Do You Need Life Insurance?

When it comes to life insurance, people tend to have a lot of questions. You might be wondering if you need life insurance at all, how much life insurance you should have, or how much life insurance costs. These are all valid questions, but in this article, we will discuss why it is important to have some type of life insurance policy for yourself. If you have a family, it’s important to get life insurance for obvious reasons. If you were to die unexpectedly, it leaves your family in a tough financial situation if you don’t have life insurance to replace your current income and time you contribute to your family. Many young people wonder if they need life insurance at all. When you don’t have kids or a spouse, it can seem pretty insignificant to have life insurance, but there’s more to it than just giving money to your spouse or children when you die. When someone passes away unexpectedly, a lot more than just a funeral needs to take place. For example, if you have any debt, someone becomes responsible for that debt after you die. Even if you’re married with no kids, your parents or closest relative could become responsible for that debt. If you have credit card debt, student loans, a car payment, or a mortgage for a house, these are all things that need to be taken into consideration. Unfortunately, our debt doesn’t always die with us. Another reason to have life insurance is to cover funeral expenses. Funerals can be expensive, and the money that you leave behind with a life insurance policy can help contribute toward burial costs and any services your loved ones may want to throw. If none of those reasons strike you as important enough to purchase life insurance, you should also know that as you grow older, life insurance premiums become higher. In general, life insurance is typically cheaper when you are younger and purchase initially. The longer you wait, the more you might pay. It pays to have life insurance. Speak with an agent today and see what plan would be best for you.

How Much Does Life Insurance Cost?

There are a lot of different factors to consider when choosing a life insurance, like how much coverage you need, what term life is right for you, and what you can reasonably afford to pay monthly and annually. Life insurance rates can vary greatly from person to person. A lot of your individual rate depends on your gender, age, and some lifestyle choices. Overall, life insurance is priced around how long you’re expected to live, so the older you are when you purchase, the more you will pay. Typically, life insurance is cheapest for young women who are non-smokers and have no previous medical history. Typical life insurance comes in different term life options that cover you for a certain number of years. For example, you can purchase a 20-year term life plan that will cover you if you were to die within those 20 years, or you can purchase a 30-year term life plan that applies the same way. There are life insurance policies that cover your whole life. However, those are a lot more expensive to purchase than ones with a shorter term life. When you purchase life insurance in your 20s-30s, it will be cheaper annually than if you were to purchase later on in life. For a woman in her 30s with a policy amount of $500,000 and a 20-year term life, it can cost around $200 annually to have life insurance. It would cost around $330 for a 30-year term life with the same policy amount, and $4,142 for whole life coverage of the same policy amount. For a man in his 30s with a $500,000 policy amount it would cost around $240 for a 20-year term life, $400 for a 30-year term life, and $4,700 for a whole life coverage plan. When someone purchases in their 40s, they can expect to pay about $100 more annually for the 20 or 30 year term life plans. Then when someone reaches their 50s, the cost of life insurance about doubles if not more. Due to the nature of life insurance, it’s best to speak with someone and get an accurate quote for your gender, age, and health situation. It’s best to get quotes from different companies and shop around for the policy that is right for you.

Why is Car Insurance Mandatory?

Have you ever stopped to wonder why car insurance is mandatory, but other types of insurance, such as health care, are not? In the United States of America, all states require some form or car insurance except New Hampshire, which is the only state that does not require it.

Car insurance is mandated at the state level, so this allows each individual state to determine the regulation. States acting as individual powers can place any mandate they see fit on their residents, as long as it is not in violation of the restrictions placed on states in the constitution. Due to plenary power, states have more power to mandate necessary insurance policies than the federal government does. This may leave you wondering why 49 out of 50 states have chosen to mandate car insurance for their residents. There is no straight answer since it varies from state to state, but there are overarching benefits of mandating some type of car insurance, specifically liability insurance, for drivers.

As you’re most likely well aware, driving can be dangerous. It’s not something we want to think about when we’re out on the road, but it is a fact of life. We are human, and humans make mistakes. Making certain mistakes behind the wheel can be costly, and even potentially deadly. Picture the following situation. You’re driving along the road on the way to a nice dinner with friends and suddenly a driver rear ends you going 50 MPH. It smashes in the whole back end of your car in, totaling your car, and you get injured, causing you to need to go to the chiropractor. If the person who hit you didn’t have liability insurance, you’d probably be pretty upset. This is why most states mandate it. The benefits of mandating liability car insurance outweigh the costs.

What Should Your Insurance Agent Do For You?

Now that the internet has made it possible to do almost everything online, less and less people are finding themselves using an insurance agent to search around for the best prices and gather information. However, an insurance agent can be a very helpful person when trying to figure out what insurance is the best for you and your situation. An insurance agent can help you do all the work and safe you a lot of time and stress. With that being said, not all insurance agents are equal. You really need to find one that is willing to work for you.

Before you settle in with one insurance agent, you should talk to a few and find out who is going to be the best fit for you. Most insurance agents specialize in certain types of insurance. There are insurance agents who do property, auto, and homeowners policies, and then there are those who specialize in life and health insurance. Depending on the type of insurances you’re looking for, you may want to work with one or more agents. Additionally, you’ll want to decide if you want an independent agent of a captive agent. Independent agents sell policies for many companies, but captive agents only work with one insurer. Both types of agents have their benefits. Captive agents really know their product, but independent agents can help you shop around.

Your agent should help you find the right policy for you and help you to understand the buying process. A real life human being will always be able to explain and tailor things better than the internet. This is why working with an agent can be very beneficial. Your agent should prepare you for the buying process by loading you with information that is easy to assimilate. Overall, when you work with an agent you should feel like you are better prepared to purchase the right insurance policy for you.

Common Home Insurance Mistakes

Purchasing a house is typically one of the biggest purchases you’ll make in life. Homes are for the most part thought to be valuable assets or investments that require protection. This protection typically comes in the form of home owner’s insurance, but there are many aspects that go into purchasing the right insurance. Here are some mistakes that homeowners may make.

Not Having Insurance At All

One of the worst mistakes that someone owning a home can make is to not invest in any type of insurance. You not only have your home to protect, but also all the investments inside, so if any kind of accident happens, not having insurance will leave you in a tough spot.

Underinsured

You should always get enough home insurance so that it will cover the amount needed to build your home. Know how much that figure is, and if you are underinsured, be sure to add more coverage. You can find out how much it would cost to rebuild your house by using a professional cost estimator. It will probably be more accurate than going through a realtor to get the price.

Choosing the Cheapest Option

Even if you want to save money, going with the cheapest policy is probably not the best option. You need to look at more than just the price when you’re shopping around for an insurance policy because not all policies are created equal.

Not Understanding Your Policy

Insurance can be confusing, especially when it comes to home insurance. Be sure that you completely understand what your policy covers and look into the fine print when you are choosing a home insurance policy.

Ignoring Flood Coverage

You should always get a flood policy, even if you don’t live in an area that floors often. However, it’s important to have it just in case, and the good news is that if you don’t live in a high-risk area getting a flood policy should be inexpensive.