Term Life Insurance..Common Mistakes

Shopping for life insurance can be a difficult and complicated process. I mean, your insuring your life...that's a lot of pressure. Well, for the purpose of this blog post lets assume you have figured out that Term Life Insurance is what makes the most sense for you and your family. Now what? Well there are some common mistakes that people can find themselves in when shopping for term life insurance. The first mistake is to focus solely on cost. Sure price is an important factor to consider when we buy insurance, but sometimes people start looking at it as a commodity and that is really dangerous. Not only are some insurance policies different, but in the past 15 years we are seeing a BOOM of life insurance companies that offer bottom dollar prices and go out of business leaving their policy holders holding a depreciated policy or worse.

The second biggest mistakes that shoppers find themselves in is not choosing the right face value. The tendency is to run arbitrary numbers based on what monthly payment you can afford. So then you have a $100,000 policy and have no idea what its going to pay for. Take some time when shopping and know what that policy is going to pay for (ie. mortgage, college, living expenses, etc). Most agents will offer different life needs worksheets that will give you a great understanding of what limits you need.

Another common mistake is not choosing the right agent. It is very important to choose a licensed agent that understands life insurance contracts and all of the options available within the contracts. There are to many fly by night insurance agents out there that are doing it as a hobby, and many times even people that mean well can end up getting you an option that was not right for you.

The last common mistake is people that dont consider any conversion options. An important option to have in your term life policy is the right to convert to a permanent life policy with the same company without submitting any additional evidence of insurability. This is important to consider because it will allow you to increase your policy even if medically you are consider uninsurable. You will never regret having this rider, but not having can cost you.

Wedding Insurance..One of the most important things you NEVER heard of

Most times when I ask a question about Wedding Insurance I get a blank stare or maybe a courtesy laugh (they think its a bad insurance joke). We even spoke with a huge local wedding expo and the had never heard of wedding insurance. So, what is this elusive product that I am calling the most important thing you never heard of? Wedding insurance is a product that provides you with certain coverage that will be for property damage, lost deposits, cancellation fees, and most importantly LIQUOR LIABILITY. The average cost of a wedding in 2008 was $27,000. So name another thing in your life that you pay that much for without having any insurance to protect you. While most policies have slight variations they have one thing in common..they are very inexpensive. Wedding insurance can run anywhere from around $160 to $2000 if you were throwing an enormous celebrity style wedding. If you have to reschedule a wedding due to a bride or groom being ill, or if there is a horrible storm and you lose your deposit you will get reimbursed. The biggest thing that wedding insurance does is gives you protection from liability lawsuits resulting from consumption of alcohol. Did you know that if someone leaves your function and gets into a wreck and is found to be intoxicated, that you can and probably will be named in the lawsuit. Drunk driving accidents usually bring claimants millions of dollars due to negligence. If you are having alcohol served at your wedding, then this insurance is a must. At the end of the day your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life and having the right protection gives you the piece of mind to focus on the things that matter most.

Tips on Shopping for Individual Health Insurance

Many people associate health insurance as a benefit that you get in a compensation package from your employer. However, over 46 million people don't have that option and are forced to fend for themselves. The problem with this scenario is that there are more and more people that put off coverage until they can manage it into their budget. Trust me, I can understand wanting to be careful about spending but health insurance isn't a great place to cut costs unless you do it responsibly. Did you know that over 50% of ALL bankruptcies deal with unexpected medical expenses? Most of these bankruptcies happened because people thought that they could put off medical coverage until they needed it. Here's a big problem with that arguement: Once you realize that you NEED it.. for an individual health plan you are now considered "uninsurable". This can be one of the most careless ways to save money and is comparable to buying a lottery ticket for retirement funds. The risk is too great to put your trust in "chance". There is a solution however, and there are many ways that you can have coverage without becoming insurance poor. Here are a few suggestions.

USE A BROKER
Using a broker can be a great way that you can save time and money. A broker is licensed to sell many different companies and their responsibility is to you..not the insurance company. Now, do your homework and find someone that you can trust, but once you do..let them help you through the process. Any time you deal with a broker you are able to get industry experience without the pressure of a sales person. Its like buying a house...you could buy a house without a Realtor, but the likelihood that you are going to end up with crummy options, and a high price is very good. Think about it..you don't buy a house this way and you shouldn't insure you body this way.

RAISE YOUR DEDUCTIBLE
This is an easy way to lower premiums, but you want to be careful and calculate the risk intelligently. If you save $20/month by raising your deductible $5000 and you have an accident you saved $240 and gained $5000. Thats not very good. So be smart and understand that when you raise the deductible you are taking on more financial responsibility.

USE AN HSA
If you are a healthy person or have a healthy family, an HSA is a great option to help you save money. HSA, or Health Savings Accounts, are a tax free savings account that you can use to help pay for medical expenses. These are paired with a high deductible health plan and usually dont have Co-Pays. So only use this option if you can take on more financial responsibility. If you would like to find a calculator that helps to determine whether this makes sense for you simply email me at j.marvin@comparemyinsuranceonline.com.

STAY HEALTHY
This sounds simple, but one of the best ways to prevent huge increases in premium is by participating in prevention medicine. Go in for yearly exams, and do the things that will help you stay in good health. Smoking, or tobacco use increases your premium by 25% minimum, and other weight and health factors will increase your premium as well.

At the end of the day, all people need to have health insurance and putting it off not only puts you at risk, but also the people close to you that would be responsible for paying bills if you cant. If you want a good tool to help you start evaluating prices you can visit our website (www.CompareMyInsuranceOnline.com) and click on the INDIVIDUAL HEALTH link and it will show you all top rated health carriers in Texas. Implementing these simple steps will give you the protection that you need and keeping the price manageable.