When purchasing life insurance it is always best, in my opinion, to sit down with a good experienced reputable agent and discuss your needs. There are a variety of products. While price is a consideration it should never be the deciding factor. If a product seems a lot cheaper than other like products there is a reason that you probably will not know about until it is too late. Consider these factors: What is the purpose of the insurance? Is it to cover a long term need such as final expenses, or a short term need such as a mortgage? You should use permanent insurance such as whole life to cover a long term need. Term insurance comes in all kinds of packages. One year term, 5, 10, 20, and 30 are the most common. There is level term and decreasing term. Level term the death benefit stays level, decreasing term the death benefit decreases. Term insurance can be renewable or non renewable. It can be convertible to whole life or non convertible. In some term policies the rate can be adjusted according to the companies mortality history, thus it allows for premium increase. Term insurance premiums go up at each renewal. As you can see there are a variety of factors involved when buying life insurance. Unless you know and really do a lot of research on the different policies you may not purchase the best product that will meet your goals. A good independent insurance agent who specializes in life insurance and represents multiple companies can help you find the right product for your individual situation.
Owner/Insurance Broker, KM Health Insurance Services, Hazel Crest, Illinois
This is a good question. It's not really a matter of what you need to know but rather what you want in a plan. What are you looking to accomplish? Do you want to just cover final expenses or do you want to make sure the house and cars are paid off if you expire. You are welcome to contact us if you live in a state that we are licensed in and we can help you decide and enroll in a plan.
When purchasing life insurance, you need to know:
1) That you are getting your policy with a secure company and reputable agent.
2) The features of your policy and what they mean.
3) What guarantees are included in your premium, return and coverage.
4) Whether you qualify for that policy based on a thorough review of your health and other details.
5) What type of policy best suits your financial needs.
Business Development Officer, T.D. McNeil Insurance Services, Fresno, California
The most important thing to know when buying life insurance is the agent with whom you are dealing. A great agent will listen carefully to you, will provide you with solid financial information and will communicate clearly with you and the insurance company. His job is to help you determine the level of coverage that you need and then arrange policies that will take care of that need and still stay within your budget.
Here are three things you need to know when buying life insurance.
1) You should know that(unless you are buying a simplified issue plan for which you are either approved or declined), your premium may not be exactly as your agent quoted.
2) You should know what guarantees your policy has. Is the premium locked in for x number of years? Will the death benefit pay out at death at any age? Etc.
3) You should know that you have a month free look period to decide if you want to keep your policy, after it is issued. And if you pay anything before that, it can be refunded.
There are a lot of little details that to the layman can cause issues at a really bad time in someone's life like the loss of a loved one. I recommend using an experienced independent life insurance broker that can shop the market and find the best policy at the best rate for your unique situation. We are all free of charge for our expertise. We are compensated by the insurance company, who by the way, keeps our commission part if you go direct. They do not give you a discount for not using an agent. Most people do not realize that fact. Take advantage of our knowledge, it is free.
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1) That you are getting your policy with a secure company and reputable agent.
2) The features of your policy and what they mean.
3) What guarantees are included in your premium, return and coverage.
4) Whether you qualify for that policy based on a thorough review of your health and other details.
5) What type of policy best suits your financial needs.
1) You should know that(unless you are buying a simplified issue plan for which you are either approved or declined), your premium may not be exactly as your agent quoted.
2) You should know what guarantees your policy has. Is the premium locked in for x number of years? Will the death benefit pay out at death at any age? Etc.
3) You should know that you have a month free look period to decide if you want to keep your policy, after it is issued. And if you pay anything before that, it can be refunded.