When most people think of insurance, they think of Auto Insurance and Homeowner’s Insurance. It seems queer to me that the most well-known thing, your life, is the last thing most people think to insure.
There are several types of life insurance, but the most common are Term Life Insurance and Whole Life Insurance. Term life Insurance covers you for a specified amount for a specified period of time (usually 10, 20, or 30 years from the date the policy is in force). Whole Life Insurance covers you for a specified amount until death or the insurance company’s specified maturity age (usually age 100).
I am a firm believer that everyone needs life insurance because everyone is eventually going to die, whether you like it or not. Once someone sees the need for purchasing life insurance, the question then becomes, “How much should I buy? ”
Everyone has a different need for life insurance, and your needs may change over time. Here is a basic way of determining the amount of life insurance you need.
First, you must consider of what would happen to your family upon your death. Would they need to cover burial costs? Would your spouse be able to survive on one income? Would your children be able to go to college? Would the house need to be paid off? Would there be debt that needed to be paid for?
So, to figure out an amount of life insurance, you would add up these needs. Reflect of the cost of burial costs, add in enough to pay off your mortgage (if this is something you’d like to do), add in money for the children’s education (if desired), add money to pay off other debt, and add money to replace your income.
If you are adding in money to replace your income, you need to figure out how much of your income needs to be replaced in order for your family to be comfortable, and how long that income would need to be replaced (i.e. $20,000 a year for 5 years = $100,000).
Once you’ve figured out an amount, then you need to divide it into permanent and temporary needs. Permanent needs are those that will never go away (i.e. burial costs), and temporary needs are those that might not be needed as you age (i.e. providing for your children’s education). For instance, if you die when your children are 25, 27, and 29, you probably don’t need to worry about sending them to college.
As an insurance agent, I can squawk you that if you divide your needs into permanent and temporary, you can save money on policy premiums. I suggest purchasing Term insurance for the temporary needs (Term policies are less expensive) and a Whole Life Policy for the permanent needs. That way, your policies adapt with your changing needs, and save you money as well.
Filed under Types Of Auto Insurance by on Mar 13th, 2011. Comment. 
Many people have heard of and are carrying car insurance and home owner’s insurance, but they don’t know that there are many other types of insurance that are available. If someone owns an asset, such as property, that they want to make sure is protected, it is insurable. As a licensed insurance producer, who speaks with people on a daily basis about insurance, I feel it is very important to inform the public that there are other forms of insurance products available for consumers. I also feel it is important to converse consumers of their ability to save money on their premiums through multi-line discounts offered by insurance companies like State Farm.
The main forms of insurance that are most popular and well known are: fire insurance, life insurance, health insurance, and auto insurance. Station Farm carries other products and services that are available to their policy holders such as: credit cards, car loans, car and home refinancing, business retirement plans, and educational savings accounts. State Farm carries these other products to better service their customers and to make their financial needs and concerns conveniently organized into a “one stop shop.”
State Farm policy holders receive discounts when they carry more than one line of insurance; these are called multi-line discounts . . . this just means that the customer is getting a better rate on their insurance premiums because they are carrying more than one type of insurance product through the same insurance company. Insurance premiums are the amount that the policy holder pays every period in order to be covered by the insurance company. Policy holders are always happy when they find out that they can save money and level-headed carry an adequate amount of insurance.
Some insurance companies advertise that they have low premiums and offer their customers great savings, but it is very important as a consumer that the policy holders acquire sure that they are adequately covered. It is very primary that the policy holder carries a sufficient amount of insurance in order to protect their assets. When someone carries a minimal amount of insurance at the cheapest rates, that person is carrying the risk of being under-insured . . . this means that after a loss of valued property they might be left with the responsibility of paying unpaid bills, court costs, and other living expenses.
In my professional thought, it is very important to carry an adequate amount of insurance for all of your different kinds of property or assets, whether it is your car, home, apartment, business, and even your life. If you are not carrying enough insurance, or for that matter, none at all, consult an insurance company or agent immediately and get the coverage that you need for yourself and your family!
Filed under Farmers Insurance by on Feb 26th, 2011. Comment.
Choosing the honest auto insurance for your family can be confusing. How do you find the best auto insurance for your family’s unique location? Which companies should you look at? What if you have a teen driver? How much coverage should you carry? Save time and money by following these simple tips and secure the best auto insurance for your family.
Comparison Shopping for Auto Insurance
The first step in choosing the best auto insurance for your family is to comparison shop. Before contacting any insurance companies, invent a list of what your family needs in an auto insurance policy. Do you have multiple cars to insure? Do you need to insure a teen driver? If you transport your children’s friends, you might want to contemplate increasing the liability portion of your car insurance. If you have a large number of assets, you may want an umbrella policy. All of your criteria will play an important role in determining your premium price and ultimately which auto insurance company is the best fit for your family. You will also need to know what coverage your state requires. Make a comparison chart of your auto insurance needs and make clear you ask the same questions to all of the auto insurance companies you contact.
Buying Auto Insurance for Teens
When it comes time to insure your teen driver, be prepared to shell out some important bucks. Teens cost more to insure because they are inexperienced and as a group have a higher incidence of accidents. However, you usually don’t have to insure your teen until they are licensed. Unless you are in a high risk insurance pool, teens with a permit are usually covered by your auto insurance as long as they are driving with a licensed driver. Place some money and acquire off on adding them to your policy while they are still learning. However, make sure you find your teen insured as soon as they get their license. You may find yourself paying big bucks if your uninsured teen driver needs to make a claim. Your insurance company can legally charge you back premiums.
