Tag Archives: Insurance
Planning Your Family’s Future Thanks To Life Insurance (2)
Planning Your Family’s Future Thanks To Life Insurance
Buying a life insurance policy is probably one of the most important decisions you will make in your life, especially as you get older. In order to make it a good decision you should be well aware of what options are available to you, and which are the best. This article will outline them.
Some life insurance policies expire. It is important for you to keep up with the expiration date of your life insurance policy and talk to the carrier if the date draws near. You may be able to extend your policy or switch to one with different coverage options. Your insurance company will be able to let you know what options you have.
Term life insurance is a more affordable option for life insurance. It only covers you for a set period of years; it is usually sold for 10, 20, or 30 year periods. A term life insurance policy is usually much less expensive than a whole life insurance policy per month.
It’s a good idea to review your life insurance policy each year to see if it still meets your needs. If you’ve had any big changes in your life such as a new child or the purchase of a home, you may have to modify your policy to reflect your new situation.
When purchasing life insurance, you should do your homework. Make sure that you understand what your actual needs are and how much you can actually afford. Make sure that you understand the contract. If it is not clear, then have your representative explain it to you. To get the best deal, you should understand all of this.
If you are getting a free life insurance from your employer, make sure the coverage is enough. For instance, it might not cover your spouse. You should consider applying for an additional life insurance if you think you are going to need more coverage or want your spouse to be covered to.
You may be able to save a significant amount of money on your life insurance by paying your premiums annually instead of monthly. Insurance companies often have extra fees for customers who pay every month instead of just once a year. Ask your insurer if you can switch to an annual payment.
Those who wish to use life insurance as an investment should investigate various types of whole life insurance policies. While this kind of insurance generally costs more than term life policies, it can offer substantial benefits, including the ability to borrow against the value during the lifetime of the policy.
Never pick a life insurance company without checking its rating first. There are many different grades that can be given to an insurance company based on their willingness to pay claims promptly and whether or not they have the proper financial backing to pay out the policies which they hold. Be sure you know the company you chose to pay for many years is one you can count on.
If buying a life insurance policy is in your future you should make sure you are well educated as to the options available to you. If you just settle for the first option you’ll likely miss many other great offers. Learn how to shop for life insurance and you’ll find your family in good hands should the unfortunate happen.
You Should Raise Your Deductible If You Want To Lower Your Insurance Rate
You Should Raise Your Deductible If You Want To Lower Your Insurance Rate
Imagine the following scenario. It is a stormy night outside, and you decide to stay in with your children. The wind howls outside. All of the sudden, you hear a loud CRASH. A tree from your backyard has fallen through your kitchen and office. A large portion of your house is destroyed. Would you be protected with insurance? Use the tips in this article to learn more about home owner’s insurance.
When building an addition to your home, consider insurance factors during the design process. Depending on the insurance carrier and region of the country, using durable construction materials like concrete can reduce insurance premiums for the new addition. These materials are less likely to be damaged by time or natural disaster, which means your insurance carrier may charge less to insure the new addition.
Home owner’s insurance policies usually include a 0,000 liability coverage. Talk to your insurance representative if you feel that the coverage in your specific neighborhood is not enough. Be familiar with this provision, as the policy may pay for certain injuries suffered as a result of damage to your property.
If possible, pay your home insurance premiums annually. When you spread your payments over monthly or quarterly installments, insurance providers will normally charge you an admin fee and interest. By paying your home insurance in a one-off payment at the start of the year, you can avoid these extra expenses.
Keep humidity levels low in your home to reduce the likelihood of mold problems. Mold remediation is typically excluded from most home owner’s insurance policies unless it results from a covered peril like a burst pipe. However, the cost of removing mold can mount quickly if it is not caught early. Keeping humidity levels low helps prevent mold growth.
Don’t be afraid to ask your insurer for a better deal. Before changing your home insurance provider, call up to your existing insurer and ask if they can offer you a better deal. Insurance companies do not want to lose customers to their competitors, so this technique can quite often cut your annual premiums and save you the hassle of having to change providers.
