Unfortunately, people are often mistaken in their belief, and the family they leave behind suffers for their overconfidence. This article can help you to decide which kind of burial insurance for seniors that you need and where to get it. You will find your mind rests easy when you know that your loved ones are well provided for.
Save money on your policy by cleaning up your bad habits and improving your health. Your policy will be priced based upon your risk class, which is determined by many different health factors. Losing excess weight, quitting smoking and getting your cholesterol in check, will reduce your premiums.
Make sure and only by life insurance from companies that are in a strong financial position. Rating agencies like Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and others give ratings to insurance companies. Do not work with any company that does not have an “A” rating from these agencies to protect your investments.
After you have purchased an insurance policy, talk to everyone who might be affected by it. Give your beneficiary the details about the policy, such as the amount, a copy of the documentation, and details about who to contact if a claim needs to be made.
Familiarizing yourself with some common life insurance terms can help you determine which type is best for you, as well as how much coverage you want to purchase. Cash value refers to the portion of your policy that is available for you to withdraw as loans for various purposes, such as education costs or credit card debt. A premium is simply the periodic payment that you make to keep the policy active. Another term you might see is dividends, which refers to the money you may receive back on your premiums if the insurance company overestimated their expenses and ended up with a surplus. A dividend is not guaranteed.
Be on the look out for indications of possible problems with any of the professionals you are relying on. If someone advises you to ignore the rating agencies, you may want to steer clear of this person’s advice.
Unless you truly have no other option, stay away from “guaranteed issue” insurance policies. People that health issues may have to get a guaranteed issue policy, they may be more expensive. If you get this kind of life insurance, you can avoid medical exams, but you’ll need to pay significantly higher premiums. Your coverage will also be much more limited.
A great tip to lower your life insurance premiums is to figure out how much insurance you actually need. You should determine this amount yourself, and do not leave it to insurance companies because they often will overestimate how much insurance you need. This will lead to higher premiums you will have to pay. Therefore, you should only purchase a policy that has the exact amount of insurance you need.
Check with your employer before purchasing life insurance from another source. Often various types of life insurance may be available through employee benefit packages. These policies are frequently less expensive because the employer is able to obtain a group rate for employees purchasing life insurance through this channel. These policies frequently can be expanded to include family members as well.
One tip when purchasing life insurance, always tell the truth about your health issues. Even if you are able to make it through the medical tests and reviews done by the insurance company and get the policy issued, it is not a good idea. Insurance companies investigate claims and if they suspect your information is not valid, the claim will not be paid and your heirs could be tied up in court for years.
Burial
When choosing life insurance, be sure to have a good idea of how much money your loved ones will require. This is important because of the amount of debt that they might be left with the burden of paying off after you die. Consider car payments, mortgage, credit card debts, funeral and burial costs, and the cost of raising children.
When choosing life insurance, you may also wish to look into purchasing burial insurance. This is fairly cheap insurance and will cover things such as your casket, funeral home costs, transportation and other such things. This is well worth it as the costs for these items can be extraordinary, if they come from out of pocket.
Life insurance can help ease the burden to your family by helping with funeral and burial expenses. Policies also pay your family an amount that you designate. For a relatively low monthly cost, your family can be covered $100,000, $250,000, $500,000, or another amount that is right for you.
Make sure you get enough coverage. $500,000 can seem like a windfall of cash for your family in the event of your passing. But when you take into consideration a $300,000 mortgage, car loans, student loans, burial and funeral expenses, credit card debt and the like, all those can add up fast.
Don’t buy shady or cheap life insurance. If your life insurance policy is especially cheap, it might not be enough to help your family after you’re gone. Make sure that your policy will, at least, cover any debt and expenses left to your family, including funeral and burial costs.
Determine the amount of coverage you will need, the amount of money your family will receive after your death is called a death benefit. To determine the amount of life insurance you need simply take your annual salary and multiply by eight. Add to that amount the money you’ll need to cover one-time burial expenses and you’ll have an estimate of the amount of life insurance you need.
Life insurance is never a bad idea. If you are young, you may be able to purchase a small life insurance policy to cover the costs of funeral and burial expenses for just a few dollars per month. In any event, you may be able to provide yourself with peace of mind at a low cost, all you need to do is ask for a quote.
As revealed above, it pays to plan ahead and get insurance, even if you think you may not need it anytime soon. By studying the above article and acting on the advice, you can save your family from potential heartache.