On Disability Insurance

All life insurance policies can be categorized as “term”, “whole life”, or a combination of the two. This means there are many different variations in policies.

When you have opted for the universal life insurance, you can adjust the premium and the policy to any extend you think you need.

On the other hand, a person who wants control over the financial and investment aspects of their insurance policy should choose variable life insurance.

So what’s a term life insurance policy?

A term life policy provides insurance over a specific period of time, and expires after the coverage period ends. They come in different lengths, including 5, 10, and 20 years. After the policy expires, there is no accumulated cash value, and no benefits to be paid; death benefits are only paid if you die while the policy is active. Term insurance could be described as a policy that’s designed to expire before you do.

Although premiums on term life policies tend to be low, they increase significantly as you age. Because of this, a term life policy is usually purchased when you’re young, to cover a long term. While short term renewable policies are initially less expensive, the premiums begin to make them less reasonable after middle age.

Below is an example of premium costs on an annual renewable term insurance policy. The policy in the example has a $200,000 death benefit, and the annual premiums are by age. Remember that these are only examples, to help illustrate how rates can change with age.

$300 / year age 35

Age 50: $900/year

Age 65: $2,500/year

What’s a whole life insurance policy?

Whole life is the most common type of life insurance. The policy remains in effect until you die or reach age 100, assuming you pay the scheduled premium. Whole life insurance is also known as ‘ordinary life’ or ‘permanent’ insurance. They feature level premiums, level face amounts, guaranteed values, and a high degree of safety. Whole life insurance has a guaranteed cash value, through which a living benefit is built. Because of this, the owner can access the cash for emergencies, or use it as a supplement to retirement income if necessary.

This ability to access the cash accrued by a whole life policy makes it an important savings instrument. Whole life policies are often used for long-term financial planning. Another very positive aspect of whole life insurance is the level premiums: they don’t change, so you’ll always know how much your policy is going to cost. Level premiums provide peace of mind and make budgeting easier.

There are different risks involved for companies which provide whole life insurance policies and those which offer auto policies, for example. With an auto policy the insurance company hopes the policyholder will be a safe driver and never be in an accident. On the other hand, when an insurance company issues a whole life policy it knows it will someday have to pay the claim.

The internet has made researching and comparing different life insurance companies very easy. By doing your research online, you can ensure that you have the best policy at the best premium to meet your needs. It’s also a good idea to see how the companies you’re researching are rated with the Better Business Bureau. Also be sure to check each company’s financial stability before you sign up for a policy. If you work to get all the information you need before buying, it will be very easy to get the best possible life insurance policy online.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover portal. For tips on how to save on your life insurance visit our website.

Having a life insurance policy in place can bring peace of mind to individuals who want to ensure the financial security of their loved ones even after their death. If you have been diagnosed as HIV positive and you do not already have a life insurance policy in place it can be extremely difficult to obtain one. While many insurance companies will turn you down immediately, others will offer high premium policies that will cover only the cost of your funeral.

You may have life insurance policies already in place and you should locate them and start reviewing them to see if they include any riders. Your employer may have a life insurance policy included in your employment package or you could have one that is linked to your home mortgage. Any existing policies should be kept active and be very careful not to allow them to terminate or lapse, upon doing so you may find that you cannot get them back with your HIV status.

Social security offers death benefits to your beneficiaries. Go to your local social security office and find out what the benefits are and make sure you have updated the information for the correct beneficiaries to get it. If any changes need to be made they will assist you on how to do this.

An attorney can be helpful to explain the death benefits that you have in place and to answer questions about beneficiaries and how they are to be paid after your death.

Speak with human resources at your current employer and find out if there life insurance programs that you might qualify for as part of your employment package. Many employers will take out automatic life insurance policies for their employees that will pay out a lump sum pr make payments that are a percentage of the employees current wages. The type of group policies require no underwriting or qualifications. If your employer offers this type of benefit you will be able to obtain it and might even be able to include a rider policy with it as well.

If your employer does not offer this type of life insurance policy or any that you qualify for you might consider changing jobs. You could possibly be making less than you do now and might not be in your dream job but if the employer offers a life insurance policy in your employment package it could be worth the change.

Your HIV AIDS counselor will also be able to help with finding you programs or life insurance companies that may be able to assist you in your search for peace of mind. There are several insurance companies that are now accepting clients that are HIV positive because of the great results the AIDS medications has on their life span.

