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Many financial experts consider life insurance to be the cornerstone of sound financial planning. It can be an important tool in the following situations: 1. Replace income for dependents If people depend on your income, life insurance can replace that income for them if you die. The most commonly recognized case of this is parents with young children. However, it can also apply to couples in which the survivor would be financially stricken by the income lost through the death of a partner, and to dependent adults, such as parents, siblings or adult children who continue to rely on you financially. Insurance to replace your income can be especially useful if the government- or employer-sponsored benefits of your surviving spouse or domestic partner will be reduced after your death. 2. Pay final expenses Life insurance can pay your funeral and burial costs, probate and other estate administration costs, debts and medical expenses not covered by health insurance. 3. Create an inheritance for your heirs Even if you have no other assets to pass to your heirs, you can create an inheritance by buying a life insurance policy and naming them as beneficiaries. 4. Pay federal death taxes and state death taxes Life insurance benefits can pay estate taxes so that your heirs will not have to liquidate other assets or take a smaller inheritance. Changes in the federal death tax rules between now and January 1, 2011 will likely lessen the impact of this tax on some people, but some states are offsetting those federal decreases with increases in their state-level death taxes. 5. Make significant charitable contributions By making a charity the beneficiary of your life insurance, you can make a much larger contribution than if you donated the cash equivalent of the policys premiums. 6. Create a source of savings Some types of life insurance create a cash value that, if not paid out as a death benefit, can be borrowed or withdrawn on the owners request. Since most people make paying their life insurance policy premiums a high priority, buying a cashvalue type policy can create a kind of forced savings plan. Furthermore, the interest credited is tax deferred (and tax exempt if the money is paid as a death claim).
be in a better position to help support the family. You should also plan to replace hidden income that would be lost at death. Hidden income is income that you receive through your employment but that isnt part of your gross wages. It includes things like your employers subsidy of your health insurance premium, the matching contribution to your 401(k) plan, and many other perks, large and small. This is an often-overlooked insurance need: the cost of replacing just your health insurance and retirement contributions could be the equivalent of $2,000 per month or more. Of course, you should also plan for expenses that arise at death. These include the funeral costs, taxes and administrative costs associated with winding up an estate and passing property to heirs. At a minimum, plan for $15,000. Other sources of income Most families have some sources of post-death income besides life insurance. The most common source is Social Security survivors benefits. Social Security survivors benefits can be substantial. For example, for a 35-year-old person who was earning a $36,000 salary at death, maximum Social Security survivors monthly income benefits for a spouse and two children under age 18 could be about $2,400 per month, and this amount would increase each year to match inflation. (It drops slightly when the survivors are a spouse and one child under 18, and stops completely when there are no children under 18. Also, the surviving spouses benefit would be reduced if he or she earns income over a certain limit.) Many also have life insurance through an employer plan, and some from another affiliation, such as through an association they belong to or a credit card. If you have a vested pension benefit, it might have a death component. Although these sources might provide a lot of income, they rarely provide enough. And it probably isnt wise to count on death benefits that are connected with a particular job, since you might die after switching to a different job, or while you are unemployed. A multiple of salary? Many pundits recommend buying life insurance equal to a multiple of your salary. For example, one financial advice columnist recommends buying insurance equal to 20 times your salary before taxes. She chose 20 because, if the benefit is invested in bonds that pay 5 percent interest, it would produce an amount equal to your salary at death, so the survivors could live off the interest and wouldnt have to invade the principal. However, this simplistic formula implicitly assumes no inflation and assumes that one could assemble a bond portfolio that, after expenses, would provide a 5 percent interest stream every year. But assuming inflation is 3 percent per year, the purchasing power of a gross income of $50,000 would drop to about $38,300 in the 10th year. To avoid this income drop-off, the survivors would have to invade the principal each year. And if they did, they would run out of money in the 16th year. The multiple of salary approach also ignores other sources of income, such as those mentioned previously. A simple example
