One of the things that I have found in nearly 30 years of working in the Financial Services industry is that most people either don't have enough insurance or those who need it, don't have it.
There are two basic types of insurance: Term and Permanent.
Term insurance is usually for a set period of years - 10, 20, 30, etc. Most term policies expire by age 65 and most are convertable to a permanent policy.
Permanent insurance includes: Whole Life, Universal Life, Variable Life, and many more. These policies gain cash value, some policies such as Universal Life have investment options.
I have included a couple of different calculators here and here so that you can find the amount that you need.
When looking at beneficiaries, most companies will not allow minors to be beneficiaries. This is a situation that you would want to have an attorney set up a living trust. Not only does this allow the trustee to support your minor children, it allows you to designate when and how much each beneficiary will receive. You can see a better explanation here. When naming a beneficiary, be sure it is someone that you can trust. There are far few many stories of people being betrayed for life insurance proceeds.
Ownership is another important issue. The owner of the policy is also the CONTROLLER of the policy. They can make changes and keep the policy in case of divorce or separation.
Make sure that the company that you buy from is rated A+ by A.M. Best. It is best that your agent has designations such as CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter), ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant), or CFP (Certified Financial Planner) or numerous years of experience.
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