Every year Inc. magazine honors entrepreneurial companies that have shown evidence of significant accomplishments. This year, AccuQuote is represented among some of the most successful businesses in America.

At AccuQuote, we’re honored to receive this recognition and owe it to you, our customers, for our continuing success. And because we’re passionate about providing you and your family with financial protection for the future, we’ll continue working hard to serve your term life insurance needs.

Thank you for your business and continued support.

We enjoy helping you learn about ways to protect your family, so keep checking AccuQuote’s blog, become a fan of AccuQuote on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter for more valuable financial planning advice. And don’t forget about our money saving tips every Friday.

If you need to double your existing life insurance coverage, now is the time. American General Life Insurance Company (AIG) is offering a limited-time opportunity for you to increase the life insurance coverage you already have with them. And guess what? There are no exams, no labs and minimal paperwork!

Why would you need to increase your coverage? If events in your life have changed since you first purchased your policy such as, getting married, buying a house or having a child, you may find yourself in need of additional coverage. And now you can increase your current policy by as little as $100,000, or as much as double your existing policy.

This opportunity is only available for a limited amount of time. But keep in mind – You must have an existing policy with AIG that was purchased within the past three years to take advantage of this offer. So if you’re interested in this chance to provide your loved ones with additional financial protection, call us today at 888-592-5566 to increase your current coverage amount.

For more information about this opportunity or for a free term life insurance quote, contact an experienced life insurance agent at AccuQuote. They’ll compare life insurance rates with top-rated life insurance companies to find you inexpensive life insurance coverage.

Have you ever found a loose, unmarked key and had no idea what it’s for?

It’s easy to forget, so the best thing to do is label any key that’s stored somewhere and not in your regular day-to-day rotation.

There are countless ways to “skin this cat,” including key tags from your local locksmith or hardware store, as well as the ever-reliable ballpoint pen on masking tape.

Here’s one more: my little publishing company received 11,000 key tags instead of 10,000 (they’re included in a book we sell). Since we have no use for the extra 1,000 tags, we’re giving them away free to readers of AccuQuote’s blog. The tags are 1.37″ x 2.75″  manila paper with printing on one side and 4 inches of thin wire that to tie it to a key. The text includes blank lines to write what the key goes to, as well as a website address.

Just send a self-addressed and STAMPED envelope to: EIGHT FREE KEY TAGS P.O. Box 91  Mendham, NJ 07945 and we’ll send you 8 tags free.

If your return envelope is not stamped or addressed, we won’t send you any tags.

We promise NONE of your personal information will be recorded or distributed in any way. You will NOT be placed on a mailing list or otherwise contacted.

The offer ends either November 10th 2009, or when the 1,000 extra key tags are gone – whichever comes first.

Mark Gavagan is the author of two books that help families organize and plan their personal & financial affairs: “The It’s All Right Here Life & Affairs Organizer” and “12 Critical Things Your Family Needs to Know”.

I recently read a great description that explains why we’re passionate about being in the business of selling permanent and term life insurance. Although the original author is unknown, Marvin H. Feldman, CLU, ChFC, RFC^®, did an excellent job of revising some of the wording to make it more appropriate for today.

Read an excerpt from his article below:

By Marvin H. Feldman, CLU, ChFC, RFC^®

Financial pundits tell their readers they should only buy term insurance and invest the difference and never purchase permanent life insurance. Why? Because they say it is a bad investment. But how many of our clients actually invest the difference in wealth building accounts or products? Very few. Most spend the money to maintain their lifestyle.

What happens if the term insurance terminates at a time when the client’s health is not good, and he or she is not able to renew the policy or cannot afford the guaranteed premium rates? Wouldn’t the client have been better served with a permanent policy, which cannot be outlived?

If the client has been able to build wealth, but it is in bricks, stone and steel, or needs to be retained for a long period of time to achieve maximum value, do these same advisors recommend that these assets be sold at a loss? Permanent life insurance, the worst investment, becomes the best investment at death, because the cost has only been pennies for each dollar of death benefit provided. It pays the most at a time when it is needed the most, a time when financial certainty is of the utmost importance.

I am a Life Insurance Policy

I am a piece of paper, a drop of ink and a few pennies of premium.

I am a promise to pay.

I help people see visions, dream dreams, and achieve economic immortality.

I am savings.

I am property that increases in value from year to year.

I lend money when you need it most, with no questions asked.

I pay off mortgages, so that the family can remain together in their own home.

I assure people the daring to live and moral right to die.

I create money where none existed before.

I am the great emancipator from want.

I guarantee the continuity of business.

I conserve the employer’s investment.

I am tangible evidence that a man is a good husband and father, and a woman a good wife and mother.

I am a declaration of financial independence and economic freedom.

I am the difference between an old man or woman and an elderly gentleman or lady.

I provide cash if illness, injury, old age, or death cuts off the breadwinner’s income.