Suppose a surviving spouse didnt work and had two children, ages 4 and 1, in her care. Suppose her deceased husband earned $36,000 at death and was covered by Social Security but had no other death benefits or life insurance. Assume the surviving spouse is 36. Assume that the deceased spent $6,000 from income on his own living expenses and the cost of working. Assume, for simplicity, that the deceased performed services for the family (such as property maintenance, income tax and other financial management, and occasional child care) for which the survivors will need to pay $6,000 per year. Assume that the survivors will have to buy health insurance to replace the coverage the deceased had at work, and that this will cost $12,000 per year. Taken together, the survivors will need to replace the equivalent of $48,000 of income, adjusted each year for an assumed 4 percent inflation. Thanks to Social Security, the survivors would need life insurance to replace only about $1,700 per month of lost wage income (adjusted for inflation) for 14 years until the older child reaches 18; Social Security would provide the rest. The survivors would need life insurance to replace about $2,100 per month (adjusted for inflation) for three more years when the non-working surviving spouse has only one child under 18 in her care. The life insurance amount needed today to provide the $1,700 and $2,100 monthly amounts is roughly $360,000. Adding $15,000 for funeral and other final expenses brings the minimum life insurance needed for the example to $375,000. Whats left out? The example leaves out some potentially significant unmet financial needs, such as
The surviving spouse will have no income from Social Security from age 53 until 60 unless the deceased buys additional life insurance to cover this period. It could be assumed that the surviving spouse will obtain a job at or before this time, but she could also become disabled or otherwise unable to work. If life insurance were bought for this period, the additional amount of insurance needed would be about $335,000. Some people like to plan to use life insurance to pay off the home mortgage at the primary income earners death, so that the survivors are less likely to face the threat of losing their home. If life insurance were bought for this goal, the additional amount of insurance needed is the amount of the unpaid balance on the mortgage. Some people like to provide money to pay to send their children to college out of their life insurance. We may assume that each child will attend a public college for four years and will need $15,000 per year. However, college costs have been rising faster than inflation for many decades, and this trend is unlikely to slow down. If life insurance were bought for this goal, the additional amount of insurance needed would be about $200,000. In the example, no money is planned for the surviving spouses retirement, except for what the spouse would be entitled to receive from Social Security (about $1,200 per month). It could be assumed that the surviving spouse will obtain a job and will either participate in an employers retirement plan or save with an IRA, but she could also become disabled or otherwise unable to work. If life insurance were bought to provide the equivalent of $4000 per month starting at age 60 until 65 and
$3,000 per month from 65 on (because at 65 Medicare will make carrying private health insurance unnecessary), the additional amount of insurance needed would be about $465,000.
traditional whole life productuniversal life insurance and variable universal life insurance. For more on the different types of whole life/permanent insurance, click here.
Most employer group plans are term insurance, but if you leave that employer your state may require that you be allowed to convert the policy to a form of whole life insurance with the same insurance company that provides the group life insurance. You would then pay premiums directly to the company and keep the insurance in force. This can be an advantage if you are older, or have experienced deteriorating health, as it gives you the opportunity to qualify for whole life insurance without having a medical exam. Credit Life Insurance Credit cards and lending institutions may offer life insurance to pay off your outstanding loans in the event of your death. This is generally made available in two ways 1. As part of the loan at no extra charge. In this case the cost of the life insurance is borne by the lender and is included in its interest rate or other finance charges. If you have this type of credit life insurance, you dont need separate life insurance to pay off that loan if you die. 2. As an option at an extra charge. In this case, you should usually reject the optional coverage, provided that you have some other life insurance (group or individual) that can be designated to pay off the loan if you die. If youre under age 50 and you dont have other insurance that could pay off this loan, consider buying individual life insurance for this purpose as the rates will probably be better. At 50 or over (or younger with health issues), if you have no other life insurance for this purpose, the optional credit life insurance is likely to be cheaper than individual life insurance.
What is a beneficiary?
