Jan 16 2012

Life Insurance 101: What You Should Know Before You Buy

Posted by Jonas in Finance

Life insurance is an important commodity for any individual. Life insurance provides coverage for you, in case of your untimely death, providing your loved ones with financial security. While life insurance is beneficial, selecting the right life insurance can be hard. The tips in this article should help you with selecting life insurance.

To save money on your life insurance policy, it is important to understand how insurance companies and their associates make a profit. Insurance agents and financial planners that work on commission, are only paid if they sell you an insurance product, while fee based planners earn from sales, as well as fees.

Before you buy your life insurance, call the insurance company you are interested in and ask them all the questions you have. You should understand everything that is on your policy and how to file claims. If the insurance company is not being helpful, you should consider choosing another one.

When purchasing a policy, your insurance agent is required to ask you if you are interested in purchasing “riders” to your policy. Do not purchase these. They are expensive and ultimately do not have a large impact on your overall policy or its effectiveness in the long run and are an expense.

Once you have purchased your life insurance policy, be sure to thoroughly review it so that you understand every detail. You have thirty days to be sure this policy is the best option for you. If you decide you are not satisfied with the policy, you can cancel it at any time within the thirty days and get your premium refunded.

Renew your whole life insurance policy every year. Many companies automatically renew policies yearly, but you need to verify the specifics with your own insurance company. A lapse in policy coverage will drive up your insurance rates, and will not pay in the unlikely event that something should happen to you.

Sometimes in life insurance, more coverage is actually cheaper. As the amount of coverage increases, the cost per thousand dollars of coverage will decrease. For some companies, the math works out such that buying a bigger policy actually costs you less per month in premiums. Always ask for price quotes for multiple levels of coverage when shopping for insurance.

You may be able to save a significant amount of money on your life insurance by paying your premiums annually instead of monthly. Insurance companies often have extra fees for customers who pay every month instead of just once a year. Ask your insurer if you can switch to an annual payment.

Make sure you buy enough life insurance to cover your family’s expenses in the event of your death. Experts recommend that your policy should cover at least 7 times your gross annual income. This would give your dependents enough to pay bills and cover expenses for awhile.

As stated before, life insurance is important for anyone to have, as in the case of your own death, it financially secures your loved ones. Using the tips that were provided in the article above, you can easily select life insurance that is right for you and that will take care of your loved ones.