As part of your home owner’s insurance, consider increasing your liability coverage to protect you from bodily injury or property damage claims. This coverage protects you in the event of damage or injury occurring to others either on your property or from actions of someone in your home. For example, if your child damages a neighbor’s home by accident, the liability coverage on your own policy often covers the claim.
Know your insurance terminology. Replacement cost value is the maximum an insurance company will pay out for property that is damaged. This means they pay you the total amount, without deducting depreciation. Make sure your policy pays replacement cost instead of actual cash value, which reduces the payout by the amount of depreciation for each item.
The scene depicted in the beginning of the article is just one example of how unexpected life can be. Now that you know how important home owner’s insurance is, apply the tips in this article to stay informed about this kind of insurance. The more knowledge you have, the more protected you will be.
The New Way To Lower The Cost Of Health Insurance
The New Way To Lower The Cost Of Health Insurance
It seems that every day there is an article about the rising cost of health insurance, the high number of people with no health insurance, and our system of financing medical care which is broken and needs repair or replacement.
What goes unreported is that since January 1, 2004 there is a new way to finance medical expenses which drastically reduces the cost of medical insurance when compared to traditional forms of health insurance. The name of this radical new approach to financing health care is: Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs.
Health Savings Accounts combine a health insurance plan that will pay medical expenses after a patient has paid a few thousand dollars for medical care. A unique feature of these high up-front (a “high deductible” in insurance-speak) medical insurance plans is that a patient can open up an IRA-like tax favored savings account to fund the deductible. When sick the patient can withdraw money from the Health Savings Account without any tax penalty.
Like a rainy day fund, a person on an HSA puts money aside in his/her own savings account in addition to paying a health insurance premium for insurance that will pay when a catastrophe happens. The HSA-compatible medical insurance plans are less expensive than most other health insurance because they only begin to pay for treatment after a patient has incurred several thousand dollars worth of medical bills.
The combined cost of the low cost medical insurance plan and the HSA savings component are likely the same or less than the cost of a traditional health insurance plan which begins paying medical bills immediately. The big savings in HSA plans are threefold:
1) The money invested in the HSA savings vehicle stays in the pocket of the insured person until used to pay qualified medical expenses;
2) The money deposited into the HSA savings account is a deductible expense from Federal income taxes – also many states allow income tax deductibility for HSA contributions; and,
3) An insured person pays less for health insurance to an insurance company.
Most people only care about the cost of health insurance when they have to pay the premium (i.e., monthly payment for the insurance.) This applies to individuals and families who purchase their own policies and also companies which purchase health insurance on behalf of employees and their families. HSAs make the most sense for these people – since every dollar they save on premium stays in their pocket.
HSAs offer a unique feature to employers: they can partially or fully fund the HSA savings account for employees covered by a compatible health insurance plan. Employees can also make tax deductible contributions to their own HSA account – up to the maximum allowed by the IRS.
So, an employer who may save 0-0 per month per employee could contribute -0 pre month to an employees HSA account, get a tax deduction and still spend less money in total for health insurance than they would spend on a traditional health insurance plan for their employees.
The employees like this arrangement because any money deposited into their HSA account become theirs immediately (i.e., the vest immediately.) The immediate full vesting for the employees also helps those companies with no retirement accounts (e.g., 401k plan.)
Money in the HSA accounts can be used for non-medical expenses at age 65 with no tax penalty. Many employees see this as an opportunity to accumulate a lot of money for their retirement – assuming they stay healthy. If they become sick the money is there to pay for medical expenses.
HSAs – the new way to reduce the cost of financing medical care.
20 Tips To Cheaper Car Insurance.
20 Tips To Cheaper Car Insurance.
Car insurance premiums rise year after year,Although your car insurance premium largely depends on your Car, Age and discount there are a few steps you can take to help stop the rise or even reduce your premium.
