Life Insurance Education

The first step in finding the best policy for you is to review your family's financial needs. Once you've done that, you should choose a company and an agent who can help you look for ways to get the right type and amount of insurance at an affordable price. The personal experiences of neighbors and friends are also a good place to start.

Life insurance policies, like other insurance policies, are legal contracts. Lawyers - not your lawyers but the lawyers of the insurance company, draw up these contracts. Some contracts are easier to read than others but all require proper and good understanding. The following is a short-list of some of the items that must be clear. SPENDonLIFE.com lists 17 important questions for you to ask.

While 'Initial Term Premium' surveys for automobile or home insurance rates may be adequate, such 'surveys' for life insurance are lacking and can be misleading. In contrast to automobile and home insurance policies that are normally short term (usually 1 year policies with no guarantee of future renewal rates or benefits), life insurance contracts are normally purchased for the long term.

Life Insurance is a contract to pay benefits upon the death of a person. A life insurance policy is the contract between an insurance company and the person who is the owner of the policy. A life insurance policy can be taken out to cover a family member or a person with whom you share a pecuniary interest. There are two main types of policies: Term Life; and Universal Life. Learn about both.

Life insurance is available for consumers to purchase a policy to provide a cash payment to any beneficiaries named, paid at the time of death. (Also called a death benefit). Life insurance's benefits are 1) to support dependents through their lives and 2) to provide cash to cover expenses incurred upon death.