Guides: Life Insurance

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.

If you die prematurely, life insurance provides your dependents with ongoing income to replace yours. Life insurance should be an integral part of your financial planning strategy. A general policy can be an important planning tool. We explain: income replacement; paying outstanding debts and long-term obligations; estate planning; and charitable contributions.

One of the biggest challenges you’ll face in your adult years is selecting the right life insurance policy – one that makes the most sense for you and your loved ones. Life insurance is a highly competitive business and in most cases, you will have hundreds of life insurance companies to choose from.

One of the most important and responsible decisions you’ll make in life is purchasing life insurance. The Internet provides easy access to a host of life insurance resources.

People get a life insurance policy to ensure their loved ones are taken care of in case of a untimely death. A life insurance company generally offers two types of policies: Term Life Insurance and Permanent Life Insurance. Understand the specifics of each. Know what to consider to make the best choice. Review the death benefit, premium, dividend, and cash value aspects of these policies.

Cash value life insurance comes in many shapes and sizes. The best known is "whole life," which covers you for your whole life with no change in annual premium as you age. Unlike term policies that offer the most protection for your premium dollar, cash value life policies have a savings feature. After you pay premiums for a year or so, cash accumulates. Decide if cash value is right for you.

Low cost life insurance is readily available to consumers that can’t afford to pay high premiums, largely due to the vast online resources and aggressive competition by insurance companies. Here are a few helpful tips when buying life insurance. We offer 10 important things to consider as you shop for coverage. And we show you your legal rights when it comes to dealing with insurance companies.

There are two types of life insurance policies that you need to understand - "Term Life" and "Cash Value Life" insurance. Term life has either renewable and convertible elements -- annually renewable term (ART) and decreasing term are two varieties. Whole life is a type of cash-value life insurance (which in turn can be divided into nonparticipating and participating policies). Learn details.

Term life insurance provides financial protection over a set "term" or period. Getting some term life insurance quotes might be the right step especially if you want coverage over a long period. There are 4 types of term life insurance: renewable term; convertible term; level term; and decreasing term. We fully explain the pros and cons of each type of insurance.