If you don’t have life insurance or need more coverage than you already have, there are three main ways to obtain additional coverage:
Through an Insurance Professional
Most people need help conducting the detailed financial assessment needed to determine how much and what kind of insurance to buy. That’s why they usually turn to a qualified insurance professional. To find one that’s right for you, ask for recommendations from friends, relatives or a trusted advisor, such as a lawyer or accountant. Before agreeing to work with an agent, interview at least two to establish a basis for comparison. Ask them about their education, training, professional designations, and if they are a member of a professional association, such as the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers, which has a stringent code of ethics to which its members agree to adhere.
At Work
Many employers, especially larger ones, offer life insurance as part of their benefits package—usually a term policy equal to one or two times your annual salary—at no cost to you. This is called group insurance, a nice benefit to have, but it’s typically not enough to meet most people’s needs. If you need more coverage than your employer’s “basic” benefit, talk to your benefits manager at work.
Many companies give their employees the option to purchase additional coverage through their employer’s group plan. Often, you can purchase limited amounts of extra coverage without having to answer questions about your health. If you want to significantly increase your coverage, you may have to answer health questions in order to qualify.
If your employer doesn’t offer a group life insurance quotes benefit, you still might be able to get coverage through work. Some companies give their employees the option to buy life insurance on a voluntary, employee-paid basis. While you pay the full cost of the benefits under a voluntary arrangement, there are several advantages to buying insurance this way. Voluntary plans help workers get coverage more easily than if they were to purchase an individual policy on their own outside of the work- place. Plus, the premium can be automatically deducted from your paycheck, and can be less expensive because of efficiencies in application and billing procedures.
Direct Purchasing
You can purchase coverage via the Internet, over the phone or by mail. The better services provide qualified insurance professionals to guide you through the process, and offer competitive quotes from multiple cheap life insurance companies for term life insurance. Based on your specific health situation, finding the right company is important in getting the best price available.
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 12:08 pm Post Subject:
a trusted advisor, such as a lawyer or accountant.
Truth be told, by occupation, lawyers are the most frequent source of complaints to state insurance departments when it comes to insurance matters. They are as likely not to read their own insurance contracts as any other person. As a result, the information you get about insurance from most attorneys might be less reliable than what you get from your accountant -- who's probably too busy to read his own insurance contracts too.
Sure they can recommend an agent to you -- one who's probably a client. That doesn't add any validity to their recommendation.
Ask them about their education, training, professional designations, and if they are a member of a professional association, such as the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers, which has a stringent code of ethics to which its members agree to adhere.
None of this makes a person better qualified to assist a person with their insurance needs. A person newly licensed can be just as capable of doing the best job for their client as any other agent, whether the other agent has "professional designations" or not. Agreeing to adhere to a Code of Ethics and actually doing so are two different things. There are plenty of agents who violate their licensing and professional ethics every day of the week.
Just like one here in CA who was sentenced to six years behind bars for a plea agreement to four felony charges (she was originally charged with 20 counts). Mostly she took money from senior citizens who could ill-afford to lose it.
For example, she obtained a "gift" of $60,000 from one -- money that went straight into her personal checking account, and charged another $8500 for "coaching" on how to access the Medicaid system (and which coaching never was provided).
A Code of Ethics cannot protect against such persons. Only a person's own integrity will do that. You don't need a professional designation or a club membership to have integrity.
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2012 01:11 am Post Subject:
Thanks for this information about life insurance and what is required to get the right policy. Finding the right fit makes a difference in the ease that takes place from the family after facing a death that occurs.
[Link removed per TOU]
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 06:24 am Post Subject:
Max, you're right. But, despite the faux pas, the post does work as a primer to life insurance and describes in a crisp manner the different ways to find and buy a policy, for the first-time viewer.
Pat Cassidy
Disclaimer: I work for [link removed per TOU] and this is my personal opinion.
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