Good news — life insurance death benefits on term life insurance policies are not subject to income taxes, so the amount you buy is the amount your heirs will receive.

The latest in federal regulations is upon us: standard stability control systems in new cars. And of course, no one is completely satisfied. The car industry thinks it’s to expensive and safety groups say it’s not tough enough. But will it affect insurance rates?

Probably not. The car industry is saying that the new regulations aren’t anywhere near as safe as Europe’s current safety anti-rollover regulations and with the cost to automakers somewhere in the range of $1 billion, the only rates that are likely to change are the costs of new cars.

The new anti-rollover regulator is called the electronic stability control systems (ESC). How it works is this: electronic sensors work in conjunction with automatic brakes and steering to improve the vehicle’s traction and keep all four wheels on the ground and headed in the direction of the driver’s choice. Lateral changes are corrected before they can cause a car to fishtail and spin or roll off the road.

Federal regulators estimate that installation of the systems will save as many as 10,000 lives every year and prevent a quarter of a million injuries.

There are a number of ways to be sure you get the most affordable term life insurance rate.

1. Be sure to work with a broker that deals with multiple carriers that can help you find a life insurance company that will offer you the most favorable rates for your paritcular situation (health and lifestyle)
2. Be sure to prepare for the medical exam
3. Be truthful on your life insurance application. If you lie or omit some information, the offer made by the life insurance company will be higher than originally quoted.
4. Shop around

Florida residents whose homes are insured by Nationwide can expect their bills to rise by 54 percent. Maybe.

What has been granted is the insurance companies’ ability to raise their average for homeowner’s insurance across the board. Specifically that a 54 percent increase is “not excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory.” This request by Nationwide was granted by an arbitration panel.

What has also passed is a law which will lower premiums. As this was passed by the State Legislation, it will take precedence.

A spokesman for the Office of Insurance Regulation said that the new filing will make the increase lower than 54 percent thanks to allowing insurance companies access to more inexpensive backup coverage through Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.

In 2004 and 2005, eight hurricanes tore through the state costing the insurance industry more than $1 billion in property damage claims. These costs were the reason for the initial request for an increase, but the OIR claims that the increase is not warranted.

If you are not a citizen of the United States, but have a green card, you can in fact get a term life insurance policy. However, you must have been a permanent resident for at least a year in order for most life insurance companies to provide you with coverage.

Most companies will not provide life insurance quotes or coverage for temporary residents, including anyone with a work permit or visa, permanent residents without their green card, or green card applicants who have not yet received their green card.

In London, a mystery shopper on the job as an undercover loan customer revealed a common industry scam: the inclusion of PPI or loan insurance in Internet and telephone quotes.

The purpose of PPI is no scam. It does exist and serves to protect the lender in case a customer suddenly loses their job or is suddenly unable to make a payment for some reason. PPI, however, is an optional feature and should only be included in the quote upon requested.

Mystery shopping revealed that about half of all loan quotes by telephone automatically included PPI insurance prices. Many lenders quoted prices both with and without PPI and HSBC didn’t include PPI prices at all.

Online, the results were much the same but a few lenders gave customers the option of a PPI-free quote by clicking through a few extra pages.

Regulations in this area are clamping down to protect the consumer from inflated prices and misleading advertising.

Your life insurance agent is a smart man or woman. Why? Because naming your underage children as life insurance beneficiaries is not a smart move for a few reasons:

1. The children will need that money now to take care of themselves, but does a 13 year old know how or what to do with this money?
2. Even if the child is 18…would you feel that he/she was responsible enough to use this money in a beneficial way?

My recommendation is to put the death benefit in a trust. Trusts are often established and named beneficiary for children or heirs who have special needs or for the benefit of minor children who are not old enough to make legal or financial decisions. This way, you know that your children will have the money readily available to them if they need it.

Yes, those who property in 50 Massachusetts towns may find their property taxes a little bit higher this year. Why? To cover the budget problems caused by the cost of high health insurance premiums, special education and other expenses.

Massachusetts has in place a law called Proposition 2 ½. This limits the yearly property tax increase to no more than 2.5 percent unless the voters approve.

The state’s 1980 Proposition 2 1/2 law limits annual increases in a community’s tax levy to 2.5 percent, requiring voter approval for property tax above that level. Local governments must deal with the growing demands for a wider range of increasingly expensive services and property owners unhappy with a growing tax burden — averaging $4,007 this fiscal year.

Some of the specific expenses that voters are asked to consider include $750,000 for the medical bills of an injured officer in Dartmouth and $5.2 million to save a library and the jobs of 18 teachers and four police officers in Saugus.

Of the 89 proposals for property tax hikes in 2006, 59 were rejected by voters. This year, at least 25 towns have scheduled votes for the approval of amounts that average just under $2 million. Another 25 towns are considering similar votes.

Why are these budget shortages occuring? It depends on who you ask. The finger of blame has pointed at everyone from Governor Deval Patrick to opposing legislators to the docile housing market.

The real question is: if towns are constantly being harassed into raising their taxes to cover the cost of health insurance coverage for local officials, isn’t that coverage just a little too high to begin with?

Here are a few more insurance contract terms to add to your personal dictionary:

Coinsurance – This describes when two (or more) insurance companies share equal proportions of an insurance policy. For investments that are high risk to insure, like an amusement park, an insurance company can involve multiple insurers.

Coinsurance can also happen between you and your insurance company especially in medical insurance where you and your insurance carry split the cost of your coverage. A common ratio is 20:80, in which you pay 20 percent of the claim and the provider pays 80 percent.

Deductible – This is how much you pay for a claim. Your insurance provider pays the rest. If your deductible is $1000 and the claim comes to $6000, then you will pay your $1000 and the insurance company will pay the remaining $5000.

Endorsements – These appear most often insurance contracts is going to be changed or when additional conditions are added.

Principle of Waiver and Estoppel – A waiver signifies you giving voluntarily giving up a right. That is, you “waive” your right to a particular aspect of the contract. Once a right is waived, estoppel prevents the insured or the insurer (whoever gave up the right) from claiming that right since it has already been waived.

This article is a good one from MSN Money that talks about ways to save on your life insurance.