9 Year Mortgage on 10 Things Life Insurers Won’t Tell You

Life Insurance. We have all thought about it. Should we get it? Do we really need it? These may be some of the questions you have asked yourself at one point or another. However are there things that the life insurers aren’t telling you? Read on and 9 Year Mortgage will tell you what to look out for.

9 Year Mortgage on Life Insurance

1. They won’t try to find your family.

Even if you have paid every premium in full and on time, it may not be enough to ensure a payout will reach your family when you’re gone. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners and at least three state insurance departments are currently investigating about a dozen large life insurance companies for failing to pay out more than $1 billion in death benefits on thousands of small policies. 9 Year Mortgage says the state investigators are wondering how the insurance companies keep track of who has died if a claim isn’t made. 9 Year Mortgage says the companies could use the Social Security Administrations Death Master File, this is the  file they use to stop annuity payments. However they do not do this, so if the beneficiaries don’t file a claim, the money just sits in limbo. How do you prevent this from happening? 9 Year Mortgage suggests that you, as a policyholder can help make sure insurance companies match their benefits with their beneficiaries by informing family members about the policies they hold, such as the policy number, the issuing agency, and the value. Also policyholders can make sure that your beneficiaries’ have your most current information on file with the insurance company.

2. All you need is term.

9 Year Mortgage says the kinds of coverage offered by life insurers can be dizzying. 9 Year Mortgage says

term insurance, or policies designed to last for 10,20, or 30 years, are the cheapest and the most basic, however salespeople often tout the benefits of more involved policies. Permanent policies, including “whole-life” and “universal” coverage, are insurance policies with an investment account built in, and salesmen pitch the tax benefits (savings grow tax free), and the option to borrow against the policy if the need arises. These policies are a lot more expensive than term, and most people do not need the extra features. 9 Year Mortgage says the most common reason people buy life insurance is to provide for the people who depend on their income. In the event of your death, 9 Year Mortgage says that is it most critical for people with younger children to get life insurance. By the time your kids are working class adults, they will not need the payout, and hopefully, your assets would be enough to support a surviving spouse. 9 Year Mortgage thinks you need a lot of insurance for about 25 to 40 years, however you do not need much after that which is what term policies are designed for.

3. They are watching a lot more than your waist line.

9 Year Mortgage says a medical check-up is pretty typical requirement for life insurance customers; smokers and clearly unhealthy people can expect to pay extra. However, so can pilots, mortgage-defaulters, and bad drivers. 9 Year Mortgage says that insurance companies are checking hobbies, credit scores and driving records more frequently now to see who is a bad risk and who is not. Getting a lot of traffic tickets is a sign of an unsafe driver, and that is enough to double your premiums. 9 Year Mortgage says those people with  not-so-good credit are a dodgy financial bet for companies, because they are more likely to let their policy lapse before the insurance company can recoup the costs of issuing the policy.  Also if you are an avid traveler you may have to pay more as well, especially if your traveling takes you to parts of the world an insurance company deems dangerous.  9 Year Mortgage says there is little you can do to avoid these higher premiums. However if your behaviors changes, your credit score improves, or you stop traveling then you can ask your insurance company to re-price your policy. They may lower your rates.

4. They rarely have to pay up.

9 Year Mortgage says that in order for a life insurance policy to pay a benefit, the policies must be what’s called, “paid up”, meaning every premium must be paid in full. However most of these policies lapse long before insurance companies have to pay full benefits, because we stop paying the premiums. 9 Year Mortgage says that one in every 14 customers with term life insurance stop paying the premiums each year.  Those with permanent policies stop making premium payments within three years of owning the policies about 25% of the time. If you stop paying on a term policy then you simply lose the insurance coverage. However with permanent policies, you get to keep any built-up cash value, even though the policies are not typically worth anything for the first year or two.

5. Your company may have a policy on you

Typically, a life insurance policy is taken out by the insured himself or by someone who is close to him. However that is not always the case, companies have been known to take out policies on their employees, anyone from high level executives to the rank-and-file employees. 9 Year Mortgage says that life insurance is commonly accepted for higher employees, it is much more problematic when the insured is a low level worker, they typically won’t know about the policies and their families do not benefit from the payout. 9 Year Mortgage says that in 2006, to reduce this practice, Congress restricted any tax benefits only to policies written on the highest paid 35% of employees in a company. Also they can only do this if they have their written consent.

6. Tax shelter

Unlike other kinds of income or inheritances, the benefits of a life insurance policy are tax-free, and in some policies, any investments or cash-value grow tax-free as well. The Tax Foundation estimates that the tax exemption on certain life insurance contracts totaled $1.68 billion in 2011. 9 Year Mortgage thinks that the tax benefit is one reason financial advisers often recommend them to wealthy clients, although the majority of policies are owned by people earning less than $99,000.