1. Buy from the internet.Most companies offer a discount for online applications as this is automated process and costs them a lot less to process your application, you can usually see discounts of 5%-10%.Click here to get a instant online insurance quote
2. Shop around.All insurance companies use different formulas to calculate your insurance premium by adding or detracting money after each question the ask you.By shopping around you could find big savings on your insurance premium.
3. Buy extra products.Most insurance companies also do other insurance products ie”Building’s and content’s insurance”.Most insurance companies will give extra discounts for purchasing more than one product,by doing this you could save a fair amount on all your insurance premiums.
4. Pay your insurance premium in one go.By paying your insurance premium in full you can avoid paying costly interest charges that would be added if you paid your insurance premium by instalments.Some insurance companies may charge as much as 15% APR on instalments.You may even receive a discount for paying in full.If you can not afford to pay in full check out what rate a small loan would be you may still save some money.Fill out a online loan application.
5. Increase your voluntary excess.Your excess is the amount paid by you in the event of a claim,by increasing this your insurance company should reduce your premium.
6. Lower your annual mileage.Lowering your annual mileage can reduce your premium,most insurance companies will quote you for around 12,000 miles a year.Try and work out how many mile’s you will do if it’s likely to be less you may get a discount.Be honest about this as your insurance company may ask to see old MOT’S and service history to verify your mileage in the event of a accident.
7. Have a Alarm,Immobiliser or Tracker fitted.Theft of and from your vehicle play a major role in the calculation of your insurance premium.Having a alarm or immobiliser fitted will give you a small discount to your premium and having a tracker fitted could make you quite a saving.
8. Take the advanced driving test.Passing your advanced driving test will show your insurance company that you have extra skill when driving and are less likely to be involved in a accident.
9. Don’t inflate the value of your car.Adding extra value to your car when you apply for your insurance quote will do nothing for you apart from increase you premium.In the event your car is stolen or written off you will only be paid the market value of your car at the time of your accident.
10.Look after your credit rating.Insurance companies are now looking at your credit score as part of the calculation for your insurance premium.Maintaining a good credit rating could avoid unnecessary additions to your premium.
11. Insure your car Third Party Only.Third party only is the minimum cover you are required to have by law it’s also the cheapest.If your vehicle is of a low value then you could consider this type of cover.You need to remember that with this type of cover if you was to have a accident that any damage to your vehicle would not be covered for repair.
12. Keep a clean licenceInsurance companies take driving convictions very seriously and can dramatically increase your car insurance premium,by maintaining a clean licence proves to the insurance you are a safe and careful driver.
13. Remove any unnecessary drivers.If you have a young driver on your insurance policy that no longer use’s the vehicle you should remove them as this will reduce your premium.
14. Young driver’s add a older driver.Some insurance companies will reduce young drivers premiums if they have a older named driver on the insurance.
15. Build up your no-claims discountOne of the biggest factors affecting your car insurance premium is the number of years no-claim’s discount.You could receive up to 75% discount for around 5 years of no claims.The more years you can stay claim free the safer driver your insurance company will see you as.
16. Protect your no-claims discount.Although this will increase your insurance premium if you have a lot of years of no-claims you may want to protect this as a small claim may increase your premium by up to 75%.
17. Buy a lower insurance group car.A very important factor to your insurance premium is what car you drive.Most insurance companies adopt the Association Of British Insurance Group Rating.This rates vehicle’s from 1 – 20 generally speaking the higher the group the higher the premium.By buying a car with a lower group rating can lower your premium especially for young or inexperienced drivers.
18. Join a car club.If your vehicle is a classic or specialist consider joining a club related to your car most clubs offer insurance schemes which have very good premium rates.
19. Put your spouse as a named driver.Some insurance companies offer discounts when you add a spouse as a named driver as opposed to unmarried couples,they see marriage as a sign of stability and associate stability with safe driving and there for give you a discount.
20. Take pass plus.If you are a new driver consider taking your pass plus.some insurance companies could give you as much as a 25% discount and when you have just passed your test and have no no-claims this could make a considerable saving.
