This is a GREAT article from this week’s BusinessWeek. The article is entitled “The Insurance Inheritance – creative new ways to fund multi-million dollar policies can help you minimize your taxes – and leave more money for your heirs.”

Wealthy families have long used life insurance policies as a way to minimize the impact of estate taxes as they pass money from generation to generation. One drawback: On a multimillion-dollar policy, premiums can run well into six figures. For those who didn’t have the cash flow, that used to mean liquidating investments or taking a loan, or for high-level executives, relying on employers. But now savvy lawyers have figured out ways for clients to finance multimillion-dollar policies without going to the bank.

Before using a family deal to finance costly life insurance, ask about whether the arrangement can be undone if your circumstances change. Remember, too, that with any loan transaction, “at the end you have to repay the debt”-most likely out of the policy proceeds, warns Howard Zaritsky, a lawyer in Rapidan, Va. And that will leave less for those you intended to benefit. The upshot: Depending on financing technique, you may need to buy more insurance.

By Deborah L. Jacobs

Monday October 16th was the 108th Founder’s Day celebration at N.C. Mutual Life Insurance Co. in Durham, North Carolina. Highlighting the annual event was the keynote speech by educator and author Stedman Graham, author of two New York Times bestsellers.

The firm, which started in 1898 and was reorganized in 1900 by founders John Merrick and Aaron Moore, has grown into a company with more than $12 billion of insurance in force. The company, which has more than 100 employees at its Durham headquarters, is the largest black-owned life insurance company in the country.

In his speech, Graham said he has had to work hard to make people see him as more than the longtime companion of Oprah Winfrey. As a young man, he faced the task of overcoming the low self-esteem from his early years growing up in Whitesboro, N.J.

In previous interviews, Graham has said it was pressure from his romance with Winfrey, which dates back to the early 1980s, that helped push him to succeed on a number of levels. He has done so by writing 10 books including the two bestsellers, and by building a successful management and marketing consulting company, S. Graham & Associates in Chicago.

Graham’s connection to N.C. Mutual extends beyond his father, who was an agent for the life insurance company. Graham traces his heritage back to the Spaulding family that includes the late C.C. Spaulding, who served as N.C. Mutual’s president for almost three decades. “This is a full circle moment,” Graham told the crowd of 400 at the beginning of his talk.

Anyone can get life insurance, even a child, as loong as you provide proof of insurability. For kids under 18 years of age, you do not need to show proof of insurability, which means no medical exam is required.

For most people in their 20’s they don’t need life insurance. Remember the main purpose of life insurance is to protect your family financially if something were to happen to you. So, if you don’t have someone that depends on you (an elderly parent, child, spouse, etc.) then you may not need to purchase life insurance in your 20’s.

The upside of purchasing it in your 20’s is the fact that your young and probably healthy so life insurance will be cheaper for you. You can lock in a low rate for 30 years if you choose to buy a term policy.

The sixth annual J.D. Powers Homeowners Insurance Study showed some serious misconceptions and neglect of potential catastrophe among American homeowners about their insurance policies. Over a twenty five percent, or one quarter of all homeowners believe they are uninsured.

Every insurance professional and consumer advocate will suggest that you evaluate two principal factors annually regarding your home insurance. The suggestion is that you make a detailed survey of your possessions and re-estimate their value. The other estimate that should be reviewed periodically is the actual cost of replacing the home, should it be destroyed.

According to Powers, homeowners who reevaluate their coverage limits on a regular basis to address issues such as increasing building materials and labor costs are significantly more satisfied with their insurer. These are individuals who work with their agents to rework the replacement costs on the home.

Twenty-six percent of homeowners think they have a guaranteed replacement cost policy, while 25 percent do not know what kind of policy they have. That is a remarkable amount of uncertainty on what could be a life-wrecking financial loss. Unfortunately, homeowners’ insurance is just another document to sign when the home sale closes, and too many people pay too little attention.

Approximately 50 percent of homeowners incorrectly believe the insurance company or their agent – and not themselves – bear the responsibility for determining the replacement cost of their home and its contents. In last year’s survey, that figure was almost 60 percent. While the numbers show improvement, the homeowner ignorance quotient they reflect is remarkable. Also worthy of comment are the number of insurance agents who represent these people and who have failed to inform them of their responsibility regarding their own financial security.

If you’re not a legal citizen of the US, there is a very good chance that you will not be eligible for life insurance. You must have your green card and have been a permanent resident for at least a year in order for most life insurance companies to provide you with coverage.

For those of us who have always felt that golf tournaments were more about the 19th hole than the action on the green comes news that many of these tournaments provide special cash awards if a participant hits a hole-in-one. In fact, the hole-in-one tourney is apparently a staple of the local charity golf tournament; in fact, so many tournaments sponsor so many hole-in-one awards that there is insurance available should the inconceivable occur.

