Life insurance isn’t just for the breadwinner of your family. In fact, all of you (mom, dad, child, etc.) can benefit from having some type of life insurance coverage. Here’s why…

• Breadwinner – The breadwinner earns the majority of a family’s overall income. If you’re the breadwinner, you need enough life insurance to make sure your family is taken care of financially when you die because the loss of your income could be devastating for your family’s overall financial future.
• Working spouse – Married couples share financial obligations; therefore, both working spouses need life insurance coverage. Even if you don’t make as much money as your spouse, your financial contributions make a difference. Ask yourself this question: Would your spouse be able to pay all of the bills on just one salary? Life insurance can help pay for some of those extra costs.
• Nonworking spouse – Even stay-at-home parents need life insurance. They are responsible for various household chores that would otherwise cost thousands of dollars a month if paid to a professional. If you died prematurely, your spouse would have to pay someone to take care of the things you did at home. A life insurance policy can offset the additional cost of things such as childcare, transportation and cooking.
• Child – Some people think that owning life insurance on a child is unnecessary, even morbid. But the fact is, if you lose a child as a result of an accident or illness, final expenses can just compound your grief. Child policies provide coverage for life, even if their health changes and they become otherwise uninsurable. These policies are very inexpensive and no medical exam is necessary.

It is easy to get your entire family covered with permanent or term life insurance in just one phone call. Contact a licensed life insurance agent at AccuQuote for professional, unbiased advice. The process is quick, easy and free! Plus…term life rates are currently near historic lows!

March 17, 2010

Who needs life insurance?

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Did you know that almost everyone, no matter what age or class, can benefit from having a life insurance policy? It’s true. Byron Udell, the nation’s foremost life insurance and annuity industry expert, reveals who needs life insurance and why.

Size: 7.28 MB

Length: 7:57

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The Surgeon General has labeled smoking as the leading cause of “preventable death” in the United States. According to the American Heart Association, smoking accounts for more than 440,000 of the more than 2.4 million annual deaths. By quitting smoking, you significantly reduce your chances of developing a life-threatening illness, such as lung cancer, COPD/emphysema. But actually, heart disease holds the top slot in the list of diseases that kill smokers.

Cigarette smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease by itself, but when it acts with other factors, it greatly increases risk. Smoking increases blood pressure, decreases exercise tolerance and increases the tendency for blood to clot. Smoking also increases the risk of recurrent coronary heart disease after bypass surgery. Here are a few more interesting facts…

• Women who smoke and use oral contraceptives greatly increase their risk of coronary heart disease and stroke compared with nonsmoking women who use oral contraceptives.
• Smoking decreases HDL (good) cholesterol. Cigarette smoking combined with a family history of heart disease also seems to greatly increase the risk.
• The link between seconhand smoke (also called environmental tobacco smoke) and disease is well known, and the connection to cardiovascular-related disability and death is also clear. About 22,700 to 69,600 premature deaths from heart and blood vessel disease are caused by other people’s smoke each year.

So think about your heart and your wallet the next time you pick up a cigarette, because the healthier you are, the cheaper your term life insurance rates will be! If you quit now, some life insurance companies will grant you nonsmoker term life rates even after only one year of not smoking.

Without credit cards, many of us wouldn’t be able to buy the things we want or need. They are great financial tools, especially in emergency situations, but many Americans have too much credit debt and are struggling to get out any time soon.

If you have a permanent life insurance policy (the kind with a cash value), you can borrow against it to pay off your credit card debt. Sure, you’re basically borrowing your own money and paying interest to use your own money, but if you’re struggling to find other ways to pay off your debt, this might be a good option for you. In most cases, the interest rate will be a lot lower than the interest you are paying on your credit cards.

However, keep in mind that the money you borrow will be subtracted from the total death benefit amount. It’s important to consider your family’s overall financial situation and determine if the remaining amount will be enough to support them financially if you died today. Only use your permanent life insurance policy’s cash value to pay off your credit card debt if you’re absolutely sure that your family will have enough money to live on when you’re no longer around.

For questions about the uses of permanent or term life insurance, contact a licensed life insurance agent at AccuQuote.

