Life Insurance

Lowering Your Life Insurance Rates

When purchasing a life insurance policy, sometimes the desired result isn’t obtainable.  Less than 20% of all applicants qualify for the best underwriting classification.  It can be quite upsetting to find out that your rate is substantially higher than what you were originally quoted.  However, unfavorable underwriting decisions can often times be challenged — especially in borderline cases.  Find out exactly why the Underwriter decided to give you the lower rate class.  Your agent should be able to assist you in determining if the decision was borderline or based on inaccurate information. 

Return of Premium Term Life Insurance — Pros and Cons

I am often asked my opinion of Return of Premium life insurance — ROP for short.  Like most products on the market, ROP can make sense for some and not for others.  When ROP products were first offered several years ago, I heard Clark Howard offer his opinion on the product and I was a little suprised by what he had to say.  He said that it was a good move for those people who are very diligent about paying their premiums on time and plan to keep the policy for the full term period. 

Experienced life and health insurance Agents in Georgia

There are lots of knowledgeable, experienced life and health agents in Georgia.  However, there are many, many more unexperienced agents in the marketplace.   I would venture to guess that the ratio is 1:10 at best.  With our current recession and high unemployment rate, there has been a huge influx of people entering the insurance industry.  There is an extremely low barrier of entry compared to other business start-ups. It’s almost too easy to get licensed to sell insurance.  In a sense,

How to Apply for Life and Health Insurance In Georgia

There is not a single “right way” to apply for health or life insurance.  Although their are some general guidelines followed by most carriers, each carrier has it’s own set of unique underwriting guidelines.  This is why it is very important to apply for coverage with the assistance of a knowledgeable agent.  People who apply directly with a carrier or through an inexperienced agent are much more likely to get declined or receive an unfavorable underwriting decision. 

As an example,

Term Life or Whole Life Insurance?

Two Categories of Life Insurance

Most people make the distinction between two major types of life insurance as Term and Whole Life, but the more accurate terms are: Term and Permanent life insurance. Those are the two broad categories of life insurance; whole life is just one type of permanent life insurance.  Sometimes “whole life” and “permanent life” are used interchangeably.  With the advent of several unique product designs in the past 10 or 15 years,

Mortgage Protection Life Insurance in Georgia — Is it Worth Buying?

If you are a homeowner who recently closed on a loan or refinanced a mortgage, then it is likely that you have been inundated with offers for “Mortage Protection” or “Mortgage Life Insurance”.   The letters appear official — as if they are sent by your lender — but in 9 out of 10 cases, they are not.  Often times, your lender will partner with an insurance company and send out an offer for Mortgage Life Insurance, but these are far outnumbered by the others. 

Instant Term Life Insurance Quotes — Is Quicker Always Better?

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When purchasing life insurance, it is important to determine what is important to you.  In today’s  fast-paced world, we place a high value on time management and efficiency.  If we have a choice of shopping online for a gift or visiting several brick and mortar stores, we quickly see the benefit of the Internet.  However, when shopping for life insurance, getting things done as quickly as possible isn’t always the best policy. 

One of the popular mega-sites offering life insurance received the following review from U.S.

The Right Way to Get Quotes and Apply for Life Insurance

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I received an email from a client last year asking me to contact his investment advisor. My client’s investment advisor had referred him to another life insurance agent, but the rates he received were not the same as the rates I quoted him. Below is an excerpt from the email (I was copied on the email).

“Tim,  Greg Sanders is the agent I have been using and his rates seem a little better than Tony’s….Greg has been very responsive and professional in my dealings with him…..always good to have options … 

Laddering Term Life Policies

The term “laddering” is commonly used with reference to financial products such as CDs, but it can also be used with life insurance. Simply put, laddering is a strategy employed to have more than one financial product “expire” or mature at different dates to benefit the owner.  With respect to CDs, this concept protects against reinvesting a large amount of money in a poor financial climate.  This concept has been applied to life insurance since the need for life insurance tends to diminish over time as debts are paid off and assets grow in value.

Should I Buy Life Insurance Online? Yes…and No.

Generally speaking, people are comfortable shopping online for most items.  The Internet is a great tool for gathering information and advice prior to making a purchase — and this especially holds true for life insurance.  There are numerous sites online that provide instant quotes and solid, basic information about life insurance.  Some sites are more “salesy” than others, but it doesn’t take long to sift out those sites and focus on the ones that are professional and helpful.

The popular mega-sites have call centers that make it very easy to ask questions and apply for coverage.