Saving You Money For Life

September 30, 2009

Options for death benefit payouts

Description:

As a beneficiary, you need to know what to do when a loved one dies. Byron Udell, a life insurance and annuity industry expert, explains the process when it comes time to claim a death benefit payout.

Size: 5.09 MB

Length: 5:34

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If you’re trying to start a family, you’re probably thinking about things like what color to paint the baby’s room, child-proofing your home and whether or not you will continue working when your new child is born. However, in addition to these common decisions that new parents make when trying to start a new family, there are some even more important decisions to make when it comes to protecting your child’s financial future. If you’re a woman trying to get pregnant, you need term life insurance – even before the baby is born. Why?

Following are three reasons why you should buy term life insurance if you’re a woman trying to get pregnant:

1. Life insurance is considerably cheaper for woman than it is for men, so it’s better to lock in low rates now before life insurance carriers raise their rates.
2. If you develop post-pregnancy symptoms such as, post-partum depression, it may be difficult to find affordable life insurance coverage.
3. If something devastating were to happen to you during or right after pregnancy, you’re child may be left unprotected.

I’m passionate about providing families with term life protection because life is unpredictable. If you’re trying to start a family, get a free term life insurance quote to secure your child’s financial future before they take their first step.

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Did you let your term life insurance policy lapse due to personal or financial reasons? Or maybe you simply forgot to make a payment? Some life insurance carriers will allow you to reinstate your life insurance policy after letting it go into a state of lapse.

Wondering what a lapsed life insurance policy is and how it happens?

• It’s a term life policy that has gone unpaid within the 30 or 31 day grace period allotted by your life insurance carrier.
• The grace period is the amount of time you have to make a payment on your policy after your initial payment is due.
• After the grace period ends and no payment has been made, your life insurance policy will go into a state of lapse – leaving your family unprotected if you were to die today.

If you own a permanent life insurance policy, the lapse process is a little different. During the first couple of years that you own the policy, where there is little to no cash value, your policy will lapse if a payment is not made within the grace period. However, if you have a large cash value built up, you can elect to buy features that will help you catch up on unpaid premiums.

To find out if your lapsed life insurance policy qualifies for reinstatement call your life insurance agent. Or, you can get an affordable life insurance quote to prevent a future state of lapse.  Call the experienced life insurance professionals at AccuQuote today at 800-442-9899. They can answer your questions and give you free term life insurance quotes.

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Buying your first home can be an exciting experience, but if you’re not careful, you could fall victim to the extreme plunge in the real estate market, like too many homeowners have already witnessed.

According to The New York Times, seven rules should be followed when shopping for your first home:

1. Start with the basics – Put 20 percent down so you have less of a chance of owing more than you house is worth if real estate prices drop again. Also try to get a fixed-rate mortgage, so your biggest housing bill remains stable, and try not to spend more than 35 percent of your pretax income on mortgage, property tax and homeowner’s insurance payments.
2. Consider your income – First-time home buyers in their 20s and 30s will probably see their incomes grow more quickly than older people buying their second or third home. Harvey S. Rosen, a Princeton economics professor says, “People can, on average, make reasonably good predictions of their future incomes and act on them in sensible ways by buying bigger houses.”
3. Bow to unknowns – Plan ahead, such as considering if and when you’ll have children. Bobbie D. Munroe, a financial planner with Fraser Financial in Atlanta, encourages younger clients in this situation to model out their budget, including any proposed mortgage, three ways – with both spouses working full time, one working part time and one staying at home for a few years. She also suggests imagining or even practicing living on one income, to see if it’s truly realistic.
4. Map out expenses – Consider the amount you are willing to stretch for a house and if that amount will affect how much you spend on maintaining it. According to financial planner, Dennis G. Stearns, if you buy a newer home, you’ll probably spend around 3.6 percent in upkeep and 4.5 percent if you buy an older home.
5. Buy best (or cheapest) – If you can’t afford your dream home right now, don’t buy the next best thing. It’s better to buy a smaller starter home if you can’t afford the big house you really want. A middle of the road house will end up costing you a lot and still not live up to your standards. By purchasing the smaller home, you’ll be able to save more for your dream house when you’re in a better financial state.
6. Stretch the house – Consider paying less for a home that you can upgrade periodically when your income is stable and your savings or available credit make it possible. This will help you avoid paying unnecessary moving costs.
7. The eight hour rule – Make sure you can sleep soundly through the night without having any financial nightmares.

For more money saving tips, continue checking AccuQuote’s blog, become a fan of AccuQuote on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter. And remember, to save money on term life insurance, go to AccuQuote.com to get free term life insurance quotes. You may be able to save up to 70% on your term life coverage!

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Many of us believe common myths about insurance because we don’t have any truths to compare them to. But I’m passionate about helping you understand the difference between myth and fact when it comes to protecting your family and your most important assets.

Here are five life insurance and other insurance myths:

1. If you’re paying an insurance premium, it should cover the cost of all mishaps – If you believe this myth, expect to pay a higher insurance premium. Insurance only covers what you pay for it to cover. And, you shouldn’t pay for insurance that covers items you can afford to replace or fix.
2. Everybody needs life insurance – If you have dependents that rely on your salary for financial support, than yes – a term life insurance policy is one of the best ways to protect your family’s financial future. But if you don’t have any dependents, there may not be a need for it.
3. Only the breadwinner needs a life insurance policy – This is absolutely false. A term life policy would suffice as payment for childcare, laundry, transportation, etc., if you or your spouse were no longer around to manage these at-home chores.
4. Permanent life insurance is a great investment product – For financial reasons, term life insurance is the best choice for most families because it’s affordable life insurance coverage that offers just as much protection as permanent. Consider investing other ways if your primary concern is building cash value.
5. I’m not vulnerable to sicknesses, so why pay for health insurance? – If you don’t have health insurance, you’re not only putting yourself at risk but others too. The fewer people who have health insurance, the more money other taxpayers have to give for health care coverage. And if you do end up developing a severe illness, you may not be able to afford treatment.

