be surprised to learn that all life insurance applications include some type of question about the applicant’s use or abuse of alcohol, as well as use of any drugs currently or in the past.

For example, Genworth Life & Annuity Insurance Company’s drug question reads as follows:

“Other than prescribed by a physician, have you ever used marijuana, narcotics, stimulants, sedatives, hallucinogens, or any prescription drugs? If “Yes”, also give the name, form, amount, frequency, and length of use, and date last used.”

Best Case Approval Using Illegal Drugs

In a best case scenario, if you use marijuana, even currently, you may be able to get Standard Non Tobacco rates, if use is recreational. Funny thing is if you use it with a prescription, you’ll be classified under Tobacco rates, which cost two to three times the Non Smoker rates.

With more serious drugs (meth, cocaine, heroin) if you use currently, you’ll be declined. You need to quit for at least several months before being approved for life insurance.

What If I Quit?

If you used in the past and quit, a life insurance approval will depend on some factors:

Time passed since you quit. At least 1 year from time quit is required by most companies, and even longer is required by some.
Length of time you did drugs.
Severity of drug use and addiction. Obviously heroin and cocaine are the most harmful to the body and most addicting. But in any case, was rehab needed to quit?
Any residual medical issues.
Currently living a stable life – If you have a steady job, a home, are married, etc., these things look good for you.

How to Be Approved as Former Drug User

Be up front and honest about your drug history on your application. If it was several years ago, and you’ve been sober since, you may not have any problems at all. You may be able to qualify for preferred rates.

Even if your drug use was more recent, say within the past few years, you still may be approved paying a higher premium, but then you can apply for a new policy every year as you get farther and farther away from your drug using days, and keep getting better and better rates.

Lying About Drug Use

Don’t lie about history of drug use on a life insurance application. First of all, it’s insurance fraud. Secondly, if you get approved, and die within the first two years, the insurance company will investigate deeper into your past, and if they find out you lied about drug use on the application, they don’t have to pay the death benefit.

Your best bet is to speak with a knowledgeable agent about your history of drug use, like one of the agents here at Huntley Wealth Insurance. We’ll run through your specific drug use history and be able to guide you to the company with the lowest life insurance rates.

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Life Insurance Information :Death of a Friend

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:51:19 +0000

It is with a heavy heart that I found out today that a friend and fellow Rotarian I know was killed yesterday in a motorcycle accident. He was just 60. I mourn for his wife and children. What really bothers me is I never spoke to him about life insurance. I simply don’t bring it [...]

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It is with a heavy heart that I found out today that a friend and fellow Rotarian I know was killed yesterday in a motorcycle accident. He was just 60. I mourn for his wife and children.

What really bothers me is I never spoke to him about life insurance. I simply don’t bring it up at Rotary club. I assume everyone knows I sell life insurance, and will approach me if the need arises. I hope he was covered. Just at our Christmas party this year, he did ask me about some long term care insurance. I should have used that to discuss life insurance with him.

It’s very sad that I’m now in my 8th year in the business, with hundreds of policies sold, and yet since I got in the business, I’ve have had several friends and family members die, and none of them had life insurance, to my knowledge. The most notable of these was my 32 year old, indestructable yoga instructor. I actually got up the nerve to pitch him life insurance after knowing him for a couple years. He was approved for 0,000 of coverage, but had not yet put the policy in force when he was killed in a freak accident. Had I spoken to him just a month earlier, perhaps his policy would have been in force when he died.

Then in 2011, a business associate died while watching a car race and was hit by a car that went out of control. I think Mike was 34, and had two young children, the same age as my children, 1 and 3. After Mike died, I called three of my best friends whom I had not spoken with and flat out told them they were buying life insurance, and that no best friend of mine was going to die without life insurance. Two of them bought. One didn’t. But at least it felt good to know I had done what I could to get them coverage.

What I’m saying is this. If you are married or have children, and that spouse or children depend on your income, please consider buying life insurance. I don’t care who you buy it through (Select Quote, Accuquote, Advantage One are all good companies). Just buy it. If you’re young and in good health, you’d be amazed at how much coverage you can buy for just bucks per month.

There. I’ve said my peace.