7. Paid-up doesn’t mean we’ll pay out

The so-called permanent policies are structured in a number of ways. For some, they use premiums to build up a cash value that will contribute towards the death benefit, and how that money grows can differ. Some policies offer the “no-lapse guarantee” which secures the death benefit and fixes the cost of the premiums over the life of the policy. However, there are others without a guarantee which are often cheaper and project a growth rate that is based on a historical calculation that may keep premiums steady and that could build up a good death benefit over time. 9 Year Mortgage says that sometimes those projections don’t pan out, the policyholders can be left with very little to show for their years of premiums. For those who bought their policies in the 1980’s when the interest rates were high, the balances haven’t grown fast enough to cover the cost of the policy, so it has not built a death benefit. In these instances the balances may have actually decreased because the insurance company deducted money to cover the annual costs associated with the policies. 9 Year Mortgage says that if the balance hits zero, the policy will lapse and any death benefit evaporates. The problem with this is that many of the longtime policyholders never understood this variable nature of the insurance. 9 Year Mortgage says that most only found out about this when they received a letter saying that their cash value is zero, and the only way to continue with the policy was to increase their payments. Insurance companies say that all the terms of each policy are spelled out in the initial contracts, and they do send out yearly statements that includes the premiums and the account value, however they do not tell you where you are heading and the policy holders typically do not read the notices or they do not understand them. If you have a whole life policy, 9 Year Mortgage suggests that you request an “in-force illustration,” which shows how the investments have been performing, and projects where the value of the policy is heading.

8. You could skip the tests…but you’ll pay for it

9 Year Mortgage says when getting a life insurance policy it usually requires a medical history and an exam, which includes a blood and urine test, and a possible echocardiogram, if the policy is worth $1 million or more. However if you do not like doctors, some companies offer policies with the option to skip the medical test and instead just use your medical history and computer programs to evaluate applications and set premiums. 9 Year Mortgage says that no-test coverage can actually end up being more expensive, and those that buy them usually don’t get as much coverage. For example, a healthy 40 year-old non-smoking male would end up paying an extra $400 per year for a $500,000 20 year term policy that allowed him to skip the medical testing, making that a difference of $8,00 over the life of the policy.

9. Forget the extra insurance

Many people with car loans, home mortgages or credit cards have discovered that some life insurance companies offer what is called “credit life insurance,” small policies designed to pay off specific debts if you die. 9 Year Mortgage says the cost of the coverage varies by state. For people without other life insurance, these policies do meet a need. 9 Year Mortgage says that these policies are fast, very easy to get and do not require a medical exam like most life insurance policies do. 9 Year Mortgage suggests that if you do not want a policy that lasts as long or insures as much as term policy do, then you might want this is the kind of insurance.

10. You’re too late.

9 Year Mortgage says that the average life-insurance customer is a 48-year-old man with teenaged children and he is about 15 years too late. As people get older, the more assets they have, which can offset the financial impact of death; a 30-year-old with a baby might have very few assets and years of income ahead of him–a prime candidate for insurance. 9 Year Mortgage says that you want to insure all the income you have yet to earn, and that is enormous when you are young. 9 Year Mortgage says that life insurance applications for people younger than 44 have dropped between 4% and 5% per year over the last three years. However, applications for people 60 and older have risen steadily over the last three years. However, if you are a healthy 60-year old that didn’t buy life insurance, and you have someone that depends on you for financial support, then life insurance is a way to protect them.

Ending things with 9 Year Mortgage

So if you are looking for life insurance make sure that you look at all of your options. Take your time and look around before you settle for one company. 9 Year Mortgage also suggest that you look at what type of life insurance you would like to have, and that you don’t wait too long before you get your life insurance. 9 Year Mortgage suggests like with most things make sure you read the fine print so that you understand what exactly you are getting yourself into. Make sure as well that you read each of your statements that come yearly so that you are aware of any changes that come up. For more great money saving ideas visit 9 Year Mortgage on Youtube or go directly to the 9 Year Mortgage Money Saving Minute.  The recently launched Eliminating Debt with 9 Year Mortgage site is also full of valuable, free information. Still have concerns on life insurance? Well then take a look at 9 Year Mortgage on Life Insurance.

Nine Year Mortgage can help you find an honest insurance agent to take care of all of your insurance needs.

Insurance is a passive need in that you don’t really want it until you need it.  Unfortunately at that point you’re too late.  Don’t get caught unprepared, you may be surprised to discover how reasonable the rates actually are.

Follow these tips from Nine Year Mortgage and rest assured that your loved ones will be protected should the worst happen.  And if you’d like to learn more about Nine Year Mortgage products and services then contact us today.  To find out if you qualify for the Nine Year Mortgage program, simply complete the Nine Year Mortgage Do I Qualify Form.

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