By Bankrate.com

1. Review Every Plan: Start reviewing every plan available from your employer now.  You may be able to choose a plan that would cost less if you were later required to pay the entire premium through COBRA. Always make sure that the plan you choose will cover the health care benefits you need for the coming year.
2. Evaluate Premiums: Look at the premium for your current employer-sponsored plan and see if that premium is increasing. If saving on your monthly share of the premium is a priority, you may want to revisit this plan and opt for one of the less expensive plans available from your company’s benefits provider.
3. Shop Smarter: Buy only what you need and potentially save on the monthly premium.  Choosing a high deductible plan is smart for some individuals and families because it typically reduces monthly premiums, but you must be prepared to pay the amount of the deductible in the coming year as health care needs arise.
4. Compare with your Spouse: Check your spouse’s plan to see if the employee share of the premium is more or less than your plan. It may be more cost-effective to insure you or your family under their plan.
5. Mix and Match: Depending on health conditions, it can be less expensive for certain family members to be on a separate plan than the employer-sponsored plan.  Do the math on separate policies if there are special needs.  It’s easy to price individual and family plans online.

I think it’s often good to illustrate how life insurance has helped a real person.  It makes it hit home.  To see more real life stories like this one check out the LIFE Foundation.

Mark and Kathy Custead enjoyed a comfortable, middle-class lifestyle, but their financial obligations were considerable. So with their agent’s help, they completed a life insurance needs analysis, which showed that both needed to substantially increase their coverage. They each made life insurance purchases, something neither had done since their first child was born 17 years earlier. That spring, Mark was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died five weeks later. Proceeds from his term life insurance helped to pay funeral expenses, medical bills and credit card debt, and have allowed Kathy to set aside money for the kids’ college costs.

Be sure to check out this video featuring Mark and Kathy’s story.

If you hold a life insurance policy or are considering purchasing one from American General Life or US Life of NY (both AIG subsidiaries), you probably have some questions or concerns about your existing or pending AIG life insurance policy since the Federal Reserve announced it is taking over AIG in an $85 billion rescue plan.  Here are several really great articles that do a fine job assessing the situation and what it means for policyholders.

• SmartMoney.com – AIG’s Fallout – What Policyholders Can Expect
• Reuters – Factbox – Potential Outcomes for AIG Policyholders
• Bankrate – Got an AIG policy? Don’t worry!

Also, here is a video that gives some advice to AIG policy holders

Advice to AIG Policy Holders

I want to take a moment to thank the Life Foundation for their efforts with Life Insurance Awareness Month. This year, Donnie Wahlberg is the spokesperson.  Hear his story now by watching this short video message from him.

As one of LIFE’s member companies, we’ve been given permission to show you this video message.

www.lifehappens.org/donnie2008

If you haven’t heard of Professor Randy Pausch, then you will definitely want to watch this video. He is truly an inspiration.

Dave Ramsey does a really good job explaining the difference in price between term life insurance and permanent life insurance in this YouTube video.

This is from September 2007, but the message is just as important today as it was 7 months ago.   Molly Shannon, SNL comedian and movie super star talks about her family’s brush with death and the need for life insurance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lljivVqC-5M