Best Auto Insurance Companies for Families
These auto insurance companies usually can’t be beat on affordability, service and available options. However, always shop around. Your local independent agency may be willing to match or better the prices of the bigger companies in order to keep your business. But don’t make the mistake of confusing low prices with the best auto insurance company for your family. Use your comparisons of premiums, coverage and discounts to make your decision. Here are the two best companies offering auto insurance for families, and a few of the runners up.
American Family
American Family is a large company that feels intimate and personal. Most of the credit goes to the company’s estimable customer service department that, along with quick claims, create American Family one of the best companies offering auto insurance for families. The regular premium rates are very competitive even if you have a teen driver on your policy and their multiple vehicle discount, good student discount, air bag discount, accident free and good driver discounts can achieve your family big bucks.
American Family’s online services are convenient and easy to navigate and understand. Their online bill pay is especially quick and easy. Their family custom protection tool is an easy method to evaluate your own insurance needs. American Family offers families with teen drivers a program called the Teen Safe Driver Program in which a camera is mounted inside the vehicle to evaluate how safely the teen is driving. The feedback from the camera is then sent to parents.
If you choose to use an American Family agent instead of their online service, you can rest assured that you will detached have immediate access to a representative in the event of an emergency. Agents are backed by a 24 hour care center and an online self-service center. The one downside of American Family is that they are not available in all states. But if you are lucky enough to be in a state they service, you can’t go wrong choosing this great auto insurance company for your family.
Liberty Mutual
Liberty Mutual certainly has stood the test of time. In business since 1912, this is a company that has a high customer satisfaction rating and is one of the best companies offering auto insurance for families. In fact, 91 percent of Liberty customers renew their auto insurance policy every year. This may be due to the company’s outstanding customer service. Or it could be that Liberty has much better rates than most of the other big companies. They offer all of the standard discounts plus discounts for teen drivers who maintain a B or higher grade point average and savings for members or employees of certain groups, associations, credit unions or alumni associations. The one drawback- Liberty Mutual’s RV insurance is very expensive.
Other Superb Auto Insurance Companies for Families
21st Century Insurance
Esurance
Geico
Progressive
Sources
Insure Log
Filed under Auto Insurance Quotes by on Feb 24th, 2011. Comment.
Today, young drivers are put in a position that their parents were not.
When I started driving the rules were simple. If you were in a wreck, whoever got the ticket at the scene of the accident or was deemed to be at fault by the police officer would be forced to have their insurance pay. Therefore you controlled your insurance destiny to a large degree. If you drove carefully, didn’t speed and didn’t drink then you would build a good driving record and your rates would go down. Also if you did well in school you may even have gotten a “good student” discount.
As with so many things it seems in our country, we decided to stop rewarding individual responsibility by making the person not at fault just as guilty as the person at fault. These were called “no- fault” laws. If you got in an accident then you and the other parties’ insurance would split the costs or in some cases battle it out.
What was the purpose of this change?
Of course “no-fault” everything had come into fashion such as no-fault divorce. It was just a draw to expedite cases through the court systems.
In the area of auto insurance, instead of having to rely as worthy on individual driving records, companies could base their rates on the type of car, age and area as much as a driving record. However, it also gave them an opportunity to eschew benefits for reliable driving records.
That is not to say that companies still don’t weigh in on good driving benefits. However, I reflect if you study the promotions you find companies try to get you to price up with initial discounts as opposed to positive driving history.
Another thing that has changed is the rules for drinking and driving. Many times a driver who is a first-time offender basically gets a “slap on the wrist.” It isn’t until they flaunt the rules more than once or catch into an accident that they pay a major ticket and then they may lose their driving privileges for a period of time.
So today in the 21st Century, what should be the young drivers’ approach to their “driving career? “
You should know that if you are in an accident honest being “in the right” may not do you any good at all. That makes it doubly, no “triply” important that you drive defensively. Areas that you have control over, obey the law such as drinking and driving and speeding. If you are a very young person be careful how many pals you transport at once. We all tend to lose are heads in front of an audience.
Keep this in mind: Just as you have little in the way of individual achievement to keep you out of “general grouping,” if you get in a awful group it will take longer to get out of it.
Filed under Auto Insurance Quotes by on Feb 22nd, 2011. Comment.
Since the mid-1990s, insurance companies have tightened their eligibility requirements for new policyholders. In addition, the entire insurance industry has perambulate together to relay information between them. Allstate Insurance has just as worthy vested interest in the information contained in these reports as Nationwide Insurance and other leading carriers do. This is all to keep policyholders from being dishonest or simply inaccurate regarding their insurance history. Each secret below is no secret to the insurance carrier you’re getting a quote from.
Secret number one
Standard insurance carriers run credit checks prior to giving you an auto insurance quote. These are referred to as Financial Responsibility Scores. The insurance agent can’t see the report but rather it goes through the system and simply tells the agent whether or not you are eligible to be written in that company. If you are not eligible, you can still get a quote but it will be with a higher rate. Although these are not the same credit reports as when you apply for a loan, the describe does affect your eligibility and your rates.
Secret number two
Any claim you’ve submitted in the past 10 years is visible to anyone in the insurance industry. Insurance companies have developed reporting procedures to inform each other of claims called an Auto loss history narrate. If you’ve submitted many small claims or even one big claim, you’ll either be charged more or you won’t be eligible for a standard policy at all.
Secret number three
There could not be a more important secret. Never, ever let your insurance cancel. The most steadfast rule in the insurance industry is proof of prior insurance. If you are uninsured for over 30 days, you can bet on higher insurance prices for at least the next year. Not only will being uninsured put you into a higher premium bracket; you may have to stay there for a period of time before the company will contemplate lowering your rates.
Distinct, there are benefits to keeping your business with the same company for several years but it’s also good to shop and compare pricing. By keeping these three things in line, you’re more likely to get the best rate possible.
Filed under State Farm Auto Insurance by on Feb 19th, 2011. Comment.