Be sure to protect yourself and your family by purchasing adequate and necessary insurance. For term life insurance quotes, contact a non-biased life insurance agent at AccuQuote.com who can help you quickly and easily get the term life insurance application started.

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When considering filing for bankruptcy or even if you already have, there are many things to think about, such as how it will affect your life insurance.

Even though most bankruptcy courts consider the cash value within a life insurance policy an asset, federal law allows most people filing for bankruptcy to exempt certain types of property from creditors. If you own a permanent life insurance policy, you’ll generally be able to keep a specified amount of the cash value that has accumulated over time.

If you’ve declared bankruptcy, federal exemptions allow you to keep up to $10,775 of a permanent life insurance policy’s cash value. If you’re married, this exemption allowance may double. However, keep in mind that state exemption guidelines vary among all 50 states.

You’re not allowed to claim federal and state exemptions when filing for bankruptcy, so be sure to choose the one that makes the most sense. For example, if you don’t need to use the full exemption amount for real estate you own, you can apply up to $9,850 to protect other assets, such as the cash value within your permanent life insurance policy.

Alternatively, if you’re looking to buy a term life insurance policy after you’ve already declared bankruptcy, there are companies that will work with you to help you meet your needs. Since underwriting guidelines vary among the best life insurance companies, the key is to shop around. Experienced life insurance agents at a multi-carrier brokerage firm can help you apply for an affordable life insurance policy at a company that understands your specific situation.

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The majority of us are active on email, social networking and photo-sharing sites, but have you ever thought about what happens to them after we die. They don’t just disappear when we’re no longer around to manage them, so what happens to the content? Time.com provides tools for managing your online life after death:

• Some email services allow relatives to order a CD of all the messages in a deceased user’s account if they provide a death certificate and proof of power of attorney. Some require a copy of an e-mail the deceased sent to the petitioner.
• Social networking sites, like Facebook, allow families to request that the deceased profile be taken down or to be kept in a “memorial state,” which removes special features and only allows close friends and family to post comments on the wall.
• Photo sharing sites, like Flickr, will keep a deceased’s account running and mostly open to the public, but if they had marked any photos as private, the site won’t let family or friends into the account to access them.

In addition to buying term life insurance, think about what you can do now to plan for the unexpected. Your online life is just one of the things that will have to be sorted out when you’re no longer around.

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Nobody likes to think about their own death, but if you don’t plan ahead, you may be putting your loved ones at financial risk. Life insurance prepares you and your family for the unexpected. If you or your spouse died prematurely, the financial benefits from a term life insurance policy would allow your surviving loved ones to continue living the lifestyle they’re used to. And because your family wouldn’t have financial stress on top of grieving over the loss of a loved one, they’d have more time to concentrate on the important things in life, like spending more quality time together.

Following are ways a term life policy can protect your family when you’re no longer around:

• Mortgage
• Children’s college education
• Remaining loan/credit card balances
• Outstanding financial obligations
• Future purchases/commitments

Are you ready to plan for your family’s financial future? The licensed life insurance agents at AccuQuote.com can help you quickly and easily get the term life insurance application process started. In a matter of minutes you’ll receive dozens of inexpensive life insurance quotes from top-rated life insurance carriers.

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Interview with Scott Mitic, founder and CEO of TrustedID

Description:

AccuQuote has partnered with TrustedID, the nation’s leading provider of identity theft prevention solutions. In this podcast, Scott Mitic, founder and CEO of TrustedID and Sean Cheyney, Vice President, Marketing and Business Development at AccuQuote, discuss how TrustedID’s new suite of services will offer additional protection for your financial life.

Size: 10.0 MB

Length: 11:01

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Have you ever the heard the phrase “I’m a poor college student?” I think most people who went to college have said or have heard their peers mutter these words a time or two, especially in today’s economic condition where money is tight for everyone. Fortunately, there are ways to cut back on spending and help your college student enjoy their college experience without financial frustration.

To help cash-strapped college students spend less on added college expenses, check out the top 10 tips that the ABA Education Foundation recommends:

1. Be responsible – Create and stick to a realistic budget.
2. Watch spending – Cut unnecessary spending, such as dining out or shopping.
3. Limit credit use – Don’t let credit card debt get out of hand. It could be haunting after college.
4. Open a bank account (if the student doesn’t already have one) – A bank offers a valuable way to protect and save money.
5. Be on the lookout for savings – College students can receive valuable money, such as scholarships and student discounts.
6. Buy used – Buy used books and shop online for cheap deals.
7. Socialize on a budget – Stick to a budget when it comes to social activities. Many college’s offer fun activities that are free to most students.
8. Be careful with your money – Don’t trust everyone when it comes to money. Be skeptical and determine if lending money is a safe financial risk to take.
9. Save – Put a little bit of money aside periodically to save for a mishap, such as a computer glitch or an unexpected school fee.
10. Ask questions about money – Talk to people who know the ins and outs of college spending. It’s better to ask a lot of questions than play the guessing game.

By following these tips, your college student will be able to make the most of their college experience and concentrate on the things that matter most.

For an additional way to save money, shop online to get free term life insurance quotes. You may be able to save up to 70% on your term life coverage! Continue checking AccuQuote’s blog, become a fan of AccuQuote on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter for more valuable money saving tips and to learn about the benefits of term life insurance.

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