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Archive for the ‘Life Protection’ Category

Life insurance is a product that provides protection for loved ones. There are many different life products to fit different needs. The major categories are term and whole or permanent policies.

Term life is the least expensive coverage and pays the policy amount in the event of the insured’s death. The cost depends on the policy amount, the insured’s health and age, and how long the rate is guaranteed. This is a good type of policy if you want the maximum insurance amount for the premium paid. It is also good when the insurance is only wanted for a certain time. For example until the mortgage is paid or until the children are on their own.

Whole life, also called a permanent policy, is designed to be lifelong policy. As long as the premium is paid the death benefit will always be there. In addition these policies also build cash value over time. The cash value generally earns interest at a preset rate. There are many varieties of this type of policy. One popular version is the “universal” policy that allows flexibility of the term life amount and the amount of premium paid. For a person desiring life insurance for many years the permanent policy may have a lower total cost. Because a life policy may be held for a long time it is important to deal with a very solid company. It is advisable to have a experienced agent help you determine your needs. A good agent should also be able to show you different options to help you find what is best for you.

You have worked your entire life accumulating assets. These hard earned achievements can be lost in a short period of time if they are not protected. If you are sued, all of your assets are at risk. They are also at risk if you file for bankruptcy. Seeing as the best thing to do is to protect those assets, lawmakers have passed various acts that will protect certain assets.

Regardless of what you read in asset protection blogs, many people believe only the wealthy are targets. This is far from the truth. No matter how many assets you have, whether your IRA & retirement plan investing account is $10M or $200,000, you are a target as long as you own those assets in your name. There are many legal circumstances that can place your assets at risk. Civil lawsuits and divorce can be perfect examples of where people lose their unprotected assets. No matter how safe you think you are from being sued, it is almost always best to take extra precaution. This is why asset protection is so important. It will help you safeguard those assets if there ever is a time where a lawsuit is filed on you.

There are various state and federal laws that determine what type of protection many of your assets can have from judgments and creditors. For example, your Traditional and Roth IRAs have a protection cap of $1 million from any bankruptcy proceeding. Any money that has been rolled over from other retirement accounts, such as 403(b) and 457(b) plans, are completely protected by law. It is important to remember that this protection is only in effect during a bankruptcy proceeding. They will not be protected from other court judgments.

In addition to IRA accounts, qualified retirement plans are also protected by law during bankruptcy. ERISA plans are also protected, so an ERISA asset protection retirement plan is not needed if you are going into bankruptcy.

Consider your large assets, such as your home. The amount of protection on your home can vary depending on what state you reside in. There are some states that offer limited legal protection, while other states will not provide any protection at all. Again, this is why it is imperative that you have an asset protection plan in effect. If the state and federal laws do not offer protection, you will already have a plan in place that will protect all of your assets.

State laws will determine how much protection is given for life insurance and annuities. In some cases, the cash surrender value of the life insurance policy will be protected. However, this does not always happen. In other cases, the only protection is for the beneficiary’s interest. Again, there are many states that offer no asset protection at all. If you need to know what laws are in place to protect your assets, check with your state’s official website to find out what protection is offered.

Just because there are laws in place, this does not mean that you will be safe from creditors during a lawsuit. No matter what kind of protection is offered by your state, it is always best to consult with an expert on asset protection planning such as Estate Street Partners. This is the only way you will be sure that your assets are protected, regardless of the type of legal proceeding.

Too many people rely on just the protection offered by their state. This often leads to a disastrous outcome. These people usually end up losing most, if not all of their assets. There are many strategies that are effective when planning for asset protection. Proper planning can actually deter creditors from attacking your estate and may save you from your assets from being lost. Proper asset protection planning may even save you from a lawsuit being filed in the first place. What contingent lawyer will take a case if he cannot find assets in your name when he does an asset search? None.

Life insurance is a type of insurance that offers protection to people and their families, in case of unexpected death of the earner. The policyholder has to make periodic fixed payments to the insurance company in order to keep the policy alive. The insurance company in turn, promises to compensate the beneficiaries named in the policy, in the unfortunate event of the policyholder’s death. These contracts or insurance policies are written for the customers with the help of insurance agents. Insurance agents are representatives of the insurance company that assesses the needs of the people and recommend the best-suited policy. The best life insurance agents specialize in selling life insurance policies and therefore, posses all the expertise and knowledge to assist their customers in choosing the right policy.