Here are guaranteed life insurance policies available through certain companies and they will insure anyone, even the terminally ill. The pay outs will be much less in most cases it will only cover the cost of a funeral and the premiums will be much higher than a standard policy.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover portal. For tips on how to save on your life insurance visit our website.

Every one wants a life insurance, but not every gets it. Even though you have enough money to pay the premiums, you may still be denied of a life insurance. Your application for a life insurance policy undergoes a strict underwriting before it can be approved. Underwriting is the risk assessment of the candidate?s application and the amount of premiums that he or she needs to pay.

Underwriters are therefore hired by most of the insurance companies that help in underwriting the applications. The insurance companies are on a look out for the profit and hence the risk assessment. There are a total of three steps included in the process of underwriting, namely examine the application, decision to insure or not, determine the premium. Let us discuss these steps one by one.

Examination of the application is all about collecting the client information. Various details about the applicant are collected and stored for assessment. The details could include marital status, sex, type of living area, age, and current health status etc. The applicant is measured against each of these parameters.

The application examination is then followed up with decision making. The applicant is given a score for all these parameters. These parameters are called risk factors by the insurance companies. A high score on the risk factors leads to the rejection of the application, and a low score will see the applicant get an approval. Each risk factor is important and has its own meaning. However, many people believe that the insurance companies give utmost importance to the age and health of the individual. If the individual is young and healthy, the chances for approval are very high. On the other hand, an old aged individual who has a few health problems may experience a denial. The living environment of the individual is also given huge importance. If the applicant lives in an unhygienic environment, he or she is believed to suffer health problems. At the same time, an individual living in a clean and healthy environment would indicate a good health for the individual. The gender of the applicant can also make a difference at times. Women are regarded as healthier individuals compared to the men. This is because women tend to take lesser tensions and depressions. Interestingly, the same holds opposite for married people. In other words, a married man is expected to live a healthier life as compared to a married woman. All these factors play an important role while the decision making. Living habits of an individual also make a significant difference. A smoker or drinker will find it hard to get the approval.

The above discussed risk factors not only help in deciding about the approval or denial of the application, but also the premium amounts to be paid. If the application is approved, the next step if underwriting is to measure the correct premium amounts. Younger and fitter individuals are likely to pay lesser premium amounts, as compared to the older and ailing individuals.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover portal. For tips on how to save on your life insurance visit our website.

The word insurance refers to any agreement where a person pays another person or business to indemnify the safety, but to be more precise, pay for the replacement of any such personal property if said possession is lost, destroyed, or damaged in some other way other then the neglect or willful destruction of the property by said owner. There is insurance for just about anything, insurance is generally divided into four areas; vehicle, property, health, and life insurance.

The imbursement sum usually goes to the agreed beneficiaries in the result of the policy holder?s death. The beneficiaries are usually predetermined when the insurance is purchased but can be altered by the policy holder at any time before his/hers death. The acknowledged sum is usually at least one hundred thousand dollars for your average plan. The amount can be increased but the premiums also increase. Another way to increase the sum is to have several life insurance policies for one policy holder.

The earliest known form of a true form of a contractual insurance agreement came as early as 3 or 2 millennia B.C. These simple agreements stated that a merchant, trader or transporter of goods would guarantee the safety of said cargo or shipment. If the goods were lost, the transporter of said goods would pay either the sender or receiver for the loss or both. Other insurance contracts were simply a fee paid by the carrier so that of the goods were lost then the fee would cover said loss of goods. These agreements were usually done by a verbal agreement, but they were later back up by laws etched in stone and papyrus.

As human society became more modern, many traders would hire retired soldiers, i.e. mercenaries, to help shepherd their goods from place to place. These men could in some ways be called the first security guards of human society. But it was hazardous and difficult work, but for the soldiers of fortune of that time it was some of the best work one could get.

Now in the modern age, insurance is a necessity for a normal life in every nation on Earth. Insurance now covers Life, property, wellbeing, and even accountability from lawsuits. The insurance business is now a multi-billion dollar industry. The first known insurance business was started after the Great London Fire in 1666. The fire destroyed-,200 houses. After this tragedy, Nicholas Barbon opened an office to insure buildings. In 1680, he established England’s first fire insurance company, “The Fire Office,” to insure brick and frame homes.

The first insurance company in the United States was founded in Charleston, South Carolina in 1732. The company insured against fire damage and Benjamin Franklin assisted in popularizing the concept of insurance in the country at the time. In 1752, Benjamin Franklin founded the Philadelphia Contributorship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire. Franklin’s company was the first to make contributions toward fire deterrence. His company also tried to warn against certain fire hazards, but it refused to cover structures that were at considerable risk of fire, such as wooden houses or warehouses.

