Compare Life Insurance

Current Rates, News & Information

We've all seen the movies where star villains go on killing sprees. They drive through the streets striking vehicles left and right, open fire in crowds and make human body shields out of random people. While the scenes are exciting to watch, after the dust settles we rarely see discussions about who's going to pay for the victims' funerals or keep the grieving family afloat financially.

This, of course, is the difference between movies and real life. In the movies, a life insurance policy rarely gets mentioned - that is, of course, unless it is used as a malicious tool to kill off the loving spouse for financial gain. But in reality, because there is a possibility of accidental death or even murder being true for everyone, policies are important. So let's take a look at the realities of life insurance.

"Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy!"

While Tony Montana of the movie Scarface was a fun character to watch as he evolved from a poor Cuban immigrant to a rich drug lord, we know that behind the charm was a cold-blooded killer (well, for everyone but children). He killed tons of people in the movie and even predicted his own tragic fate with the famous line he spewed as he leftthe restaurant inebriated.

Unfortunately, murders are just as common in real life as in the movie. In fact, according to statistics from a recent Census report, there were 14,831 murders in 2007. That's a lot of people who had to succumb to unfortunate tragedies and leave loved ones without heads of households to lean on.

Of course, with a life insurance policy, the family would at least be able to take care of funeral and burial expenses and be able to manage bills or pay off debts after the fact. It may even be able to pay for counseling the family will need to get through the experience. But without it, life for everyone would be even more difficult than it already has become.

"I Didn't Mean to Do It It Was an Accident!"

Vincent Vega in the cult classic Pulp Fiction said this famous line when he shot Martin on a car ride with Jules. Although Vincent was a hardened criminal, the shooting was an accident. Unfortunately, this probably doesn't make the tragedy any less devastating for the family that lost poor Martin.

Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2006 showed that accidental deaths are quite common. In fact, unintentional injuries alone caused 121,599 deaths out of a total of 2,426,264 deaths for the year. In those statistics were also unintentional fall deaths (20,823), motor vehicle deaths (43,664) and unintentional poisoning deaths (27,531).

In all of those circumstances, if a person like Martin was covered with life insurance, they would be able to provide their family with financial security. But some have found that adding on supplement life insurance options (also known as riders) like the accidental death supplement makes such a tragedy a little easier to cope with.

The accidental death supplement pays twice the death benefit than the standard chosen benefit (i.e. beneficiary would receive $500,000 instead of $250,000) if the death was caused by an accident rather than complications from old age. This helps the family get through the unexpected tragedy financially.

Hashing Out Life Insurance Types, Costs and Discussing It with Your Spouse

Sometimes, watching movies can remind you of just how tragic life can be. But since they typically don't remind you to purchase a life insurance policy, Go Insurance Rates will take on the responsibility.

When it comes to purchasing coverage, there are usually three major concerns: 1) what type to purchase, 2) how much it will cost and 3) how you will discuss it with your spouse. Let's look at these ideas a little closer:

1.Types of Life Insurance to Purchase

There are a number of different types of life insurance to purchase; however, the main two categories are permanent and term life insurance. Permanent life insurance covers you for the stretch of your life as long as you make your premium payments. It includes the sub-categories, whole, universal and variable life insurance.

Term life insurance, on the other hand, makes sure you're insured for a specified amount of time and only pays out if you die during the term of your policy.

2.The Cost of Life Insurance

The cost of life insurance can vary significantly depending on the company you work with and the type of coverage - and insurance riders - you decide on.

If you go with a permanent policy, there's no doubt that your life insurance rates will be significantly higher than if you go with a term policy. The reason term policies are cheaper is because they are only guaranteed for a specific period of time (10, 20 or 30 years are all common).

In addition, they don't offer the benefits of permanent policies - the biggest being an investment reserve set aside for retirement later in life.

3.Talking to Your Spouse about Coverage

Discussing life insurance with your spouse, while often difficult because it represents an unwanted departure, is one of the most important aspects of the process. By discussing types of coverage, costs and the appropriate benefit amounts to provide for the family - riders included - you can ensure that everyone is properly taken care of.

While we know that there are tragic scenarios out there to run into, we hope that we never have to face them. But if we do, there's no getting up and washing the fake blood off like in the movies; we must actually be prepared for the worst.

So if you currently don't have a life insurance policy, now's the time to make that purchase. Because when the credits roll and you make your way into the sunset, you want to look back upon your family knowing that you've left them financially sound.

Obtaining life insurance offers huge benefits, including the security of knowing that once you've passed on you can leave your family with financial stability. Recent studies show that life insurance is such an important asset that consumers have been willing to purchase or maintain their coverage despite the recession.

But what many policyholders don't know is that there are supplemental life insurance options available that can enhance the existing policy. Of course, not all options are necessary, so before diving in and purchasing some, it's good to know what's out there to help you determine whether it's needed.

Why Add Supplemental Insurance Options?

Many customers choose to add supplemental insurance options to their policies because they've purchased term life insurance. If you're familiar with the permanent vs. term life insurance then you'll know that term insurance is much cheaper because it allows you to maintain a policy only during a specific period of time.