The best life insurance agents have the knowledge of their product and the market, to guide their customers towards the most affordable life insurance policy. Life insurance agents need to have a license to sell life insurance in any state, provided by the state’s regulatory body. Life insurance agents can also sell life insurance policies that double up as a securities product. However, in order to sell such products, agents need to have a securities license as well, along with a state insurance license.

The life insurance agents who are the best in the business also become members of certain associations to serve their clients better. For instance, a membership of the National Association of Life Underwriters (NALU) signifies that, the agent maintains the ethical and professional standards in his practice.

Life insurance agents can also study many life insurance and family financial courses to enhance their knowledge of the market. The qualifications mentioned after the name of the agent, indicates the courses they have taken. Some of these qualifications are FIC (Fraternal Insurance Counselor), CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) and LUTCF (Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow). These courses are aimed at helping the life insurance agents serve their clients in the best way possible.

Protection specialists LifeSearch have released figures showing that life insurance bought by young people aged 35 years and under, had dropped by 5% compared to the previous 12 months. Young persons life protection policies had made up just 31% of all life cover written by LifeSearch during this period.

Policy advisor for LifeSearch, Matt Morris, commented about the falling sales figures that “This shows a worrying trend that the UK protection gap will continue to grow.”

Despite life insurance being less expensive for younger people because of their age and perceived better health, which helps to keep premiums low, the research suggests that as well as falling sales figures, young people are making unwise product choices.

People aged between 18 and 29 who have no dependants, are nearly six times more likely to insure their life rather than their income. Those that insured their life stood at 74 per cent, whilst insurers of income were a mere 13 per cent.

Morris said, “Although the average age of first time buyers is probably rising, many younger people still have debts, mortgages and families that need financial protection in the event of the main income provider being unable to work.”

In addition to these figures, only 12 per cent of young people aged between 18 and 29 said they felt that had purchased a product which best suited their own circumstances. Instead of basing their decision on which policy to buy on comprehensiveness of cover or suitability of the product, 37 per cent said they chose the policy on price alone.

These figures lead to the Head of Protection Strategy, Kevin Carr to say, “Clearly more work needs to be done to reach the 35 and under age group so they fully understand why protection is important and which type of cover is best for the individual needs. Many are either buying no financial protection at all, or are relying on the internet to get the best deal, which might work for car insurance, but not with financial protection.”

However, research commissioned by TCP Lifesystems showed that around a third of people aged between 18 and 24 felt that the process of buying a life insurance policy was too invasive and the sales approaches adopted by insurance companies were too aggressive.

Further figures to come out of the research showed that 32 per cent of people aged under-25 described the sales approach and procedure as uncomfortable.

TCP’s business development director, Ashley Hale commented, “With 81 per cent of those individuals surveyed being happy to share medical details if this speeds up the process, then this suggests that with a well designed expert system, there is scope to radically increase the proportion of business that is underwritten at the point of sale. On the other hand, the under-25 age range appears to have greater concerns about sharing their medical information. Perhaps we have to think more about these different attitudes when we design our processes and procedures. It’s apparent that one size doesn’t fit all.”

To some they do not purchase life insurance until something happens to them which to me are a tragedy in itself. And to some people it is a must. But before you start looking to purchase a policy, you have to understand the types and factors associated with it. You have to understand what is temporary or term and permanent. And under the permanent type of insurance there are other sub types of policies which may offer a better deal for you.

Term life Insurance: It provides a coverage for a specific duration of time or specific number of years for a specified premium. This type of policy coverage does not accumulate cash value. It is commonly referred and considered pure insurance. It is pure type of insuring because the premium buys protection in the event of death and nothing more. Though it will not accumulate any cash value, it is 8 to 10 times cheaper than a permanent life insurance.

Permanent life Insurance: It is a type of coverage or policy that remains in force until the policy matures. This will be in force provided that he owner continue to pay their premium when due. If the owner fails to pay the premium when it is due, the policy expires or policies lapse. Permanent type cannot be canceled by the insurer for any reason except for fraud in the application. This type of insuring yourself builds cash value that reduces the level of risk to the insurer over time.
There are three basic types of permanent insurance namely; universal, whole and what are called endowment.