A beneficiary is the person or entity you name in a life insurance policy to receive the death benefit. You can name: One person Two or more people The trustee of a trust youve set up A charity Your estate If you dont name a beneficiary, the death benefit will be paid to your estate. Two levels of beneficiaries Your life insurance policy should have both primary and contingent beneficiaries. The primary beneficiary gets the death benefits if he or she can be found after your death. Contingent beneficiaries get the death benefits if the primary beneficiary cant be found. If no primary or contingent beneficiaries can be found, the death benefit will be paid to your estate. As part of naming beneficiaries, you should identify them as clearly as possible and include their social security numbers. This will make it easier for the life insurance company to find them, and it will make it less likely that disputes will arise regarding the death benefits. For example, if you write "wife [or husband] of the insured" without using a specific name, an ex-spouse could claim the death benefit. On the other hand, if you have named specific children, any later-born or adopted children will not receive the death benefitunless you change the beneficiary designation to include them.
Besides naming beneficiaries, you should specify how the benefits are to be handled if one or more beneficiaries cant be found. For example, suppose you have two children and you name each one to receive half of the death benefit. If one of the children dies before you do, do you want the other child to get the entire death benefit, or the deceased childs heirs to get his or her share? If the death benefit goes to your estate, probate proceedings could delay distributing the money, and the cost of probate could diminish the amount available to your heirs. Choosing beneficiaries, and keeping those choices up-to-date, is an important part of owning life insurance. The birth or adoption of a child, marriage or divorce can affect your initial choice. Review your beneficiary designation as new situations arise in order to make sure your choice is still appropriate.
TYPE OF LIFE INSURANCE What are the types of term insurance policies?
Term insurance comes in two basic varietieslevel term and decreasing term. These days, almost everyone buys level term insurance. The terms level and decreasing refer to the death benefit amount during the term of the policy. A level term policy pays the same benefit amount if death occurs at any point during the term. Common types of level term are: yearly- (or annually-) renewable term 5-year renewable term 10-year term 15-year term 20-year term 25-year term 30-year term term to a specified age (usually 65) Yearly renewable term, once popular, is no longer a top seller. The most popular type is now 20-year term. Most companies will not sell term insurance to an applicant for a term that ends past his or her 80th birthday. If a policy is renewable, that means it continues in force for an additional term or terms, up to a specified age, even if the health of the insured (or other factors) would cause him or her to be rejected if he or she applied for a new life insurance policy. Generally, the premium for the policy is based on the insured persons age and health at the policys start, and the premium remains the same (level) for the length of the term. So, premiums for 5-year renewable term can be level for 5 years, then to a new rate reflecting the new age of the insured, and so on every five years. Some longer term policies will guarantee that the premium will not increase during the term; others dont make that guarantee, enabling the insurance company to raise the rate during the policys term. Some term policies are convertible. This means that the policys owner has the right to
change it into a permanent type of life insurance without additional evidence of insurability. Return of Premium In most types of term insurance, including homeowners and auto insurance, if you havent had a claim under the policy by the time it expires, you get no refund of the premium. Your premium bought the protection that you had but didnt need, and youve received fair value. Some term life insurance consumers have been unhappy at this outcome, so some insurers have created term life with a return of premium feature. The premiums for the insurance with this feature are often significantly higher than for policies without it, and they generally require that you keep the policy in force to its term or else you forfeit the return of premium benefit. Some policies will return the base premium but not the extra premium (for the return benefit), and others will return both.
Whole or ordinary life This is the most common type of permanent insurance policy. It offers a death benefit along with a savings account. If you pick this type of life insurance policy, you are agreeing to pay a certain amount in premiums on a regular basis for a specific death benefit. The savings element would grow based on dividends the company pays to you. Universal or adjustable life This type of policy offers you more flexibility than whole life insurance. You may be able to increase the death benefit, if you pass a medical examination. The savings vehicle (called a cash value account) generally earns a money market rate of interest. After money has accumulated in your account, you will also have the option of altering your premium payments providing there is enough money in your account to cover the costs. This can be a useful feature if your economic situation has suddenly changed. However, you would need to keep in mind that if you stop or reduce your premiums and the saving accumulation gets used up, the policy might lapse and your life insurance coverage will end. You should check with your agent before deciding not to make premium payments for extended periods because you might not have enough cash value to pay the monthly charges to prevent a policy lapse. Variable life This policy combines death protection with a savings account that you can invest in stocks, bonds and money market mutual funds. The value of your policy may grow more quickly, but you also have more risk. If your investments do not perform well, your cash value and death benefit may decrease. Some policies, however, guarantee that your death benefit will not fall below a minimum level. Variable-universal life If you purchase this type of policy, you get the features of variable and universal life policies. You have the investment risks and rewards characteristic of variable life insurance, coupled with the ability to adjust your premiums and death benefit that is characteristic of universal life insurance.