In fact, there is an entire insurance company devoted to this peculiar underwriting niche, known as, yep, U.S. Hole in One. The company itself is an offshoot of Foresight Sports, a Philadelphia company that underwrites not only hole-in-one contests but other popular sports challenges as well. With a U.S. hole in one policy, you can proceed with your golf tourney and include this wild card feature safe in the knowledge that any unlikely payout is covered by an insurance policy.

Your hole in one policy cost is based on the size of the prize and the length of the hole – it’s got to be over 165 yards. A prize of $100,000 carries an insurance premium of $100; a $250,000 prize requires a premium of $125; and the ‘million dollar shootout’ will cost you $550. If that million bucks is delivered as a forty year annuity instead of an instant payout, the premium drops to $180.

At these prices, there must not be a lot of duffers dropping aces on those par threes. That may have something to do with the warm-up activities, although U.S. Hole in One makes no mention of preparation requirements. Despite its online price schedule, however, the web site requests that the tournament director provide certain information (such as number of players) and the insurance company will send back a quote.

With a variable or adjustable life insurance policy your death benefits and premiums vary according to your investment’s performance. The accumulated cash value is directed to your choice of investment accounts which can include stock funds, bond funds, real estate funds or a combination.

With variable or adjustable life insurance policies, you have more control over how your premiums are invested, but you are also responsible for the performance of the policy. You will have higher death benefits and cash value if the underlying investments do well and vice versa.

Before deciding to cash it out, I’d recommend spekaing to a seasoned professional to help you determine what action to take. Before cashing out any policy (or canceling) if you still have a need for insurance, be sure to get another policy approved before doing so. You don’t want to be left without coverage.

By the time ‘major operations’ are complete in Afghanistan and Iraq, more than two million United States military personnel will have been deployed in those theaters, many more than once. The Pentagon is planning for troop strength levels of at least 100,000 through 2009 in Iraq, and the stories emanating daily from both Baghdad and Washington suggest that troop increases may be necessary.

More than 2,500 have died now and well over 15,000 have been injured in Iraq alone. However the ripples in the pool spread far beyond those unfortunate soldiers. During initial hostilities the average injury rate was 236 per month. Since April 2004, that average has held at 650 per month. This suggests that 60,000 to 80,000 troops may ultimately be injured in hostile action in Iraq unless and until there is a significant drawdown of U.S. troops at some point in the future.

The actual number of military personnel injured in Iraq is much higher; the military releases figures only for those wounded in ‘hostile incidents.’ Twenty-two percent of military deaths in Iraq through October 2005 were the result of injuries sustained in non-hostile situations. As well, the uncounted thousands of civilian contractors working for the U.S. in Iraq are eligible for compensation under the Defense Base Act. Thousands of of these civilians have been injured as well. The numbers are going to be significant.

The insurance industry in general and workman’s comp carriers in particular are going to be challenged by tens of thousands of physically injured service men and women as they rejoin the workforce. Hundreds of thousands of others will carry psychological wounds. Reintegration of these military and civilian injured will likely present unexpected challenges to a generation of employers with no experience in dealing with such large numbers of returning veterans.

As well, the widespread recognition of post-traumatic stress disorder will be a factor for insured overseas veterans for the first time. It will be a challenge for insurance companies and employers both.

Stay at home mom’s have full time jobs. They cook, clean, and shuttle the kids around. If your wife wasn’t there to do that, who would be? You would need to hire a nanny, cook, cleaning lady and taxi driver among other people if she weren’t around. Or, you’d have to do it all yourself and WORK to support your family.

I hope that this helps you see why it’s important for a stay-at-home mom to be insured. Don’t take what she does for granted. Get her insured just in case the unimaginable were to happen.

Just because you’ve already purchased an insurance policy doesn’t mean that your premium rates are set in stone. There is always an opportunity to lower your rates. It’s just a matter of keeping your eyes open, paying attention to your changing needs, and asking the right questions.

If your financial situation changes for the better, consider raising your deductible. This will lower your premium payments – just make sure you have that deductible socked away in case you need it. It’s often a good idea to go for a higher deductible on property insurance and opt for higher amounts of coverage for liability.

Consider your income and savings. Do you have enough to cover an uninsured risk? If you can handle a sudden cost by paying cash, consider skipping insurance for it altogether. But again – make sure that you can cover it.

As your needs and finances change, so do your insurance needs. Make it an annual practice to review what you’ve got and what you need and make changes accordingly. Ask your agent if there are new insurance products you would benefit from and request a risk-reduction analysis. If your home, vehicle, and lifestyle are safer, the need to have to cash in on that insurance will be lower.

Whatever you do, don’t try and save money by skimping on your coverage limits or opting out of insurance altogether. This will only cost more in the long run and is far too expensive gamble.