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Life Insurance :Universal Life as an Investment

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:51:19 +0000

Now that I’m in my eighth year selling life insurance, I’ve had my share of sales where my client told me they were already maxing out their 401k, maxing out their IRA, and were looking for another place to stuff money into. Due to some tax advantages of cash value life

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Now that I’m in my eighth year selling life insurance, I’ve had my share of sales where my client told me they were already maxing out their 401k, maxing out their IRA, and were looking for another place to stuff money into. Due to some tax advantages of cash value life insurance, universal life has historically been one resting place for funds looking for a home.

So let’s review how to set up a universal life contract for with investment purposes, and whether or not it’s a good idea.

How Universal Life Works

When you pay your annual premium, a portion of that goes to the costs of the policy. Anything left over will be allocated into whatever interest crediting strategy you elect. Most companies have guaranteed interest strategies, non guaranteed strategies set by the company, or non guaranteed strategies whose performance is somehow tied to an equity index, such as the S&P 500.

The benefit to universal life over whole life is flexibility. You can fund your policy with a lot of cash over a short period of time, and theoretically, if you gain a decent interest rate and policy costs stay low, it’s possible that when you get older, you may no longer need to pay premiums. For example, your policy costs may only be 0 for the year, but if you send a check for 00, that means 00 will be allocated to an interest strategy, where it may grow for you.

The Original Intent of Cash Value

This is the beauty of universal life. The idea is to get your cash value high enough that you can stop paying premiums and the cash will sustain the cost of insurance.

With this as the goal, the IRS allowed the designers of universal life to set up the policy to accumulate gains on a tax deferred status. So when your insurance policy makes interest this year, you don’t get a 1099 on the interest. Then, in some cases, the cash may be available for loan or withdraw tax free.

Using the Cash Value for Other Purposes

Most financial planners agree that life insurance should not be looked at as an investment. However, thousands of individuals have used life insurance over the years to fund college planning needs, retirement planning, and even as makeshift pension plans.

I used to read a lot about using life insurance for cash accumulation, and to be honest, now that I’ve sold some of these and seen the performance over the past 8 years, I don’t have strong opinions either way. They sound good, in theory, with the tax advantages and some of the creative interest crediting strategies available (especially the indexing strategies). But the performance of the policies I’ve written hasn’t been great.

Let’s review the case of one client of mine who is now 33 years old. He opened up his universal life contract in 2006, so we have 6 years of history so far. He has funded the policy with ,000, and his current account value is ,828, minus the surrender charge equals a net surrender value of ,652. In this case, we structured the policy for max cash dump in, and minimum face value, with the goal of getting the policy costs as low as possible.

Good Returns Come with Time and Patience

When you add his 3 costs together (premium expense fee: 0, policy expense charge: 6.44, Base cost of insurance: .25) it comes out to over 0 per year. In a sense, it makes sense that it has taken a while to make interest here, since when his accumulation value was ,000, even if he made 5% in the year, he would still only be covering the cost of the policy. But now that he has funded it for several years, I believe we’ll start to see his accumulation value catch up to and surpass his premium outlay.

I, myself, purchased a UL several years ago, and haven’t max funded it, but almost have, and have been disappointed with my returns as well. I guess I’ll have to take a lesson from my client above.

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Life Insurance Information :Louisiana Life Insurance

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:51:19 +0000

Getting an instant quote for Life Insurance in Louisiana is easy with our instant quote box to the right. Feel free to get started by filling in the information on the right – or read on to learn all you need to know about acquiring affordable life insurance in Louisiana. REASONS

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Getting an instant quote for Life Insurance in Louisiana is easy with our instant quote box to the right. Feel free to get started by filling in the information on the right – or read on to learn all you need to know about acquiring affordable life insurance in Louisiana.

REASONS TO GET LIFE INSURANCE IN LA

Believe it or not, but the leading industries in Louisiana are among the most dangerous in America. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the fishing industry, due to its high level of fatal transportation accidents, is the most dangerous job in the country. And farming isn’t too far behind – it’s ranked the fifth most dangerous profession, again due to accidents. And we’re all familiar with the dangers of the oil and natural gas industries.