For instance, if you purchase a 10-year term policy, you will only be covered if you die during the 10-year period. If something happens after that, you will no longer be covered. Also, it typically offers no additional benefits.

Permanent insurance, on the other hand, covers you for life as long as you make your premium payments. And while it's usually much more expensive, it offers additional benefits including having some of your premium invested to create a reserve fund for you and maybe even being able to borrow against or cash out your reserves down the line.

Because so many people elect to purchase term insurance, they often add on supplement insurance options to help beef up their policies without having to pay as much as they would with a permanent policy. However, those with permanent policies (whole and universal) do purchase supplemental insurance options as well.

Breakdown of Supplemental Insurance Options and Costs

When purchasing life insurance, the costs can vary drastically depending on the company you work with, how old you are, whether you smoke and much more. However, just to get an idea of the benefit that you could receive for adding the supplemental options, let's look at an example.

Consider that a 36-year-old single woman who doesn't smoke, 5' 4", 140 pounds, wants a 10-year term life insurance policy with $500,000 coverage amount. Getting an average of quotes across the Internet, the one-year policy would cost $365 with a $32 monthly payment.

This means, upon this woman's death, her beneficiary would receive $500,000 - as long as the death is within the 10-year term.

However, she's decided to add on some supplements (also known as riders) to her policy. Here are the supplements she had to choose from:

1. Accidental Death Supplement (avg. $10/month): This benefit (also known as double indemnity) pays twice the death benefit if the death was caused by some type accident as opposed to complications related to old age.
2. Disability Waiver Premium ($4.17/month): This benefit pays your life insurance premiums if you become disabled and can't work. The average cost for adding this rider depends on the age of the policyholder. In this case, the cost averages $0.10 per $1,000 in coverage for a 36-year-old. With a $500,000 policy, the annual cost would be $50 or $4.17 per month.
3. Accelerated Death Benefit (avg. $5/month): This rider allows you to collect all or a portion of your life insurance policy while you're still alive. You may be able to claim it if you're diagnosed with a terminal illness or require long-term care or admission to a nursing home and are unable to work. It's good to note that some companies don't charge for the rider upfront and instead add a cost when the benefit is paid.
4. Children's Protection ($2/month): This benefit helps you cover your children in the unfortunate event that something happens to them. The cost for this coverage can run as low as $1 per month.
5. Family Income Benefit Rider (avg. $25/month): This rider guarantees that family will continue receiving the policyholder's monthly income upon death.

Looking over her options, there is no need to purchase Children's Protection or the Family Income Benefit because she doesn't have a family. The Accidental Death Supplement won't be necessary because the $500,000 policy will more than cover her final costs.

However, being on her own, the Disability Waiver Premium and Accelerated Death Benefits would help tremendously if she were injured and unable to work. These costs add her monthly premium amount to $41.17 per month or $494.04 per year.

If 60 months into her policy, she was injured in a car accident that left her unable to work for two years, the Disability Waiver Premium, for which she would have paid a total of $250.20 would have been paid back in six months and the Disability Waiver Premium that cost $300 would have been immediately worth the cost.

Of course, when choosing whether to add supplemental insurance options, you want to analyze whether you truly have a need for them. However, if you think you might, you see that the few extra dollars added on each month could make the difference between leaving you or your family in debt upon a tragedy occurring.

Everyone is looking for ways to save money. You might think that when it comes to life insurance there's simply no way to save - the thought of the financial calamity that would befall you should you be without critical insurance is just too much to contemplate. So you do need to be insured. The...

To many people, the idea of being old and without the means to properly care for yourself is very distressing and anxiety-provoking. To be infirm, dependent on walkers and possibly in need of help maintaining your basic, private hygiene is a very uncomfortable thought. Add to it the idea that...

When searching for life insurance policies , obtaining the best quote is an important factor for many but how do you get it done? There are a number of factors to consider when searching for a great price. You want to make sure that you don't pay too much, but you also to make sure you receive...

The process of obtaining a life insurance quote can be an extremely time-consuming one, which is why many people decide instead to work with a life broker for their quotes. Using a life broker can be beneficial in many ways, but it's not for everyone. To determine if it's a good route for you to...

In the past, obtaining a life insurance quote was very time consuming, with having to decide between the various types of policies, as well as the features within them. But now, getting your quote for life insurance is very simple. Let's look more closely at what this process entails.

Finding...

Working with the right life insurance companies is a very important aspect of the process when you compare policies. The insurer you choose to distribute and manage your policy can make the difference in you receiving the death benefit that you feel will take care of your loved ones upon your...

Is choosing between universal life insurance and variable life insurance on your mind? Before you stress out over which type you should purchase, it's good to take a closer look at their features.

What is Universal Life Insurance?

Universal life insurance is a form of permanent life insurance ,...

Consumers looking for a way to diversify their investment portfolios may opt into annuities to ensure a payout during their golden years. However, the amount of payout you get may be affected by whether you opt into ajoint or survivor annuity .

Annuity Basics

Annuities are an insurance like...