Graham McKenzie is the content syndication coordinator a leading South African Life Insurance and Life Cover portal. For more information on the different types of life insurance visit our website.

Life insurance companies have many methods which allow for the supplementation of a family if the breadwinner were to come to an early, unexpected death. We now have the option of choosing a type of life insurance policy that will work for our needs and invest into it accordingly. Unlike others who ignore the necessity of investing into the future or immediate gain, those of us who put the effort towards investments are able to have peace of mind and relax regarding the security of our family?s financial future.

And then, as we all do when we find something wonderful for our own lives, we can spread the good news of investing to our family and friends to guard against possible financial disasters.

I have already witnessed the effect of life insurance and experienced the benefit of being covered by it. Once invested in it, we have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that all our plans are going to fall nicely in place. Even in the event that money is plentiful, it’s always wise to plan ahead and think of the big picture by putting some of it towards the future. This way, we allow ourselves the comfort of knowing that the luxuries of the present will not be missing in the future. We’ve all experienced those days when everyday life obligations are too demanding for much spare time to be had.

Many formerly rich people made that mistake,but pride leads to disaster, and if you don’t compensate for the worst then the worst will surely happen. Recent economic troubles have shown us that no amount of money makes someone safe from disaster. Money is worthless without the wisdom to keep it throughout your life. No matter how good things look right now, it’s always smart to have something to fall back on if things take a turn for the worst tomorrow. With maturity, self-discipline, and an eye on the long-term, you easily get insurance that is both affordable and useful. Once that’s done, you can relax in knowing the insurance company’s got your back.

A few years back, my aunt unexpectedly lost her husband. However, because my uncle had been investing in the universal life insurance policy for a couple of years, she was getting good returns, allowing her children to complete their education with no added financial hardships.

I gladly accepted all the terms and regulations and was able to rest easily once I knew my family was taken care of into the foreseeable future. By investing in life insurance, I made the right decision for myself and for my family. The quality of life improves dramatically knowing that such an important task is done, and I couldn’t be happier about my decision.

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Life Insurance website. For more information visit: http://life.insurance123.co.za/

Life insurance provides you with two major benefits. First, it protects loved ones against the financial consequences of your death. Second, it offers living benefits.

Everyone knows that the financial consequences of death can be overwhelming. When a spouse, parent, child, sibling or grandparent dies, there is a great deal of emotional trauma to deal with by the surviving family members. However, the financial consequences can be even more destructive. If there is no life insurance in place, surviving family members are thrust into a position of extreme financial difficulty. Not only do they have to contend with the loss of future income, but there’s also the death and burial itself. They generate sudden and unexpected expenses.

Mortality statistics show that a significant number of people die, every year, before they reach their normal life expectancy. If the deceased person happens to have been a breadwinner, the consequences of their premature death can be extremely tragic, in many ways. The survivors are not only dealing with personal grief, but they must also find a way to deal with the financial consequences. There are still daily living expenses, even though one income is now missing.

Of course, the cost of a funeral can be heavy, but there are other expenses to consider, as well. An executor’s fees and expenditures involved with estate administration, for one. Outstanding debts such as car loans, mortgages, credit card balances, promissory notes, medical expenses, death taxes, and federal taxes, must still be paid.

The future security of loved ones is something else to consider. Living expenses, mortgage payments, and children to raise and educate are important considerations. It can be an overwhelming burden, and it really does not matter what financial obligations are left behind. There is only one thing that can resolve them, and that is money. If you want to ensure your family does not deal with the financial devastation a premature death can produce, you need to arrange to provide sufficient monies to cover their needs.

There could well be a time during which it may be difficult for the surviving spouse to work. Survivor’s blackout period is also a consideration. This is the time during which social security stops paying the surviving spouse, because dependent children are no longer a factor. The surviving spouse’s retirement is also something that needs to be factored into the equation. Actually, life insurance is a way of estate building, because it can generate an immediate estate at a time when it is most needed.

Living benefits are another advantage of life insurance. Some permanent policies offer a cash benefit in addition to the death settlement. Prior to the insured’s death, this cash value belongs to the policyholder, and can be used by them. Some permanent policies actually permit withdrawals from the cash benefit, and this money is yours to use as you choose. Loans can also be taken out from the insurance company, and the policy’s cash value would then be used as collateral.

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Insurance Provider who specialises in Life Insurance Policies.