If you are involved in any of these professions, and you have dependents, I would definitely recommend that you get at least a term life policy. But whether or not you work in a dangerous profession – the importance of life insurance for those with dependents, mortgages, loans, debts, business partnerships, and numerous other financial situations, remains.

Most life insurance companies offer the majority of their policies throughout the United States, so there aren’t any advantages or disadvantages to getting insurance in Louisiana over another state. But there are a few things that you should know before you decide to buy.

LA LIFE INSURANCE AGENTS

The first thing I recommend to people looking for affordable life insurance is to make sure that they work with an independent agent. So-called ‘captive’ agents only work with a single insurance company. If you speak with someone who says they only work with MetLife, for example, you are most likely going to end up overpaying. An independent agent, on the other hand, can compare pricing between almost all of the different life insurance companies in order to find you the best deal for your situation.

Now, most people want to shop around in order to find the best price. It’s human nature. But understand that buying life insurance is not like buying a new car. Agents have absolutely no control over premium costs. We couldn’t change them if we wanted to. Premiums are set by the underwriters at the respective insurance companies. What this means is that no independent agent should be able to offer a “better deal” than another. Any good independent agent should be able to find you the best premium available to meet your insurance needs.

But not all independent agencies are created equal. If you go with one of the big agencies, such as SelectQuote, then you will probably end up only speaking with your agent once, then get passed along to another department. But by working with a smaller agency, such as us here at Huntley Wealth, you have access to your agent anytime you need. You can feel free to call with any questions you may have – whether that be next week, or next year.

LIFE INSURANCE COSTS IN LA

So how are life insurance costs calculated, and what can you do to find the most affordable plan to meet your needs? There are several factors that go into determining life insurance premiums:

Age – the older you are, the more it’s going to cost.

Sex – men have a shorter life expectancy than women. Therefore, they pay slightly more.

Amount of Insurance – a ,000,000 policy is going to cost more than a ,000 policy.

Length of Insurance – typically, the longer the policy is going to be in effect, the more it is going to cost. Whole life or universal life insurance, for example, tend to cost more than term life insurance. There can be minor exceptions to this, but the general rule still applies.

Smoking – smokers pay a higher premium due to their increased likelihood of developing a life-threatening condition. This includes all forms of tobacco – even consistent use of nicotine replacements such as the patch or nicotine gum is typically considered tobacco use (this is still ingesting nicotine). There are some insurance companies that are lenient towards cigar smokers, however, as long as use is infrequent to moderate.

Health Rating – This is where working with an independent agent really comes in handy. Complications to health factor into calculating life expectancy; so people with diabetes, heart disease, a history of cancer, or any other major illness are going to be rated lower than people in great health. But each insurance company has its own underwriting guidelines – so each company is going to rate each health issue differently. A good agent will know which companies will be most favorable for each different health issue – potentially saving the client a considerable amount of money.

There are other factors that can contribute to the price of life insurance – such as working in a dangerous profession or engaging in risky hobbies – but this list covers the main points that apply to everyone.

APPLYING FOR LIFE INSURANCE IN LOUISIANA

To get started with a free quote, fill in the information on the ‘Instant Life Insurance Quote’ box to the right. If you like what you see, you can follow the link to request an application. We’ll give you a call with a brief questionnaire, just to make sure that we’re applying to the best life insurance company for your situation. Or, if you’d like to speak to an agent directly, feel free to call us at 757-777-2545.

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Online Life Insurance :February Life Insurance Updates – Transamerica, Lincoln, Genworth

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:51:19 +0000

1. Transamerica Life – state approvals March 9th – Transamerica’s TransACE 2010 rates are no longer available in NM. 2. Assurity Life – state approvals March 9th – Assurity Life’s non-med term is available for sale in WA, but the maximum issue

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1. Transamerica Life – state approvals

March 9th – Transamerica’s TransACE 2010 rates are no

longer available in NM.

2. Assurity Life – state approvals

March 9th – Assurity Life’s non-med term is available for

sale in WA, but the maximum issue ages are reduced for the

20 and 30 year versions of the product.

3. Lincoln Life – new no lapse UL & changes

March 2nd – On February 21st, Lincoln National introduced

new rates/product for its no lapse UL. The product is called

LGUL (2012). The product replaces all previous versions except

in NV and NY where the 2011 rates are still being used.