However, the premium in a permanent policy remains the same, while term can go up substantially every time you renew it. There are a number of different types of permanent insurance policies, such as whole (ordinary) life, universal life, variable life, and variable/universal life. In a permanent policy, the cash value is different from its face value amount. The face amount is the money that will be paid at death. Cash value is the amount of money available to you. There are a number of ways that you can use this cash savings. For instance, you can take a loan against it or you can surrender the policy before you die to collect the accumulated savings. There are unique features to a permanent policy such as:
You can lock in premiums when you purchase the policy. By purchasing a permanent policy, the premium will not increase as you age or if your health status changes. The policy will accumulate cash savings. Depending on the policy, you may be able to withdraw some of the money. You also may have these options: o Use the cash value to pay premiums. If unexpected expenses occur, you can stop or reduce your premiums. The cash value in the policy can be used toward the premium payment to continue your current insurance protection providing there is enough money accumulated.
o
Borrow from the insurance company using the cash value in your life insurance as collateral. Like all loans, you will ultimately need to repay the insurer with interest. Otherwise, the policy may lapse or your beneficiaries will receive a reduced death benefit. However, unlike loans from most financial institutions, the loan is not dependent on credit checks or other restrictions.
Keep in mind that premiums are lowest when you are young and increase upon renewal as you age. Some term insurance policies can be renewed when the policy ends, but the premium will generally increase. Some policies require a medical examination at renewal to qualify for the lowest rates. You should consider permanent life insurance if: You need life insurance for as long as you live. A permanent policy pays a death benefit whether you die tomorrow or live to be 100. You want to accumulate a savings element that will grow on a tax-deferred basis and could be a source of borrowed funds for a variety of purposes. The savings element can be used to pay premiums to keep the life insurance in force if you cant pay them otherwise, or it can be used for any other purpose you choose. You can borrow these funds even if your credit is shaky. The death benefit is collateral for the loan, and if you die before its repaid, the insurance company collects what is due the company before determining whats goes to your beneficiary. Keep in mind that premiums for permanent policies are generally higher than for term insurance. However, the premium in a permanent policy remains the same no matter how old you are, while term can go up substantially every time you renew it. There are a number of different types of permanent insurance policies, such as whole (ordinary) life, universal life, variable life, and variable/universal life.
Product most, but not all, companies offer a broad range of policies and features, so choose a company that offers the product and features that meet your needs. Identity life insurance company names can be confusing, and different companies can have similar names. Life insurance company names often use words that suggest financial strength (such as Guaranty, Reserve, or Security),
financial sophistication (such as Bankers, Financial, or Investors), maturity (such as First, Pioneer, or Old), dependability (such as Assurance, Reliable, Trust), fairness (such as Beneficial, Equitable, or Peoples), breadth of operations (such as Continental, National, or International), government (such as American, Capital, or Republic), or well-known and respected Americans (such as Jefferson, Franklin, or Lincoln). Be sure you know the full name, home office location, and affiliation (if any) of any company you are considering (for an example, click here). Financial Solidity life insurance is a long-term arrangement. There is no guarantee for life insurance policyholders similar to that provided for bank accounts by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Select a company that is likely to be financially sound for many years, by using ratings from independent rating agencies. Market ethics some life insurance companies subscribe to the principles and codes of conduct of the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association, a nonprofit organization that promotes ethical conduct in life insurance marketing. Advice and service for many people, life insurance is a strange, complex product, so that it helps to deal with a representative with whom you can communicate and who is attentive to your needs. This might be connected to the selection of a life insurance company because some agents represent only one or a very few life insurance companies. See How do I select a life insurance agent? Claims you may want to check a national claims database to see what complaint information it has on a company. Also, your state insurance department will be able to tell you if the insurance company you are considering doing business with had many consumer complaints about its service relative to the number of policies it sold. Premium and cost The premium is the amount you pay the company for the life insurance contract with all of its benefits. Even for a given death benefit and type of insurance (e.g., term life), the premium can vary widely among companies, either because some companies policies have features that others dont, or because some charge more than others for the same coverage. So the first step in comparing policies is to make sure you compare similar insurance plans, based on -Your age -The type of policy and policy features -The amount of insurance you are purchasing The premium for the policy isnt the same as the cost of the protection portion of the policy. One policy might have a higher premium but also offer more benefits (for example, it might pay policy dividends) than another. Or both might promise dividends, but in different amounts at different points in time. In each case, the higher-premium policy might have a lower cost of protection. How can you tell what a policys cost is? Companies should tell you a policys Net Payment Cost Index and its Surrender Cost Index. Use the Surrender Cost Index if youre thinking of keeping the insurance only for a specific period of time; use the Net Payment Cost Index if you expect to keep the policy indefinitely. Generally, the lower the cost index, the better.
