What Are the Basic Types of Life Insurance?
One of the best ways to protect against the financial consequences of a primary wage earner’s premature death is life insurance. However, choosing from the many types of life insurance policies that are available can be a difficult process. A few main categories are described here to help you search for a life insurance policy […]
Am I Prepared for Long-Term Care Expenses?
In general, Americans are not sufficiently prepared to pay for long-term care. Many of them go through their lives simply hoping that they won’t ever need it. Unfortunately, in the event that you or a loved one does need long-term care, hope won’t be enough to protect you from potential financial ruin. Self-insurance as an […]
How Can I Determine the Financial Strength of My Insurance Company?
How do you compare life insurance companies? What features do you examine? What criteria do you use? How do you know what to look for? Making sure that your insurance company is financially sound is an important part of helping to ensure family security. Fortunately, there are a number of independent companies that make these […]
What Is the Difference Between an HMO and a PPO?
Selecting health insurance is often one of the most important decisions you will make. Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs) are types of managed health-care plans and can cost much less than comprehensive individual policies. Through the use of managed care, HMOs and PPOs are able to reduce the costs of hospitals […]
What Types of Health Coverage Are Available?
Rising health-care costs have driven the demand for, and the price of, medical insurance sky-high. The availability of group coverage through employment has helped many Americans face such costs. However, people who are not currently covered by their employers have few affordable sources for group coverage currently. As a result of the Patient Protection and […]
Do I Need Disability Income Insurance?
Although most of us are aware of the need for health insurance coverage when determining our risk management needs, many of us fail to consider the possibility that we could become disabled. A disability income insurance policy can help replace income lost because of an injury or illness. Few people would have an adequate “war […]
How Can I Insure My Future?
Long ago, people realized that there is strength in numbers. For hundreds of years, we have been joining forces against all kinds of calamities — including financial troubles. The concept of insurance is simply that if enough of us can pool our money to form a large enough fund, then together we can handle practically […]
How Can I Maximize My Insurance Benefits?
Understanding the threat of estate taxes on your life insurance proceeds is the first step in protecting these funds from unnecessary taxation. The next steps are determining the appropriate ownership of your policy and selecting your beneficiary. Although there are other alternatives, a life insurance trust can help avoid potential threats to the policy’s proceeds. […]
What Is Universal Life Insurance?
Universal life insurance was developed in the late 1970s to overcome some of the disadvantages associated with term and whole life insurance. As with other types of life insurance, you pay regular premiums to your insurance company, in exchange for which the insurance company will pay a specific benefit to your beneficiaries upon your death. […]
What Is Whole Life Insurance?
Most people are familiar with whole life insurance. For many years, whole life policies were the predominant type of life insurance sold in America. When you purchase a whole life policy, you traditionally pay a fixed premium for as long as you live or for as long as you keep the policy in force. In […]