Early in my career, I met with someone who had a disability insurance policy cancelled due to nonpayment. This cancellation (or lapse) occurred due to no fault of the policy owner. To make a long story somewhat short, this guy – a professional musician with a symphony orchestra — moved to a new home and had given the insurance company the address change with plenty of notice. His premium payment was set up on a quarterly direct billing mode.
I read a powerful article that someone recently wrote. You can read it HERE. This is a story of a young family whose lives were affected by cancer. This article was written by a widow and she describes how they tried to get her husband life insurance coverage after he was diagnosed with cancer. They tried multiple times and were finally able to get coverage nine years after the cancer diagnosis. Then, not long after he got life insurance coverage,
When my clients save a lot of money, I am happy!
Recently, a client, who is in excellent health, applied for a 15-year term life insurance policy. He had some past medical issues that were a potential obstacle, so I checked with several carriers to find out which ones would offer him the best underwriting classification. We decided on a very strong A+ rated carrier that offered him their best rate contingent upon a review of his medical records,
Well, Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, so I thought I’d tie in this post to the theme of love! No, I’m not going to suggest that you purchase a life insurance policy as a Valentine’s gift! However, this is a good opportunity to think about WHO matters most in your life and how much you care for them! Perhaps you will think about how much coverage you currently have, because life insurance is really about protecting the ones you love.
When I started in the insurance business 13 years ago, I heard a few experienced agents mention Clark Howard and why I should learn to overcome the “Clark Howard objection”. In case you’re not aware of this, Clark Howard is a consumer advocate who has a very popular radio show. He is well known in Atlanta and his popularity has grown considerably over the years — in Georgia and all across the nation.
The company I worked for taught new agents to promote variable universal life insurance (permanent insurance) as a way to solve all our clients’
Unlike most products, life insurance is surprisingly inexpensive for most people. I hate to see young people postpone buying life insurance until they can afford a “decent” amount. The most important time to buy life insurance is when parents have young children. It is very affordable to buy just a 15-year term for $500,000 for each spouse. You can always upgrade by purchasing a longer term policy and/or a higher face amount at a later time.
I have personally witnessed two fairly young people put off buying life insurance.
All life insurance companies offer add-ons or “riders” to their policies. Some of these riders can be worth the additional premium, depending on your unique situation. I will cover the most common and important riders to consider. The types of riders vary among the carriers and the life insurance products they offer.
Waiver of Premium
This rider is the one most frequently added to life insurance policies. The Waiver of Premium rider comes into play in the event of a disability.
Failure to update beneficiaries is one of the most common oversights with life insurance policies. If someone gets divorced and fails to update their beneficiary designation, then the death benefit goes to the ex-spouse (assuming they were the primary beneficiary.) This will occur even if an updated will says otherwise. Most people think a will supersedes a life insurance policy designation, but it does not. Just ask any lawyer! There are exceptions to this, such as when a decedent can be shown to have been incapacitated or “unduly influenced”,
The financial stability of a life insurance company is very important. When shopping for term life coverage, don’t just look at the lowest cost premium from an insurance company you recognize. Make sure you look at the ratings by A.M. Best, Moody’s and other rating agencies. Consider the Comdex ranking also. The Comdex ranking is a composite of all the ratings that a company has received relative to all other insurance companies. The Comdex ranks companies on a scale of 1 to 100.
Many people have high cholesterol levels, which can increase their risk for heart disease and strokes. Life insurance underwriters have traditionally been unwilling to consider offering the best rates to people with high cholesterol readings.
I have had numerous clients with total cholesterol readings well above 220 (the highest acceptable level for many carriers). Many of these clients were advised by their doctors or healthcare practioners to lower their cholesterol by diet and exercise. They were cautioned about the potential negative side effects of cholesterol lowering medication in many cases.