Lincoln has also discontinued its Lincoln DurationGuarantee UL

which is the term UL product it previously offered. That has

been removed from our software.

4. Genworth Life – 15 year product removed

March 2nd – Genworth is discontinuing the sale of its 15 year

Colony Term UL product effective March 11, 2012. They are

referring to it as a “temporary suspension” so we will be

happy to add it back in should the company change its

status.

5. Sagicor Life – new no lapse UL policy

March 1st – As per item 11 below, from Febuary 21st.

Sagicor has introduced a new no lapse UL product to

replace its previous product. While the company

provided us with new rates in time for its introduction,

and while we have entered those rates, the company has

asked us not to release them until they have checked

out entries. In the meantime, we have removed the

old product.

The company has now checked our entries and have OK’d

the release of the product.

6. Pruco Life of New Jersey – new rates

March Monthly Update – Pruco has received approval for its

new no lapse UL rates (July 2011) in the state of New York.

7. Transamerica Life – state approvals and rate change

March Monthly Update – TransTermUL has introduced new

band 1 rates for its 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 year options.

Transamerica’s new TransACE 2012 is approved in CT and OR.

We have now turned off the old 2010 rates in states that

approved TransACE 2012 on or before February 1st.

8. Genworth Life – new rates

February 27th – Genworth has introduced new rates for its

GenGuard no lapse UL products.

9. Transamerica Life Insurance Company – state approvals

February 21st – Transamerica’s new TransACE 2012 will be

approved in MA on February 22nd. We have gone ahead and

turned on the new rates.

10. Lincoln Life – policy fee reduction

February 21st – Lincoln has lowered the policy fee for its

term products from 5 to:

10 Year –

15 Year –

20 Year –

30 Year –

11. Sagicor Life – no lapse UL policy removed

February 21st – Sagicor has introduced a new no lapse UL

product to replace its previous product. While the company

provided us with new rates in time for its introduction,

and while we have entered those rates, the company has

asked us not to release them until they have checked

out entries. In the meantime, we have removed the

old product.

12. Transamerica Life Insurance Company – state approvals

February 15th – Transamerica’s new TransACE 2012 is now

approved in NM and VA.

13. Cincinnati Life Insurance – new preferred health criteria

February 15th – Cincinnati Life has liberalized cholesterol

requirements for its Super Select Plus, Select Plus and

Select health classes for term products. They have also

liberalized family health history, for Select Plus and

Select health classes for term products.

Once again, the changes do not apply to UL plans, which

continue to use the previous criteria.

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Cheap Life Insurance :“Reasonable” Renewal Premiums for Term Life Insurance at Lincoln and Fidelity

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:51:19 +0000

Last year, I wrote a post about what happens to a term life insurance policy when the initial level term period expires. In this post, I explained in most cases, the policy does not just cancel. Instead, the death benefit stays the same, but the premiums increase on an annual

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Last year, I wrote a post about what happens to a term life insurance policy when the initial level term period expires. In this post, I explained in most cases, the policy does not just cancel. Instead, the death benefit stays the same, but the premiums increase on an annual basis, known as annual renewable term.

Unjust Renewal Premiums after Initial Level Term

In most cases, the increase from the level term premium to the first year’s renewable premium is absolutely outrageous, and usually unaffordable. For example, the premium could increase 6 to 10 times the cost of the initial premium.

See an illustration for the guaranteed premiums on a term policy like the one described above in this picture below:

Exceptions to “Increased Premiums” after Initial Term

Since my post last year, however, I have found two surprising exceptions to my statements above and in my last article. They come from Lincoln National’s Term product line, known as Lincoln LifeElements. The other is offered through Fidelity Life Association’s Graded Death Benefit line of term products. (Please note these comments are valid at the time of writing this article on 3/17/12, and are subject to change.)

In the case of Lincoln’s term policy, rather than raising the premium at the end of the initial term, the death benefit lowers to approximately half the initial value, but the premiums are guaranteed to stay the same for at least a few years after the initial term. Then, the guaranteed premiums only increase marginally on a guaranteed basis for several years at a clip of approximately 5% per year.

