Posts Tagged ‘Estate planning’

Joint Life Insurance For A Safe Outlook

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

Joint life insurance is an insurance policy with its good sides and bad sides. If you are a couple thinking about getting one, then you need to compare this policy with a single type policy. It is even possible to find a provider with a joint policy option that is suitable for you. So don’t stop checking them out until you find the one that suits you best.

More likely than not why you want this policy type is so you are confident to some extent that your loved ones are provided for whenever the inevitable happens and you have passed on. Notwithstanding having a joint life insurance, you should also create a family trust.

This type of trust can complement your joint life insurance and help in transferring your wealth to members of your family after you have passed on. Although single life policies are similar to joint life the major benefit, which this type of insurance policy provides to the insured is the fact that it is usually cheaper than two single life insurance policies put together.

Another benefit or advantage, which this type of life insurance has, is that it will provide fund to one partner at the passing on of the other. This money can then be used to carter for the needs of the family members left behind.

Two typical examples of the joint life are term and whole life. If you go for the joint term policy your premium will be less, but it also means that you will only be getting the death benefit. On the other hand, if you go for the whole life option you will get premium value in addition to the death benefit.

Alright as mentioned earlier you can also look into the option of creating a family trust to complement your joint term or whole life insurance. This trust sometimes known as living or inter vivos trust is set up while one is alive as you might have already guessed. It involves bequeathing your property to a trust created by you and held and managed by another chosen by you.

The benefit(s) of family trust include the possibility of saving money on tax payment, avoiding probate proceedings and generally protecting your asset or property from other possible financial liabilities if they were directly under your ownership since ownership as now been transferred to the trust.

Lastly, a major downside that a joint life insurance policy has is what happens whenever divorce takes place. To this couples have been advised to also have single life policies together with joint policies.

FamilyTrustSecrets.com has the answers to all the questions that you were afraid to ask about Family Trust! To make sure that you will not have to settle for anything less than the full story on Joint Life Insurance and related topics, check out the site right away !

How To Save Your Legacy With Life Insurance Quotes

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

If you’re going to get life insurance, be sure to choose a reputable company with a great track record for service. It is not advisable to use a low rated issuer for your policy. The protection you seek is actually for your loved ones when you pass away.

A little bit of research will show you the company’s record on handling claims in the past. Various independent research companies can disclose their ratings. Remember that everything related to insurance policies are covered by either a company or a mutual company.

It is very difficult to tell which is which on the surface but with a little digging you’ll be able to discover the facts based on the differences in life insurance policies. In the unfortunate event of your death, it is important to leave your family with enough security to take care of your burial needs as well their financial well-being. This is smart and prudent planning.

One crucial aspect of insurance is its ability to take care of loved ones and dependents during a time of transition. You should become acquainted with these three primary types of insurance policies.

The facts concerning term life insurance
When you pass on, your insurance contract dictates that the assigned person will receive the funds from your policy. Of the three, term life insurance holds the least expensive premiums.

One drawback to this product is the clause which states that there is no recovery of money in the event that you outlive your policy.

Whole life policy basics -
This type of life insurance policy is perfect as an investment. So when you pay your monthly contributions, most of which is to save and accumulate cash value, while the other is to protect his life. You can take money from the cash value that grows over time.

The insurance company pays up the face value to the beneficiary if the policy holder expires before the end of the policy.

Decreasing term insurance
This type of life insurance policy related to term insurance and mortgage. This type can be great option if you take a mortgage and you have the money in circulation.

You must make this assurance when you take a mortgage. The sum insured for the duration of the mortgage. When you pay the amount of your mortgage, the money remaining on the insurance policy is reduced to no more obligations.

Many people find dealing face-to-face with insurance agents to be intimidating because of the amount of pressure placed on them to buy. Using the Internet allows them to shop carefully for quotes without the obvious pressure from a salesperson. They can find available quotes that are tailor made to your specific requirements without any pressure or sales call.

If you use reputable insurance brokers you are assured that you’ll only be contacted by qualified agents. Before you start looking for your online insurance quote, you need to get your on the type of life insurance in order and there are some things that you need to think about before starting.

Before you get started, take a little time to collect all your personal information that you think you will need to get the best and most accurate quote possible. One reason why these online companies are successful at what they do is the fact that their success is tied into your initial satisfaction of the results you obtain.

There are a lot of companies who will just about sell you anything, whether you need it or not. You can safely go online and be assured to find the correct information that will fulfill your life insurance needs.

Want to find out more about life insurance quotes, then visit Daniel Fenton’s site on how to choose the best life assurance quotes for your needs.