Whole Life Insurance Benefits
Whole Life Insurance Benefits
Whole life insurance policies are the most expensive policies on the market due to the increasing cash value over time. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as whole life insurance is permanent life insurance that covers you for as long as you live. This differs from term life which has a cheaper monthly premium but only lasts for a set period of time. But whole life insurance is up to 5x more expensive, so you need a good reason to buy it.
How Should You Choose Your Whole Life Insurance Policy ?
When people shop for life insurance, they usually take the cheapest monthly premiums, which may or may not cover their needs. The main consideration for buying a whole life insurance policy is that it will last your lifetime if you continue to pay the premiums.
With whole life insurance, your death benefits will never decrease and the premiums will never increase. This would differ from term life insurance, where your premiums will increase when the term of the policy expires.
What Do Whole Life Death Benefits Do For Me?
When you are trying to decide how much of a death benefit you need, examine what your financial situation would be if you died. How much money do you owe on your mortgage? How much do you owe for your car, credit cards and the children’s education? Also how long would it take your family to replace the loss of your income? And do they have the means to do it? With whole life insurance, the death benefit would pay off your debts and possibly provide income for your beneficiaries. One of the main benefits however is that you can borrow against the whole life policy.
When Is The Best Time To Buy A Whole Life Insurance Policy?
Like any type of insurance the best time to purchase a policy is now. The younger you are when you buy your whole life insurance policy, the cheaper the premium will be. There are many benefits to taking out a policy, but we recommend talking to an independent broker to discuss the options available in whole life insurance.
Discounts When Bundling Your Home Insurance With Car Insurance Rates With The Same Company
Discounts When Bundling Your Home Insurance With Car Insurance Rates With The Same Company
There are so many insurance companies out there that it’s hard to know which companies are legitimate and which ones are only looking for your monthly fees and have no real plan of following through with their commitment. You can sort through the pretenders by checking out these housing insurance tips.
Before the weather gets cold, prepare your home for winter conditions to reduce the likelihood of damages caused by weather conditions. Below freezing temperatures can cause frozen pipes and other damages to your home, so taking the time to winterize your home can save you from home owner’s insurance claims related to weather damage.
For homeowners insurance there are things that a person can do to help with the cost of their premiums. If you are thinking about doing construction like a addition to your home keep in mind that wood frames may cost less than steel or cement but the insurance could be higher.
Before you even purchase a home, make sure to ask your real estate agent questions about homeowner’s insurance cost. The price of homeowner’s insurance varies, usually depending on location. You do not want to live in an area that is going to leave you broke paying for homeowner’s insurance.
When you are filing for fire insurance, make sure your policy covers damage sustained to cars during a fire. Many people do not do this and end up having to pay for car damages after a fire. If your car does happened to get damaged, make sure to put the type and amount of damages on your claim.
If you need to insure a holiday home, cottage, or a home you are away from for long periods of time, let your insurer know. They have policies that cover problems that happen to your home while you’re not there, which otherwise could be considered negligence, and you wouldn’t be able to claim.
Look into purchasing a security system for your home. You will receive a reduction on your home owner’s insurance premiums. The discount might be enough to cover the expense of the monitoring systems payments. This will give you a safer home.
Keep up with your home owner policy’s inflation. It may have been cheaper to build your house 10 years ago, but it might cost much more to replace it now. When it comes time to renew your policy, speak with your agent to see if your coverage amounts have remained realistic. Add any home improvement to the total.
You must have smoke alarms in your home. Detectors are usually preinstalled in newer homes. If your home doesn’t come with them install one in each room. Besides the fact they can save your life in case of a fire, you will pay hundreds of dollars less yearly on your home owner’s insurance premium.
Having insurance as a homeowner is a must, but you should never settle for just any policy backed by just any insurance company. Make sure you use these tips to find a great policy from a legitimate insurer whose services will be there in a timely fashion should you ever need them.