Below is a sample illustration of the Lincoln LifeElements guaranteed premiums of their 10 year term policy.

Fidelity Life Association offers a type of graded death benefit life insurance in which the premiums are guaranteed to stay level for the life of the policy. That’s to age 80 for the 10 year term or for 20 years (whichever is longer), or in the 20 year term or 30 year term, they are guaranteed to stay level for 25 or 35 years respectively or to age 80, whichever is longer.

But Fidelity also decreases the death benefit like Lincoln National, in the following way:

“At year 11, 21 or 31 whichever is applicable, there is

a one-time decrease in the face amount based on the

original issue age; ages 20-29 to 80% of the original

face amount, ages 30-39 to 70%, ages 40-49 to 60%

and ages 50 and up 50%.”

To sum it up, both companies offer affordable premiums after the initial term expires, meaning a client could actually afford to potentially keep his or her policy, as opposed to having to drop it, as is the case when so many people get their first renewal notice on a term policy.

Lincoln’s term policies are not usually the cheapest among the low price leaders in term coverage, such as Banner, Ohio National, and ING. They’re usually within 10 to 20% higher, but they clearly have a better renewal benefit than most other policies, so a bit of an increase in price is expected.

So let’s say you’re shopping for 10 year term, but may need insurance for up to 15 years. You don’t want to pay for 15 year term, because you probably won’t need it that long. Buy the 10 year term from Lincoln, and your problem is solved, but remember the premium is reduced in year 11.

Fidelity is unique in that their product is designed for people with serious medical issues, but can still qualify for their graded death benefit term. Some of these conditions may be a history of cancer, stroke, epilepsy, alcohol or drug abuse, or extreme obesity.

To give you one extreme example, a man who is 5’11 could weigh up to 428 lbs and still be approved. That same man could have had a heart transplant 3 years ago, as well as lung cancer 3 years ago, assuming no treatment in the past 2 years, and could still qualify.

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Life Insurance Information :Life Insurance Quotes with Prostate Cancer, Enlarged Prostate, or BPH

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:51:19 +0000

Most men, as they approach middle age, will find themselves dealing with prostate issues. Enlarged prostate, BPH, and prostate cancer are all very common conditions which make life insurance more challenging, but certainly NOT impossible. Before continuing reading about prostate

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Most men, as they approach middle age, will find themselves dealing with prostate issues. Enlarged prostate, BPH, and prostate cancer are all very common conditions which make life insurance more challenging, but certainly NOT impossible.

Before continuing reading about prostate issues, you might benefit by reading how we handle all of our high risk insurance cases, then finish this article.

Life Insurance with Prostate Cancer

If you have been told you cannot obtain life insurance, don’t despair. We can help! Some carriers will not consider an offer in the midst of treatment, and others steer clear of prostate issues. However, a number of well-known life insurance carriers will be happy to offer coverage, depending on the details of each individual case.

The prostate cancer survival rate is actually excellent. I’ve read as high as 98% 10 year survival rate and 91% 15 year survival rate, so it’s certainly possible to insure.

Before an accurate quote can be made, there are a number of specifics required.

What was the date of your diagnosis?
What was your pre-treatment PSA level?
What treatment did you select?

Radiation Seed Implant
Cyber Knife
Prostatectomy
What was the Stage and Grade of your cancer?
What was your Gleason Score?
What was your post-treatment PSA level?

A wait-time after treatment is not usually required, but the details of your case, as listed above, are the factors insurance companies use to determine a rating. Our cases usually come in at a Standard or Standard Plus rating, depending on the specifics of the case.

If the cancer was caught early, and your post-treatment PSA is below 1.0, these are the people with the best odds of securing affordable coverage.

Life Insurance with Enlarged Prostate or Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)

This is far less of an issue than prostate cancer, and in a best case scenario, you can still qualify for the top, preferred rate classes with enlarged prostate or BPH. This may be true even if your PSA is elevated.

The key to being approved at the top rates with an enlarged prostate is a good diagnosis from your urologist, after having the digital rectal exam (DRE) or preferably, a prostate biopsy. This way, prostate cancer is ruled out, and the insurance carrier knows for sure your psa is elevated due to a large prostate, rather than cancer.