indicate minor variations in rating from another rating class. The agencies disagree often enough so that you should consider a companys rating from two or more agencies before judging whether to buy or keep a policy from that company. Moreover, agencies will announce changes of ratings on any day. Its probably prudent to check annually on the ratings of any company youre interested in. Some points for using the ratings: Dont rely only on what the insurance companies say about their ratings from these agencies. Companies are likely to highlight a higher rating from one agency and ignore a lower one from another agency, or to select the most favorable comments from a rating agencys report. To use the ratings from more than one independent agency, you need to understand that each agencys rating code is different from the others. For example, an A+ from A.M. Best is the next-to-top rating of its 15 categories, but an A+ from Fitch or S&P is their 5th-highest rating (out of 24 categories for Fitch, and out of 19 categories for S&P). Moreover, Moodys doesnt have an A+ rating. However, the ratings can be classified into secure and vulnerable mega-categories. Here, as of August 2005, are the rating scales for each of the secure rating classes, and all the vulnerable classes combined (source, except for Weiss: The Insurance Forum, September 2005 issue).
Rating Agency # of companies in category 67 259 288 326 166 145 250 % of rated companies in category 4.5 17.3 19.2 21.7 11.1 9.7 16.5
Description Superior Superior Excellent Excellent Very good Very good Vulnerable Exceptionally strong Very strong Very strong Very strong Strong Strong Strong Good Good Good Vulnerable Exceptional
Fitch
24 72 68 78 59 52 38 17 21 8 6 12
5.4 16.3 15.3 17.6 13.3 11.7 8.6 3.8 4.7 1.8 1.4 3.8
Moody's
Aaa
Excellent Excellent Excellent Good Good Good Adequate Adequate Adequate Vulnerable Extremely strong Very strong Very strong Very strong Strong Strong Strong Good Good Good Vulnerable Excellent Excellent Excellent Good Good Good Fair Fair Fair Vulnerable
18 59 91 24 33 48 16 3 1 15
5.6 18.4 28.4 7.5 10.3 15.0 5.0 0.9 0.3 4.7
S&P
30 43 97 63 83 134 61 26 37 4 80 29** 29** 29** 282** 282** 282** 380** 380** 380** 272**
4.6 6.5 14.7 9.6 12.6 20.4 9.3 4.0 5.6 0.6 12.2 3 3 3 29 29 29 39 39 39 28
Weiss*
*2004 figures; updated information not available **As of March 25, 2003
Ratings Agency Contact Information All of the ratings agencies can be found on the Web, or reached by phone.
Web site
Address Ambest Rd. Oldwick, NJ 08858 1 State Street Plaza New York, NY 10004 99 Church Street New York, NY 10007
www.ambest.com
Fitch Ratings www.fitchibca.com Moodys Investor Services* Standard & Poors Insurance Ratings Services*
1-800-75FITCH
www.moodys.com
212-5530300
55 Water Street New York, www2.standardandpoors.com NY 10004 15430 Endeavor Drive Jupiter, FL 33478
212-4382000
Weiss Research**
www.weissratings.com
800-2899222
*To use these Web sites, you have to register, but its free. **Weiss charges $14.99 for each rating. However, its public Web site lists the ten highest and ten lowest ranked companies, and the companies themselves might reveal their Weiss rating.
Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), who subscribe to the organizations Code of Ethics ( http://www.naifa.org/about/ethics.cfm ). An agent or broker who has one or more professional financial services designations has demonstrated a commitment to specialized education in the field. Designations you might see include the following:
Designation
Issuing Institution
CLU ChFC
www.theamericancollege.edu
CFP
www.cfp.net
RR RP
National Registered Association Representative of or Registered Securities Principal Dealers, Inc www.nasd.com
The Compensation Issue Like everyone else, agents and brokers get paid for their services, which are enriched by their education and experience. Most agents and brokers are paid by commission, but some work on a fee basis. Typically, the largest part of the compensation is paid at the time you purchase the annuity, since most of the agents or brokers work occurs at that time or just before it. As with any professional service, you should understand how your agent or broker will be compensated and how that might affect the purchase recommendation. The bottom line? The best way to protect yourself is to make sure you understand what youre buying and the nature of the products limitations, penalties or fees if you want to drop the policy.
details. 2. Shop around to get a sense of the premium youre likely to pay. Quote services on the Internet may serve this purpose, or you can ask an agent or broker to get you a premium estimate. As part of this research, determine which rate class youll fit into. Most companies that sell individual life insurance have several different price classesusually called preferred (non-tobacco), standard (non-tobacco), preferred (tobacco), and standard (tobacco). A small percentage of people have health conditions or histories that disqualify them for even standard rates. Many in this group will be offered insurance at impaired risk or nonstandard rates. 3. Look into group insurance. Consider participating in your employer-sponsored life insurance program, even if you have to contribute to it financially. Employers often subsidize their group insurance costs, so it can be less expensive than individual life insurance. You might obtain coverage up to a certain level without providing evidence of good health, an advantage for some people. Youll probably pay premiums through payroll deduction, which can be a nice convenience. However, make sure to compare group and individual rates, as depending on your age and health status, group insurance may or may not provide a savings. In comparing group to individual life insurance, remember that if you have over $50,000 of group life insurance, IRS tables determine how much it costs to provide the amount over $50,000 and charges you taxable income for that cost. 4. Take care of yourself. Find out into which rate class youll be grouped and, if necessary, consider making some lifestyle changesdont smoke, maintain a healthy weight and exercise regularlyto qualify for a more favorable rate class.
When you're ready to buy 1. Shop around to get a good rate. Life insurance is a very competitive business, and youll find differences of hundreds of dollars (for annual premiums) even among financially strong companies for essentially the same policy. 2. Consider the net cost index. How can you compare two policies, one with premiums that start lower than the other but later are higher than the other? Or one with low premiums and a low cash value, the other with higher premiums and a higher cash value? Use a net cost indexa standard method for collapsing these variables into one number. The lower the number, the better, but ignore small differences (since the indexes are approximations based on assumptions, small differences might not signal true differences in values). The agent or broker with whom youre dealing, or the company from which youre considering buying a policy, will provide these index numbers. 3. Be aware of premium discounts for particular amounts of insurance. Most companies offer rate discounts for specified insurance amounts. For example, you might actually pay a smaller premium for $250,000 of life insurance than for
$200,000, or for $500,000 of life insurance than for $450,000, because a discount kicks in at the higher insurance amount. 4. Beware of fractional premiums. Typically, you can pay your life insurance premium once a year, once every halfyear, once a quarter, or once a month. Although paying quarterly or monthly might seem to be easier to fit into your budget, some companies levy high charges for paying premiums frequently. Others levy quite small charges to do this. If a company levies high charges for paying more frequently, try budgeting so that you can pay your premium only once or twice a year. 5. If youre buying a term policy, look for renewal guarantees. A renewal guarantee gives you the right to start a new term after the current one ends, paying a higher premium based on your current age, but without requiring you to undergo a new health exam or submit any other evidence of insurability. Without the guarantee, youd have to shop for life insurance all over again, and if your health has deteriorated, you might have to pay much more or not get it at all.