I am the only thing that you can buy on the installment plan that your family doesn’t have to finish paying for.

I am protected by laws that prevent creditors from assessing the money I give to your loved ones.

I bring dignity, peace of mind and security to your family.

I supply investment capital that makes the wheels turn and motors hum.

I guarantee the financial ability to have happy holidays and the laughter of children – even though father or mother is not there.

I am the guardian angel of the home.

I am life insurance.

Does this item have value? Your loved ones may be called upon to make this judgment hundreds of times when sorting through all of your papers and possessions in the event of your death, incapacity (think of Terri Schiavo), or move into an assisted living facility. (Or, it may be you who must make these judgments about another person’s items.)

Value here should be thought of in broad terms. An original van Gogh painting has obvious financial value. The one thousand page TIME 2003 Almanac* on my desk probably has no financial value whatsoever, yet to me it is priceless because it was a Christmas gift from my father, who died a few months later. His handwritten inscription to my wife and me warms my heart and reminds me of his clever, good-natured humor: “Dear Kim and Mark, Please don’t ask me any more questions. Love, Dad”

*Note to younger readers: an “almanac” is a comprehensive annual publication of facts, figures, lists, forecasts, etc. It is printed with ink on paper and bound into an often imposing physical specimen called a “book.” Books were quite common before the advent of the Web.

Here are THREE STEPS you can take to make sure your loved ones know what of yours has personal or financial value, and what is safe to sell for $10 at a yard sale.

FIRST, identify the items you have that hold significant personal and/or financial value. If you can do so without damaging the item, attach a note describing why the item is valuable, as well as the location of any helpful documents (see step two).

If you’re unsure about an item’s worth, consider hiring an appraiser. Yes, you’ll pay a fee, but an honest and qualified appraiser can help you identify whatever furniture, jewelry, paintings, coins or other items are valuable. A dusty old wooden chair might turn out to be a rare Chippendale original.

Skeptics should consider the experience of a guest on the long-running PBS television series “Antiques Roadshow” who learned that an old housewarming gift was in fact a 1937 painting by American Expressionist artist Clyfford Still, estimated to be worth $500,000.  Imagine how often an item like this is sold for $25 at a yard sale.

SECOND, organize all of your original purchase receipts, appraisals and other documentation. For certain art and antiques, this might include old letters or photographs that provide evidence of an item’s history of ownership, which help to establish that the item in question is not a forgery or reproduction and was not illicitly acquired.

THIRD, communicate to your loved ones. Speak with them about what makes your valued possessions valuable, convey the location of documents mentioned in step two above, and then write everything down. It’s important to write everything down, in case something happens to you, because loved ones are often overwhelmed in a crisis and unlikely to remember or all agree in their recollection of what was said.

Here http://bit.ly/inv_valuables is a free workbook-style PDF, from “12 Critical Things Your Family Needs To Know,” for documenting your most important valuables. Anyone is welcome to print this out for their own personal, non-commercial use.

Mark Gavagan is the author of two books that help families organize and plan their personal & financial affairs: “The It’s All Right Here Life & Affairs Organizer” and “12 Critical Things Your Family Needs to Know”.

We’re currently looking for talented people to join the AccuQuote team. If you’re interested in working in an exciting environment that’s full of reasons to take pride in your work, we want to hear from you!

At this time, we’re hiring the following positions in our Wheeling, IL office:

Administrative Clerk

This is an entry level hourly position. We are currently seeking to fill both full-time and part-time roles. Responsibilities include filing, sorting mail, shipping and receiving, general office duties and end of the day close out tasks.

Programmer

This position requires 2-5 years of experience with C#, SQL Server, Visual Studio 2008, VBA and Crystal Reports.

Junior Staffing Generalist

This position requires 2-5 years of full life cycle recruiting experience (agency and corporate HR experience preferred). Projects include recruiting, benefits, compensation and employee relations.

If you’re interested in applying for any of these exciting opportunities, please contact Rosie Sklyar, Senior Staffing Specialist, at rsklyar@accuquote.com or 847-850-1579.

For more information about open positions at AccuQuote, visit our career page here.

Also, be sure to continue reading AccuQuote’s blog, follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook to learn more about the company and the latest term life insurance news.

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

Click here to download

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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.

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

Click here to download

Subscribe to ITUNES

The federal government has decided that five priority groups should be first in line to receive the H1N1 vaccination. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the following people take precedence:

• Children and young adults through age 24
• People caring for infants under six months
• Pregnant women
• Health care workers
• People aged 25-64 with health conditions that put them at high risk of flu complications. Those conditions include cancer, blood disorders, asthma, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disorders, liver disease and neurological disorders such as muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis. People with weakened immune systems also get priority.

U.S. officials confirmed that the first doses of the vaccination should be available in early October. Shots made by four manufactures were approved in the U.S. on Monday.

Be sure to keep yourself and your family protected by getting a swine flu shot as soon as the vaccination arrives.