Types of Life Insurance Available

All types are available to you if you can qualify medically, including 10, 20, 30 year term, as well as universal life and whole life. No exclusions.

Call us for a Life Insurance Quote

If you need life insurance, either to replace a term policy coming due, or if you are searching for the first time, don’t delay! As we age, life insurance pricing will only go up…so now is the time to act…and your chances for a good rating will not be ruined by a prostate condition if you call an agency who knows how to handle your case properly. Call us at 877-443-9467 for a no obligation quote.

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Cheap Life Insurance :How to Pay Lower Premiums for Life Insurance with “Annuity” Death Benefit Payout

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:51:19 +0000

Death Benefit Income Rider Stick with me for a minute, and I’ll show you a way to “rig” your life insurance policy so you can pay less money for the same amount of coverage. Recently, I was quoting a 50 year old gentleman a ,000,000, 20 year term policy through Banner Life

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Death Benefit Income Rider

Stick with me for a minute, and I’ll show you a way to “rig” your life insurance policy so you can pay less money for the same amount of coverage.

Recently, I was quoting a 50 year old gentleman a ,000,000, 20 year term policy through Banner Life Insurance for 97 per year. My client admitted it was a fair price, but was on a tight budget, and asked if anything could be done to lower the premium.

In his case, something could be done. He had explained to me the reason he wanted Million of coverage was he wanted enough to replace his income (,000 per year) for his wife for a period of 20 years.

Solution – “Fixed” Death Benefit Payments

You might be surprised to learn there are a handful of companies who allow you designate a fixed payment for a fixed number of years as the policy’s death benefit, rather than a lump sum benefit. The quotes look like this:

50 Year Old Male – 20 Year Term policy

Premium
Death Benefit

97 Annually
,000,000 Lump Sum Death Benefit

94 Annually
,000,000 Death Benefit Paid over 20 Years

And it saved him over 0 per year. I quoted him Protective’s 20 year term policy for 94 per year. Rather than paying a lump sum upon his death, his wife will receive ,000 per year for 20 years. So in the end, she still gets the same benefit, million, but at a heavily reduced cost.

Which Companies Offer this Benefit?

It’s called an Income Protection Option or Death Benefit Income Rider. Transamerica and Protective both have some form of this “modified” death benefit option, as well as a handful of other companies.

This differs from the typical death benefit selection in that usually, the beneficiary who completes a death claim elects how he or she would like to receive the death benefit, whether as a lump sum, or annuity payments for X number of years.

But in the case of Protective’s fixed payment death benefit, the terms of the payment are decided by the policyowner upon issue of the policy, which is irrevocable. The beneficiary has no say.

This type of fixed payout could be perfect for many scenarios.

Income Replacement – If I want my spouse to have 0,000 per year of income for 30 years to replace the income I would have earned, it will cost be substantially less to pay for a policy with this exact payout than for a million policy.
Alimony or Child Support – Many divorce decrees mandate a spouse to provide a certain dollar amount to an ex-spouse for X number of years. Life insurance is often used to provide a guarantee on these agreements. Why not get life insurance that provides the exact amount needed for the exact time frame, rather than paying your ex-spouse a lump sum?
Irresponsible Beneficiaries – Perhaps those who will benefit from your life insurance policy are young, or you don’t trust them to prudently manage a large sum of cash. Pay them annually for a set period of years.

Transamerica’s benefit is a bit different than Protective’s. Transamerica actually forces you to take a minimum death benefit as a lump sum of ,000. Then the annuity payments begin for fixed period of years, and then there’s even the option for a back end lump sum to be paid out. Protective has the front end lump sum option, but not the balloon payment at the end, and the other difference is Protective allows the initial lump sum to be zero.

I was quoting 0,000 for 0 per year. Instead, he got a quote from Protective for 0 cheaper per year, which would also pay out a 0K death benefit, but not lump sum. Instead it pays it out over a 25 year period.

Lowest Cost Life Insurance with “Modified” Death Benefit

If you structure the death benefit with the fixed payment plan, no other term policy can touch the price. Feel free to challenge me on this. Bring me a quote from any low price term provider such as Ohio National, Banner Life, or even an agency such as Select Quote, and I will almost certainly beat the quote, and beat it handily.