Another reason for buying life insurance on a childs life is to guard against the possibility that, when the child is older, he or she might not be able to buy life insurance because of intervening illness or other circumstance. Still another reason for buying life insurance on a childs life is part of a program to teach the child financial responsibility. Typically the insurance is whole life insurance, ownership of which is transferred to the child when he or she turns 21. Most insurance advisors recommend that families spend their insurance budget to buy life and disability income insurance on the parents first, before considering insurance on childrens lives. Death of a parent, particularly an income-earner, could have financial consequences that are devastating compared to the financial effects from a childs death.
Young people dont generally plan to have savings available to pay for funeral and burial costs, final medical expenses, estate administration and transfer costs, and federal and state income and estate taxes. Life insurance can cover these costs, which can easily reach tens of thousands of dollars. 8. To create a financial safety net Conventional wisdom says each household should have an emergency fund equal to about half a years income, to meet surprise unavoidable outlays. If the household does not already have an emergency fund, the post-death family will be even more financially vulnerable without one. Furthermore, it might also be somewhat more difficult for the survivors to obtain credit. Life insurance can solve this problem. 9. To offset lost income if a spouse dies after beginning Social Security retirement benefits When a couple retires and begins receiving Social Security retirement benefits, each one receives an income. The earner with the larger pre-retirement income gets a benefit based on that income, and the person with the smaller (or no) preretirement income gets either a benefit based on his or her own earnings record or half of the spouses Social Security benefit, whichever is greater. When one spouse dies, the larger retirement benefit continues but the second benefit stopsin effect, a 33 percent income reduction. Life insurance can offset this income drop. 10. To provide bequests to heirs and charities If you want to be sure that your heirs and/or favorite charities get money after your death, you can designate some or all of your life insurance benefits to go to them. This is particularly useful if, without the life insurance, your executor would have to liquidate other assets to meet this objective.
You might have life insurance automatically from your employer. Your employer also might offer you the chance to buy additional life insurance under a group policy. And you might be eligible to buy life insurance under a group policy from your union or trade association or other group you belong to (such as a college alumni association or an automobile club). For each of these life insurance benefits, you should record the following information: The name of the employer or group that sponsors the insurance The office or person to contact when its time to file a claim The certificate number (comparable to the policy number under an individual policy) The date the insurance was started The amount of the death benefit Sometimes financial programs that are mainly designed for income or other purposes have death benefits as additional features. This might include pensions, annuities, workers compensation programs, disability insurance, travel accident insurance, etc. For each such program, you should record the following information: The type of policy that has a death benefit as part of its features The full name of the life insurance company that issued the policy The city and state of the home office of the company that issued the policy The policy number The date the policy was issued The amount of the death benefit The name and address of the agent/broker who sold you the policy The location of the original insurance policy Credit cards and lending institutions may offer life insurance to pay off your outstanding loans in the event of your death. For each life insurance benefit on your life dedicated to paying off a loan, you should record The full name of the lending institution through which you obtained the life insurance The loan number and issue date of the loan The name of the person or office to contact when its time to file a claim The policy number of the life insurance policy that pays off the loan
Where should I keep the information? Keep one set of these records in your home, in a place where others who need this information are likely to find it (and after you put the information there, tell the people wholl need it where it is). This might be with your other financial records (such as income tax, checking account, investment records), with your other legal papers (such as a copy of your will, living will, health care proxy, etc.), or anywhere your survivors are likely to look for them. Keep another set of these records off sitethat is, outside of your home, perhaps in a safe deposit box, or with a professional or a relative who can be counted on to produce them when theyre needed. On each page, record the date on which the information was last updated. That way, if the copy in your home differs from the one in the safe deposit box, its easy to tell which is the more current.