March 10, 2010

Taking on new debt increases the need for more life insurance

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Debt is something that many Americans are familiar with. In fact, living with a debt is just simply a way of life for some people. In this podcast, Byron Udell, the nation’s foremost life insurance and annuity industry expert, explains why taking on new debt increases the need for more life insurance.

Size: 3.06 MB

Length: 3:20

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In its simplest form, life insurance is generally thought of as salary replacement. But it actually does a lot more than that. When a loved one dies, life insurance helps pay for some of life’s more important expenses. Here are some examples…

Immediate expenses:

• Funeral costs
• Uncovered medical expenses
• Mortgage
• Car loans
• Credit card debt
• Taxes
• Estate settlement taxes

Ongoing expenses:

• Food
• Housing
• Utilities
• Transportation
• Health care
• Clothing
• Insurance

Future Expenses:

• College
• Retirement

Think about your family’s overall financial budget. Would they have the means to pay for these expenses, plus other unexpected costs if you died today? A term life insurance policy worth about 10 to 15 times your annual salary (more or less depending on your individual situation) should be enough to give your family the financial freedom they deserve to continue living the lifestyle they’re used to. For a free term life insurance quote, contact one of our experienced life insurance agents today. Currently, term life rates are near record lows!

When you buy life insurance, you’re buying a promise from a life insurance company to supply your loved ones with the death benefit when you die. In order to trust that promise, it’s important to understand life insurance company ratings. Look at it this way, if you buy a permanent or term life insurance policy from a top-rated life insurance company, you probably won’t have to worry about that company having the ability to pay the death benefit. Alternatively, if you buy a policy from a poorly-rated company, that company may not have the assets to pay the full coverage amount.

Here’s how to understand life insurance company ratings…

Every year, financial rating companies (A.M. Best, Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch) evaluate life insurance companies’ long-term financial strength by reviewing their financial balance sheets, business profiles and operating performance. The goal is to determine whether a life insurance company is in a secure financial situation or a vulnerable one.

So basically, the more secure a life insurance company is, the more likely it is to pay the death benefit. And the more vulnerable it is, the higher risk it has to default on its payout obligations to its policyholders.

How are they rated? It’s easy. Think about how your homework was graded in school. Financial rating companies use the same system. For example, the best life insurance companies have A+ ratings and the more vulnerable ones have below a B+.

Before you make a long-term financial commitment to a life insurance company, be sure to do your homework. Companies like AccuQuote only represent the best term life insurance companies, so give an agent a call today for a free term life insurance quote.

If you’re a business owner…you need life insurance. Why? Because you need to be prepared for life events that could threaten your business, like the death or disability of a managing partner, key employee, or even you – the business owner.

The good news is that a permanent or term life insurance policy can be structured to fund your business should something devastating happen. How does it work? Easy. One of the ways it can be structured is to fund something called a “buy-sell” agreement. This is an agreement among owners to buy a deceased owner’s share of the business at a previously agreed upon price in the event of death, disability or retirement.

Why are these agreements so important? Because the fact is, your family may not have the money, skills or even desire for the job, and your co-owners may not want to hir a newcomer to the business. With a properly structured and funded buy-sell agreement, your business partners won’t have to scramble to come up with the money to buy out your share of the business and your survivors will be compensated fairly and promptly.

Buy-sell agreements are typically funded by life insurance policies purchased on the lives of each business owner. The amount is usually specified in a contract created with the help of an attorney. You can enter into a buy-sell agreement at any time, but it often makes sense to do so when a business is formed or when new owners are brought into the business. It’s important to review the contract regularly since business values can fluctuate so often.

Business owners can also insure against the risk of becoming disabled and unable to work. In this case, disability income buyout insurance would fund the buy-sell agreement, allowing the disabled owners to be bought out, typically after a one-year waiting period.

For more information on buy-sell agreements, check out the LIFE Foundation.

Get a free term life insurance quote at AccuQuote.com while term life rates are still near historic lows!

February 24, 2010

Online multi-carrier brokerage firms vs. local life insurance agents

Description:

When shopping for life insurance, it’s important to know the difference between buying from an online multi-carrier brokerage firm and a local agent. In this podcast, Byron Udell, the nation’s foremost life insurance and annuity industry expert, explains the pros and cons of each of your life insurance buying options.

Size: 3.32 MB

Length: 3:37

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