One issue to take special note of, however, is that a portion of these fixed payments may be taxable, since the payments the beneficiary receive include an assumption of supposed annuity interest. (This is not tax advice. Speak to your tax advisor.)

For a quote comparison, call us at 877-443-9467. If you found this article helpful, please share it on Facebook, Twitter, or Google Plus 1. Thank you.

Please share this article with your friends.

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Life Insurance Information :Life Insurance that Includes Free Long Term Care Benefits

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:51:19 +0000

The life insurance industry has made great strides in the last 5 years in an attempt to provide greater benefits to policy owners, other than just a life insurance policy’s death benefit. One additional feature now added to some policies is the ability to request funds from your

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The life insurance industry has made great strides in the last 5 years in an attempt to provide greater benefits to policy owners, other than just a life insurance policy’s death benefit.

One additional feature now added to some policies is the ability to request funds from your policy for some long term care needs.

I need to be careful here, because all the insurance carriers warn that this is not to be confused with “long term care insurance”, and should not be presented that way. So I will merely present these additional benefits available on some policies, and you can judge for yourself.

By far the most popular life insurance policy with a long term care rider is the Lincoln Moneyguard, but too few people can afford it, since it requires a one-time lump sum premium. So let’s spend our time here discussing affordable alternatives.

An Affordable Alternative – North American Company’s Chronic Illness Accelerated Benefit Rider

What I’m about to talk about can be paid monthly, quarterly, annually, just like any other life insurance policy, so people can actually afford to add this feature to their policies. Many companies have some form of this benefit available, but I will feature the two companies who I believe have the best riders.

The first is North American Company, who offers the Chronic Illness Accelerated Benefit rider. This rider advances a portion (up to 24%) of the death benefit while the insured is still living, if he or she becomes chronically ill. This is defined as the permanent loss of ability to perform at least two activities of daily living (ADL’s), such as bathing oneself, feeding oneself, dressing, etc., or has a severe cognitive impairment.

What’s interesting is the money is simply accelerated from the death benefit proceeds. No additional money is paid out of the policy, which is why it’s not long term care insurance. You just get a portion of the death benefit, and your death benefit is reduced by that amount.

Example of Chronic Illness Accelerated Benefit Rider in Action

Let’s say your husband purchased a 0,000 North American policy with this rider a couple years ago, and since, has developed Alzheimer’s, and can no longer feed himself or bathe himself. Perhaps you need to hire a caregiver to help your husband. In this this case, the policy owner could file a claim for between 5% to 24% of the death benefit, after a 90 day elimination period.

So if you decided to file a claim for 10%, you would get just a bit less than ,000. The policy’s death benefit would be reduced by ,000 leaving a 0,000 death benefit. You get a bit less than ,000, because you are receiving benefits prior to death, and a discount is applied to the accelerated amount. You would need to see an illustration for a real-life example.

What I like about North American’s rider is that you don’t have to be confined to a nursing home to exercise it (in most states). You can use the funds for in-home care, or even if you are taking care of your own spouse, and have not hired any help at all, you can still qualify for the benefit as long as the two activities of daily living can’t be done.

It’s available on all permanent products up to age 75 at policy issue. A couple states (CA and KY) don’t allow the chronic illness rider and in MN, you must be confined to a nursing home to file a claim.

Different from Long Term Care Insurance

One big difference between the chronic illness rider and LTC insurance is that you see in the definition, that the insured must have a permanent inability to perform the two ADL’s to qualify (a letter from an attending physician will usually suffice to prove this).

If you owned long term care insurance, this definition would probably be different, and you could more easily file a claim with LTC insurance. For example, say you were in an accident and broke your back, causing you to be laid up for a year. With LTC insurance, once your elimination period passes, you could probably file a claim to cover the cost of care needed for most of that year.

However, you wouldn’t be able to with a chronic illness rider, since this is not a chronic illness, and if you were expected to fully recover, you would not fall under the definition of “permanently unable to perform at least 2 of 6 ADL’s”.

Accelerated Benefits for Terminal Illness

The other component of the rider is it also pays out up to 75% of the death benefit, while the insured is living, if he or she is diagnosed with a terminal illness. (max 0K payout).

