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.

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!

Did you know that life insurance can help you plan for retirement? Actually there are a few ways life insurance comes in handy when you’re setting your retirement goals. Think about it…if you die before your spouse or other family members who depend on you for financial support, your retirement savings account may not be enough. That’s why it’s important to incorporate life insurance into your overall retirement plan.

Here are three ways life insurance can help you plan for retirement:

1. Prevent your retirement plans from dying when you do – If you die before retirement, your survivors would miss out on both your salary for living expenses and the money you were setting aside for the future. People who die prematurely haven’t had as much time to put together an investment program that can really pay off. If you have sufficient life insurance, it can help pay your family’s expenses and may still be there for your spouse’s retirement.
2. Supplement your retirement income – Suppose your circumstances change and you no longer have anyone who would need the proceeds of a death benefit. With a permanent life insurance policy, you have the flexibility to surrender the policy and supplement your retirement income with the funds that have accumulated in the policy’s cash value account.
3. Preserve your estate assets for your survivors – If you’ve accumulated a large estate, life insurance can help foot the estate tax bill from Uncle Sam, preserving assets for your heirs. Or, if your estate is more modest, life insurance can provide a legacy for your children and grandchildren even if you use up most of your assets during your retirement years.

Read more about how life insurance plays a role in all major life events at the LIFE Foundation.

For more information about permanent or term life insurance, and for a free term life insurance quote, contact one of AccuQuote’s licensed life insurance agents today. They can help you get your retirement plan started while term life rates are still near record lows!

The LIFE Foundation has this letter on their blog, and I just had to share it with everyone because it reiterates something that all of us AccuQuote truly believe: Life insurance is the greatest gift you can give your family! Read the letter below…

Dear J.P.:

Today is November 21, 1989, and possibly you are wondering what the date has to do with writing you this letter.

While you are only four months old at the present time, I hope that this is a date you will remember, because today we purchased for you a life insurance policy. It is one like we have and it will be for your use for the rest of your life.

J.P., the difference between financial success and failure is often determined by whether or not a person can discipline themselves in a consistent and conservative financial strategy. Life insurance is ideal in this respect because it has withstood the test of time both for family security and savings … it’s the greatest savings plan in the world because IT WORKS!

It may be that you will have to call upon the cash value of this policy many times during your lifetime and, at such time, we hope you will remember that we started this for your benefit.

This policy carries with it two features of particular significance. The first is an automatic purchase option, which will allow us to increase your coverage as you attain certain ages. The other feature is one that has been very meaningful to me in my financial life and it is called disability waiver of premium. This means that in the event you should ever become disabled, your financial plan will be self-completing for you and your family.

This policy is a special gift of love and affection from both your mother and me … and we suspect that it will be remembered long after all other gifts are forgotten.

May God’s blessings be with you always.

Love always,

Dad and Mom

If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of child life insurance, call AccuQuote today for a free life insurance quote. In addition, we offer permanent and term life coverage. Even on a tight budget, cheap life insurance is easy to find, and an important part of your family’s overall financial plan.

I found this press release by Golden Gateway Financial and thought it would be a perfect topic to share… especially because many of us are, or know older Americans who are struggling as a result of the current economic state. If you’re not careful with your finances, life insurance can seem like more of a burden than a means of protection for your loved ones. And although term life insurance rates are near record lows, there’s no hiding that rates go up as you age.

There are five things that senior citizens should know about life insurance:

1. Avoid fast rising premiums – Life insurance premiums can rise significantly and suddenly for older Americans, creating challenges for those on a fixed income. Premiums for universal life insurance rise in cost as the consumer ages because the insurer factors in higher mortality risk. For those on a fixed income this sudden increase can become unaffordable. If the policyholder needs to maintain coverage, one option is to reduce the face amount of the policy.
2. Monitor term insurance increases – Term life has two points at which premiums can take a big jump. The first is at renewal. At the end of most term policies, if the owner cannot or will not convert the policy to a permanent one, then they must either discontinue coverage or undergo a new medical underwriting in order to get a new policy.
3. Pursue payouts from policies – Most life insurance never pays a death benefit. According to the Insurance Studies Institute, this number is as high as 85 percent of all policies. In those cases, policy owners often leave a significant amount of money on the table. Policy owners should monitor their policies closely and be aware of all the life insurance options available to them. These can include adjusting beneficiaries, choosing to receive cash value, or selling their policy in a settlement.
4. Avoid cash surrender fees – Be wary of the cash surrender option with a life insurance policy. In many instances, if you choose to access the cash value in your policy, you’ll have to pay a surrender fee. These fees vary by insurer, and can be substantial. Seek other options for generating cash from your policy such as life settlement.
5. Be aware of policy maturity – The majority of life insurance policies are only valid through age 95 or 100. If the insured is still alive at that point, then the policy matures and the carrier will pay out the cash value. However, if the senior had previously relied on the cash value to pay for the policy’s increasing premiums, then they could be left with little to no benefit at maturity. One way to address this is to inquire about a life extension rider that can extend the maturity date to 120 years of age.

If you’re interested in receiving a free term life insurance quote, contact a licensed life insurance agent at AccuQuote or go to AccuQuote.com. It takes less than five minutes to start protecting your family today.

To read the original article, click here.

There are some circumstances where you may have a hard time qualifying for traditional term life insurance coverage. For example, if you’re in poor health, live a risky lifestyle or your occupation doesn’t allow the time. However, there’s another option that will allow you to obtain some type of coverage so you can protect your family. It’s called a quick issue policy.  

If you can relate to any of the following situations, a quick issue term life policy may be just right for you: 

• You don’t want to get stuck with a needle
• You’re never home because your occupation is a truck driver, boat captain, offshore oil rig worker, etc.
• You’re a U.S. citizen who does a lot of foreign travel in dangerous countries
• You want a small coverage amount for a shorter term

There may be additional situations that make you eligible for quick issue life insurance, so if you think this is the right type of coverage for you, contact an experienced life insurance agent at AccuQuote for a free term life insurance quote.

But remember, if you’re young and relatively healthy, traditional term life insurance coverage is better because it allows you to purchase a large coverage amount for a longer term. The point of having any life insurance coverage at all is to make sure your family could continue living the lifestyle they’re used to should you die prematurely.

Click here to read part 1 of this article.

Below is the second part of an excerpt from one of the letters my wife Kimberly and I have written to our loved ones, to be read in the event of our deaths. This letter is not itself a legal document – such as a will or trust – but is intended as a supplement to them. It explains how and why certain decisions were made, and also provides guidance about the intent and purpose of funds we provide and how we would like certain details carried-out.

The following section of the letter is directed to the family members specified in our wills as guardians for our two children.  The funds mentioned are term life insurance benefits paid directly to the guardians: Continue reading “Just In Case – Letters To My Loved Ones (Part 2)”

By Bankrate.com