You should review all of your insurance needs at least once a year. If you have a major life change, you should contact your insurance agent or company representative. The change in your life may have a significant impact on your insurance needs. Life changes may include:
Marriage or divorce A child or grandchild who is born or adopted Significant changes in your health or that of your spouse/domestic partner Taking on the financial responsibility of an aging parent Purchasing a new home A loved one who requires long-term care Refinancing your home Coming into an inheritance
Cash out the policy. This means that you can stop paying the premium and collect the available cash savings. You will no longer be covered by life insurance, but you will at least save some of the proceeds of the policy. You may, however, have to pay taxes on some of the cash value if the sum exceeds what you have paid in premiums. Non-forfeiture options There may be a reduced paid-up option. This means that you can stop paying premiums completely in return for a reduced death benefit and no cash saving. You may also be able to convert the permanent policy to an extended term policy for a time period based on the accumulated cash savings in the policy. Policy will lapse If this happens, see if the policy can be reinstated. Some insurers may allow this if you do it within five years of lapsing. You will most likely have to pass a physical examination for the reinstated policy and pay back the premiums you would have paid plus interest. Annual premiums for the reinstated policy may be lower than those for a new, comparable policy.
Get several copies of the death certificate. Call your insurance agent. He or she can help you fill out the necessary forms and act as an intermediary with the insurance company. (Dont keep life insurance policies in your safe deposit box. In most states, safe deposit boxes are sealed temporarily upon the death of the owner, which can delay the settlement. ) If you dont have an insurance agent, or dont know who the deceased's agent was, contact the company directly. Submit a certified copy of the death certificate from the funeral director with the policy claim. Once the claim is submitted, a settlement should be issued to you shortly. Once a life insurance claim is submitted, you must determine how the proceeds will be distributed. These are some of the options available: o Lump sum -- You receive the entire death benefit in a single amount. o Specific income provision -- The company pays you both principal and interest on a predetermined schedule. o Life income option -- You receive a guaranteed income for life. The amount of income depends on the death benefit, your gender and your age at the time of the insured's death.
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Interest income option -- The company holds the proceeds and pays you interest on them. The death benefit remains intact and goes to a secondary beneficiary upon your death.
4. Contact previous employers. Former employers may have a record of a past group policy or policies. 5. Check bank books and canceled checks. See if any checks have been made out to life insurance companies over the years. 6. Check the mail for a year following the death of the policyholder. Look for premium notices or dividend notices. If a policy has been paid up, there will no notice of premium payments due. However, the company may still send an annual notice regarding the status of the policy or it may pay or send notice of a dividend. 7. Review the deceaseds income tax returns for the past two years. Look for interest income from and interest expenses paid to life insurance companies. Life insurance companies pay interest on accumulations on permanent policies and charge interest on policy loans. 8. Contact all relevant state insurance departments. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has a Life Insurance Company Location System to help you find state insurance department personnel who might help identify companies that might have written life insurance on the deceased. To access that service, click here. 9. Check with the state's unclaimed property office. If a life insurance company knows that an insured client has died but cant find the beneficiary, it must turn the death benefit over to the state in which the policy was bought as unclaimed property. If you know (or can guess) where the policy was bought, you can contact the state comptrollers department to see if it has any unclaimed money from life insurance policies belonging to the deceased. 10. Contact a private service that will search for lost life insurance. Several private companies will, for a fee, contact insurance companies for you to find out if the deceased was insured. This service is often provided through their Web sites. 11. Do you think the life insurance might have been bought in Canada? If so, you might contact the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (phone: 1-800-268-8099; Web site: www.clhia.ca). 12. Try the MIB database. There is a database of all applications for individual life insurance that were processed during the last 12 years. There is a $75 charge per search. Many searches are not successful: a random sample of searches found only 1 match in every 4 tries. For information, click here.
American Council of Life Insurers 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004-2599 202-624-2000 www.acli.com
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 MetLife
Group Prudential Financial New York Life Insurance TIAA-CREF Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Northwestern Mutual AFLAC Genworth Financial Unum Group Principal Financial Guardian Life of America Lincoln National Assurant Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Pacific Life Western & Southern Financial Mutual of Omaha Ins. Conseco Torchmark American National Ins.
Revenues $53,275 32,488 28,365 26,757 24,863 20,726 14,616 11,029 10,719 9,870 9,694 9,063 8,071 6,165 5,202 4,838 4,498 4,467 3,421 3,114
Assets $527,715 454,266 165,665 412,980 154,071 145,102 59,805 110,871 52,823 143,658 39,488 178,494 25,165 56,534 99,347 30,320 17,128 32,717 14,980 17,932
Source: Fortune.