Choose a Life Policy For Middle Age and Beyond

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Can a person in their middle years or senior years still buy life insurance? If you are over 50, or if you are caring for an older person, you can find a wide choice of products. Since statistics show that Americans are living longer and healthier lives, insurers are willing to extend affordable coverage to older people. Most middle aged and older people can still find life insurance policies.

You may wonder why an older person would want to have coverage anyway. At 30 years old, we are told to buy a term policy. The theory is that we will be able to self-insure with our savings by the end of that term in 20 or 30 years. We are also told we will have less obligations to cover. Our kids should be grown and self supporting. Our mortgages should be paid off. And when we are young, that term policy seems like it will last forever anyway.

But these days, many of us found that the theory did not prove out for us. Our kids did not manage to become totally self supporting as fast as we thought they would. Sometimes those kids come home with our own kids, and they still need our help. And we did plan to pay off that mortgage. But many of us got delayed because we moved or needed to take out a second loan. Years passed, but we did not outgrow our need for a life insurance policy.

How did we get to this point without any life insurance then? Some of us, thankfully, outlived our life insurance policy. It expired. Others thought they were taken care of by a group policy, but then left that job and lost it. A lot of us had coverage, but do not have it any more.

What life insurance should older people look for? Before you buy anything, you should think about why you want to buy a policy. Do you just want coverage to make sure your kids or spouse have money? Or do you want to build an asset that may help you in the future? Finaly, you may want to use your policy to help transfer wealth to your family?

For pure insurance, consider term again. Since term premiums will be lower, it will be possible to purchase a higher death benefit. People at 50, or sometimes even up to their 70s, can still find these policies if they are in reasonably good health. The lower cost is not trivial either.

You may want to find a term policy that you can convert to whole life later. These will not require you to prove you are healthy as long as you make the conversion within the specified time limit. That way you can have cheaper term now, and you can have the option to covert to a whole life insurance policy later!

But some people would want to consider whole life now. The premiums at 50 will be cheaper than they will be at 65, and the price will stay level. You get lifetime coverage, and even the chance to build the cash value of your policy. Being able to borrow against that value, cash it in, or use it for senior life settlements, may make this attractive.

You probably want to compare premiums too. No policy will do you any good if you cannot pay for it. A financial or insurance professional should be able to help you explore your options. They should be willing to listen to your needs, and then offer you alternatives.

Learn more about Term for Old people.

Should You Consider Life Insurance

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Life insurance is one of those things that few people could fail to benefit from. It offers peace of mind to the policy holder and financial support to its beneficiaries. If you need a list of reasons to get life insurance, here are a few to get you started.

The most obvious part of life insurance is that in the event of your death, it will help to provide for your family. It works as simply as this: because you have been paying your monthy premiums, the company that holds your insurance policy will agree to pay a specified lump sum of cash to the benificiary listed on your policy (this is the person or people you designate to receive the death benefits).

It is important to remember that with this policy, no restrictions are placed up your beneficiaries as to how they utilize the money. Your beneficiaries can decide if it will be used to alleviate debt, purchase their home, or even attend college. The amount they receive will vary depending upon the type and coverage you purchase.

In some cases, the payout is used to pay off specific debt. Because debt can be a large part of our financial picture, many people choose to link their largest debt obligations to a decreasing term insurance policy. For example, if you choose to cover your home loan with decreasing term cover, your premiums for this cover will decrease as you make your loan installment payments. If you die before the loan is paid in full, the insurance company will pay the balance of the loan directly to the bank.

Whole life insurance would be an appropriate option if you want the benefit to be do more than merely pay off debts. Premium payments would be made through your life and you do have options has to how you want to make these payments. For instance you may opt for levelized payments or higher payments that would cease when you attain an age of 60, 65 or 85. Upon your death, the insurance company will issue a payment in the amount you chose to your beneficiaries.

South Africa is only one of two countries where life insurance is available for people who have tested positive for HIV or have AIDs. The premiums are slightly more expensive and the insurance companies will need policy holders to continue with anti HIV therapy.

Make sure that you deal with reputable and dependable companies that are known to honor their payout agreements. Most experts recommend checking with more than four companies to find out about the different options and plans in the market.

Remember that a life insurance policy will likely be the only thing standing between your family and financial disaster if you die unexpectedly. Any inconvenience you may experience now is worth the peace of mind you will provide for your family later.

Tom Martens is the content syndication coordinator at lifeinsurance-southafrica.co.za. South Arica’s leading Life Insurance portal