TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011
What we pay for our life insurance policies is in great part dependent upon factors such as your age, your habits and your health. If you’re a smoking, drinking trick pilot, forget about it. Insurance will cost you dearly. But eight ways that most of us can do to save a little money when insuring ourselves.
1. Improve your health. Stop smoking, lose weight, exercise. All of these factors have an enormous influence on your life insurance rates. Whether you smoke three packs a day or one cigar with your buddies, insurers consider you a smoker and, therefore, a higher risk. Non-smokers can pay as much as 50% less than smokers so quitting can save a bundle. (And don’t consider cheating because if your death is proven to be related to smoking, your beneficiaries may not receive the death benefit.) Losing weight can often give you a reduced rate, too.
2. If you are a healthy individual, avoid “guaranteed” life insurance policies. These policies require no medical exams and are considered riskier and, consequently, are more expensive than fully underwritten policies. So, unless you know you have a high risk medical condition, opt for the underwritten policies and the exam and the lower premiums.
3. Shop online. Everything is available online these days, even your insurance policies, and going online to shop and compare prices is a good way to find the best rate for you. Then, either buy online or take the information you find to local agents who can match or beat your online prices.
4. Ideally, we all exercise, eat a healthy diet and avoid illness, but realistically, many people with serious medical conditions still want to buy life insurance. Some life insurance companies specialize in competitive-priced policies for people with heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other high risk illness and conditions. Their trained analysts can evaluate medical conditions and determine the degree to which the illness is managed or out of control and set a rate accordingly.
5. Consider term life insurance. Premiums for term policies can be five to ten times lower than those for the same amount of whole life policies. If you anticipate having your policy for many years, look into buying a long term life policy, rather than a short term life policy in which the premiums increase frequently.
6. Don’t buy more life insurance than you need. Don’t buy out of fear, but consider your situation carefully and what your family will need if you are no longer around to provide for them. How much money will it take to maintain your family’s current lifestyle? How much money needs to be secured for your children’s college educations? What burden does your mortgage place on your family? Your investment advisor can help you to assess your needs chose the right amount of insurance for you. Try our online insurance calculators to find out how much life insurance you need.
7. Buy early. Many people wait until they are older to buy life insurance; they just don’t think about it when they’re young. But buying a policy at an early age can help you lock in a policy and a rate before age and health factors increase your risk and costs. Some policies give you the option to lock in your premiums for a specific period of time, as much as 20 years.
8. Pay your insurance bill annually. Most insurers charge fees for monthly or quarterly billing. If possible, pay your insurance once a year and save those additional fees. Also, ask your insurer if you can receive a lower rate by directly paying from your checking account.
By Matt Reynolds - Google+
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