Just about every company has a Terminal illness rider or accelerated death benefit rider, whatever you want to call it… but very few of these cover anything more than terminal illness. And even if they do cover some sort of long term care needs, it may only be used if you’re confined to a nursing home, such as the example below, whereas North American allows you to use it for in-home care.

A couple other carriers offering some sort of long term care benefits with their policies are Lincoln National and Met Life, but I’ll save my last words for the other rider I like, which is offered by Prudential.

Prudential’s Living Needs Benefit Rider

This post is getting a bit long, so I’ll just give you a couple quick bullet points about Prudential’s Living Needs Benefit rider:

It can be added to ANY of their policies, including term (not just permanent policies.)
Also can be added at no cost.
Must have been confined to a nursing home for 6 months and expected to be permanently confined to a nursing home (can’t be used for in-home care)
100% of the contract can be accelerated. Like North American, an actuarial reduction is applied, but still the policy owner can expect to receive 90-95% of the death benefit in most cases.

For more information about life insurance policies that include free long term care benefits, give us a call at 877-443-9467, or you can get started with an instant quote using our form to the right. Just look for quotes from the carriers above, and remember, only Prudential allows you to add the benefit to a term policy.

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Life Insurance Information :Should I Buy 20 or 30 Year Term Life Insurance?

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:51:19 +0000

The problem getting a straight answer from a life insurance agent about what type of insurance to take is we get paid more commission when our clients pay a higher premium. So the first lesson in purchasing term life insurance of any duration is to use an agent who doesn’t seem “needy”. If you can tell your agent is pushing you to take a certain policy, and he or she really wants you to take it more than you do, beware.
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I had a married couple in their 30′s ask me today about whether they should be buying 20 year term or 30 year term life insurance. Both of them work, and they do not yet have children, but plan to. They were inquiring about a 0,000 policy for the wife and Million policy for the husband.

Their main concerns with the 20 or 30 year term were:

Cost – 30 year term costs more than 20 year
Children – Although they do not yet have children, the wife indicated she basically wanted something to cover them if they were to die while they have kids. Since they don’t yet have kids, they weren’t sure if 20 years was long enough.

Since probably the most common two questions I get are how much life insurance do I need, and what type of life insurance do I need, I figured I would share my response to them with you.

The Most Honest 20 or 30 Year Term Life Insurance Review on the Web

I don’t say this to brag, but I’ve been in the business for 7 years, and while I would not call myself rich, have done pretty well in the business. I try to advise my clients from every angle, pointing out the pros and cons of each type of policy, and even playing devil’s advocate to help people see that sometimes a cheaper option makes sense for them. Plus this couple happens to be long-time friends of mine, (I’d like to say all my clients get the same advice I would give my own mother), but maybe this means something extra to you.

Here is a copy of the 20 and 30 year quotes I sent them for the husband and the letter I wrote them:

1.
.19 per month – ,000,000 for 20 years
Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Co
Colony Term UL 20
Preferred Best No Nicotine Use

2.
.16 per month – ,000,000 for 30 years
Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Co
Colony Term UL 30
Preferred Best No Nicotine Use

“A lot of people in your age group struggle to decide between 20 or 30 year term, so please me to make a couple comments here. First of all, when you apply, nothing is set in stone. For example, you can apply for 30 year, and when your policy is approved, you can change your mind and have it issued at 20 year, so you may have a couple weeks to discuss this.

Secondly, most people purchase life insurance for income replacement purposes, so you need to think about where you’ll be financially 20 years from now. If you can reasonably expect your debts to be paid down, and have plenty of money in savings and retirement by then, perhaps you’ll no longer need coverage, in which case the 20 year will suffice. However, if you expect you’ll still be depending on each other’s incomes 20 years from now, I would suggest the 30 year.

A lot of couples at your age will buy a 30 year on the main breadwinner (if there is one) and a 20 year on the other spouse…. And if you still can’t decide, you could take both. Have 1 policy issued for 20 yr and 1 issued for 30 yr. In John’s case, for example, if he had two 500K policies, the total cost for the first 20 years would be per month. After 20 years, the first policy would drop off and you’d be left with just the 30 yr payment for 10 more years of per month.

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