If you have questions about life insurance, you have come to the right place. This article is full of lots of great advice, tips and suggestions for how to use it, buy it and get the best deal from it. Read on and soak up the knowledge, you’ll be glad you did.
When you are thinking about how much life insurance to purchase, it’s a good idea to get at least eight or ten times the amount of your annual income. With this amount, if something happens to you, your dependents will be able to invest wisely and continue to take care of their living expenses in the long term.
Be careful to not buy too much or too little insurance coverage. The general rule of thumb is to have at least 5 to 7 times your current salary as your benefit amount. Keep in mind what will have to be covered based on your families needs. Many people also make the mistake of buying too much and end up with inflated insurance premiums for coverage they don’t really need.
Don’t rely on the life insurance plans provided by your employer. The coverage provided by the group term life insurance plans that many employers take out may not meet all your life insurance needs. Also, if you quit your job, you usually can’t take your life insurance policy with you.
Improve your fitness and mental health and quit bad habits before applying for a life insurance policy. Many life insurance providers will offer you a discount based on your physical and mental health. Smoking, being overweight, having high blood pressure and suffering from depression, can all increase the cost of your policy.
It is important to purchase life insurance when you are young and healthy. This is because many insurance companies do not want to provide the elderly, disabled and sick. And companies who do provider older or sick people with life insurance often raise the premium rate due to their condition.
Once you have determined you need life insurance, next you need to figure out how much you need. There are several online calculators you can use, and some other formulas an insurance agent can help you with. If you want a ballpark figure quickly, take your salary and multiply it by 8. This will give you an estimate of how much life insurance you need.
If you need more life insurance, try to get a rider instead of getting a new insurance policy. These are amendments or additions to existing insurance policies. They tend to be less expensive than purchasing a second insurance plan. If the holder is healthy, it is advisable for them to try to buy a second insurance policy, as it may be cheaper than a rider.
Do what you can to better your credit. The lower your credit score, the higher your monthly premiums could possibly be. This is due to the fact that a policy holder with a low score is seen as a high risk to the insurance company. This is what causes them to charge the higher premiums. It’s so they can offset the risk.
You should have your life insurance policy amended as things change in your life. Some examples of things that you may want to report to your life insurance company is if you have new children, an increase in the amount of debt that you have accumulated or if you have gotten a divorce. You can typically change information over the phone.
When you are considering buying a policy, find out what the cancellation procedures are. For example, if you end up disliking the policy for any reason, you may decide to cancel it. It’s important to know up front what type of penalties you may incur later. You need to know upfront what penalties there may be for canceling a policy.
Do you feel wiser now? Life insurance isn’t just for people with a lot of debt, or people who have a lot of money. You can take the information you read here and put that to good use in your own life by determining what and if you need life insurance and how to go about handling it.
