Burial insurance with no waiting period can be a big investment. There are many pitfalls on the path that the buyer need to follow, for good coverage and reasonable rates. A little knowledge can pave over some of those pitfalls and make the path much easier to walk. This article presents some good ideas that the life insurance buyer needs to keep in mind.
When designing your life insurance policy to pay out to a spouse, consider the tax implications of the titled spouse owning the policy. When the titled spouse dies, the policy payout then becomes part of their estate, and transferring those funds to the living spouse creates a tax burden. If the non-titled spouse owns the policy the funds are not considered to be part of the deceased’s estate.
If you are considering buying life insurance, be sure to check with your employer before going to your insurance agent. Your employer may be able to give you a better rate on life insurance due to having made a deal with the life insurance company to insure a large number of people. You may be able to get life insurance for yourself and your family members at very attractive rates.
If a relative of yours recently died and named you as the beneficiary on his life insurance policy, but the policy itself is missing, there are steps you can take to locate the policy, even if you don’t know which insurance company issued it. Examine the deceased’s canceled checks for any that were written to insurance companies. Look through any mail you can find for insurance bills or policy status notices. Check with former employers or organizations that the deceased belonged to which may have offered the policy. Look at tax returns for expenses or interest earned in regard to life insurance. Finally, check with the Medical Information Bureau, which has a database that can inform you if the medical records of the deceased were requested by any insurance companies since 1996.
For the most life insurance coverage at the lowest price, choose a term policy instead of whole life insurance. The high costs of whole life are due to the investment aspect and the fact that these polices result in a cash value, but it really is better to keep your investments separate from your insurance.
Remember that the whole point of a life insurance policy is that your dependents will be able to still enjoy their current lifestyle and cost of living if you die. That means that you need to buy enough coverage to make that a real possibility. Do the math and decide what that equals out to.
Being healthy will cause your life insurance rate to drop. You cannot foresee every medical issue you are going to run into, but you can definitely adopt healthier habits. You should stop smoking and drinking, as well as eat healthier food and perhaps go on a special diet if you have high cholesterol or a similar issue.
Look for an insurance company that provide a formula that helps you determine how much money your family will need after you are gone. Make sure that your life insurance covers things such as funeral expenses, exciting debts and will pay enough money to your family for them to keep their standards of living.
Burial
When choosing life insurance, be sure to have a good idea of how much money your loved ones will require. This is important because of the amount of debt that they might be left with the burden of paying off after you die. Consider car payments, mortgage, credit card debts, funeral and burial costs, and the cost of raising children.
When choosing life insurance, you may also wish to look into purchasing burial insurance. This is fairly cheap insurance and will cover things such as your casket, funeral home costs, transportation and other such things. This is well worth it as the costs for these items can be extraordinary, if they come from out of pocket.
Life insurance can help ease the burden to your family by helping with funeral and burial expenses. Policies also pay your family an amount that you designate. For a relatively low monthly cost, your family can be covered $100,000, $250,000, $500,000, or another amount that is right for you.
Make sure you get enough coverage. $500,000 can seem like a windfall of cash for your family in the event of your passing. But when you take into consideration a $300,000 mortgage, car loans, student loans, burial and funeral expenses, credit card debt and the like, all those can add up fast.
Don’t buy shady or cheap life insurance. If your life insurance policy is especially cheap, it might not be enough to help your family after you’re gone. Make sure that your policy will, at least, cover any debt and expenses left to your family, including funeral and burial costs.
Determine the amount of coverage you will need, the amount of money your family will receive after your death is called a death benefit. To determine the amount of life insurance you need simply take your annual salary and multiply by eight. Add to that amount the money you’ll need to cover one-time burial expenses and you’ll have an estimate of the amount of life insurance you need.
Life insurance is never a bad idea. If you are young, you may be able to purchase a small life insurance policy to cover the costs of funeral and burial expenses for just a few dollars per month. In any event, you may be able to provide yourself with peace of mind at a low cost, all you need to do is ask for a quote.
There is much more good advice on the internet, for purchasing life insurance, but hopefully, there are a few helpful tips in this little collection. Every little bit of new knowledge is potentially useful. The right idea at the right time, can spur the insurance buyer into finding a great deal on coverage that is just right for him or her.