A universal life insurance is another type of permanent type of insuring yourself that is based on cash value. Universal is intended to provide insurance coverage with greater flexibility in terms of the premium payments and the potential for a higher internal rate of return. The flexibility of this policy allows you to change the amount of insurance as your needs for insurance change. Some of these changes require underwriting approval. The main benefits of a universal type are its flexibility, security and protection for love ones, tax-free death benefit and tax deferred account value growth.

A whole life insurance is a type of insurance whereby the policy remains in force for the policyholders’ whole life. There are seven different types of whole life namely; non-participating, participating, indeterminate premium, economic, limited pay, single premium, and interest sensitive. Whole life insurance is expensive. This type of insurance is like a force savings. You are not only paying for the insurance but for the investment portion of it.

Decades ago, endowment insurance is popular as a saving mechanism and considered to be a good buy. But in today’s world it is being replaced by universal life insurance. It is a type of life insurance where its face value is payable only if the insured survives to the end of the endowment period. Endowment life insurance is rarely use in the last 15 or so years.

Accidental Death Insurance: This is a type of life insurance that is covers exactly what it says. Simply put, it is designed to cover the insured when they die due to an accident.
Understanding and knowing what are the different types of life insurance can empower you more in your search for the right life insurance that you may take out.

As long as there are people who need assurance in the future, insurance providers will continue to exist and survive. The key to a successful career as an insurance agent is to get endless leads through any of the following means: socialize with people, ask for referrals, browse through newspapers, give out business cards, offers sponsorship programs, visit potential institutions, and make door to door transactions.

With all the competitors out there, sometimes it is hard to get successful insurance leads. Clients are careful in weighing benefits offered because they also want to enjoy utmost protection. Since a lot of insurance providers are trying to win customers, agents may run out of potential leads. Below are some tips you might find useful in getting insurance leads:

Socialize with people

The very first step that you need to do in order to gain exposure is to interact with people where ever you go. As much as possible, try to befriend everybody you meet because that chance encounter might turn out to be a successful deal. This usually starts by introducing yourself and sharing your background. Do not attempt to make sales talk the moment you get in touch with someone, since this might create a bad impression on the prospect. Talk about anything else instead of limiting your discussions to business and work. You may begin to show your ales powers when you are both comfortable with each other.

Ask for referrals

Asking for names of your friends and relatives is one effective way to expand your network of contacts. Simply jot down their names and other pertinent information so that you can start contacting them as soon as possible. This might be a very simple strategy, yet you will be amazed how large your market will be once the entire family takes advantage of your offer.

Browse through newspapers

While reading a newspaper, do not forget to visit the sections on weddings, birthdays and others like them. As people face new chapters in their lives, they can’t discount the possibility of experiencing bouts of anxiety as well. This may be due to the fact that as a responsible individual, you do not want to put any of your family at risk. The need for securing life protection increase and can make sales agents a few bucks richer. Usually, those found on the papers are rich and famous, so you need to be fast in keeping in touch with them to convert it into sales.

Give out business cards

A conservative way of generating future sales is by giving out lots of business cards. Although this doesn’t produce immediate results, you can still expect a small percentage of people to convert into happy clients. You do not have to invest a fortune just to make an attractive business card. Instead, incorporate usefulness by making a call card and a pocket calendar at the same time. This will lessen the chance of having your card land in the trash due to its added worth.

Offers sponsorship programs

If you want to turn your company into a brand name when it comes to the insurance industry, provide sponsorship once in a while so that your name and occupation become more commonly known to your community. As soon as people recognize the institution, you can expect an influx of clients in the next few weeks or months.

Visit potential institutions

If you wish to catch good sales through group leads, try visiting large institutions such as schools. College students are good candidates due to the fact that most have enough money to finance their needs on a daily basis. If you can just influence them not to waste money on unnecessary things, you might be successful in letting them purchase an insurance policy as well.

Door to door transactions

The least that you can do is to use the door to door method when conducting business transactions. Although exhausting, you can still find this obsolete strategy helpful.

No single method is proven to be more effective over the other. You need to combine them all in order to maximize a potential sales influx.