Life Insurance is an insurance policy that provides an agreed amount of cover over an agreed term, so that should you die during the policy term, a lump sum is paid out. Life insurance is considered as the cornerstone of financial planning. It is a cost effective way to provide for your family after you are gone.

Many of us will at some stage in our lives have the need for life insurance. Life insurance is an agreement between you and an insurer and under the terms of a life insurance contract, the insurer promises to pay a certain sum to a designated beneficiary when you die, in exchange for your premium payments. This may give you peace of mind that, should you die during the policy term, your family would have some financial security.

The most common reason for buying life insurance is to replace the income lost when you die. For example, say that you work, and that your income is used to support yourself and your family. When you die and your income stops the life insurance proceeds can be used to continue to support the family members you’ve left behind.

If you have dependants or your income is needed to maintain your family’s standard of living you may need life insurance. If you died your family could use the money to pay off some outstanding bills or perhaps towards a mortgage. There may also be extra costs to deal with that were not there before; such as the cost of extra childcare. To decide if you need life insurance you will need to consider whether your family could cope financially without you and for how long.

Some people choose to take out a joint policy with their partner. This means the policy covers both people and is paid out when either person dies (but not both).

There are several kinds of policies that may be available to you, if you are healthy enough:

Term

Term Insurance is the basic life insurance. It provides financial protection bound by a specific time, usually between one to thirty years. They are comparatively inexpensive and are well suited for specific purposes, like insurance protection for paying off a mortgage or paying the tuition fee for college education. Purchasing term insurance is like renting a car, a short-term solution. Monthly costs are lower, but you will not be building any equity.

Permanent

Permanent insurance provides long-term financial protection. These policies include both a death benefit and, in some cases, cash savings. Purchasing permanent insurance is like buying a car instead of renting. You are taking care of long-term needs with a long-term solution. Your monthly costs may be higher than if you rent, but your payments will build equity over time.

The cost of life insurance varies depending on such factors as the insured’s age, health, and occupation.

You may freely reprint this article provided the author’s biography remains intact:

About The Author John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help UK homeowners find the best available loans via the http://www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.

The health of our family members is of paramount importance to us, and getting good health insurance is more of a need than a choice. Family health insurance gives good cash value and serves as a cushion in times of trouble. Today, getting family health insurance has become easy, and there are a number of different types of health insurance coverage designed to meet the needs and budgets of a variety of individuals.

The cost of health insurance, which is the premium, may be higher for a policy that provides a great amount of coverage and flexibility, while the premium may be lower for a policy that provides less coverage or flexibility. In fee-for-services health insurance you have a pre-agreed health insurance sum, and when you make a claim your health insurance provider deducts this sum. The cost of fee-for-service health insurance is high, but the benefit of fee-for-services health insurance is that you can visit any healthcare provider you want, but at the same time you need to remember that there are some types of treatment are not covered.

Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) are a recently introduced but popular form of insurance coverage. The main reason for their popularity is their low-cost premiums. But HMOs do not give you the flexibility to visit any health care provider. They designate certain healthcare providers whom you are allowed to visit and if, even in the case of an emergency, you visit a healthcare provider who is not approved by the HMO, you’ll be left to pick up the entire tab yourself. So if you are looking for family health care, make sure you choose the best for your family.

In common with the rest of Europe, life expectancy in Britain is increasing. A man can now expect to live to 76.2 years and a woman to 80.7 years. This is wonderful news, but unfortunately we also learn that Britain is not keeping pace with most of Europe in another health aspect.

Healthy life years, as well as life expectancy have been the subject of a recent EU study and the results were based on questionnaires which were completed by some 60,000 householders. The focus of the study was on death, sickness rates and overall health.

We learn that although the average British male can expect to live to 76.2 years of age, he can only expect 61.5 of these years to be free from a disabling condition. This puts us in the unfortunate position of being the fifth unhealthiest group in the EU.

Research into these findings, still at an early stage, has not yet found the reasons for the wide variations across the EU. It seems that as far as cardiovascular disease is concerned, there is an increasing risk the further north you go and Help the Aged feel that a lack of respect for the cold in Britain constitutes a risk to health.

Italy holds the top position in the healthy living stakes, with an expectation of 70.9 healthy years and a life expectancy of 76.8 years. The healthy Italian diet, including lots of fish, vegetables and unsaturated fats, may be a key factor in their country’s excellent health record. A spokesman for Help the Aged comments that diet, smoking, the weather, smoking and health service could help to explain the differences

Interestingly, in a published table showing both healthy years and life expectancy, as far as healthy life goes, Italy tops the table, followed by Spain, Germany, Poland, Netherlands, UK, France, Hungary, Portugal and Finland. It will be interesting to see what the final conclusions turn out to be.

At the bottom of the scale - if you come from Finland, life expectancy for a woman is 81.8 years, but you can only expect 56.5 of these to be without a disabling condition.

Bearing all these facts in mind, it’s obvious that, for Mr and Mrs Average, it would be as well to give some serious thought to the provision of both critical illness cover and life insurance. It’s a serious thought that the expectation of a disabling health condition precedes retirement age by between three and half and eight and a half years. Many men now expect to be able to work until they are 70.

Critical illness insurance will pay out a specific sum if you’re unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with one of a list of specified conditions, such as cancer, stroke or heart trouble. Read the policy carefully to check which conditions are covered. The effect of critical illness on your lifestyle can be immense. You may have to adapt your car or your home and even change your employment to suit your new circumstances. Critical illness cover will give you peace of mind should illness strike.

As far as your family are concerned, it would be a good time to take out, or review, your life insurance plans. Would their lifestyle be affected should the worst happen?

Both of these insurances can be taken care of easily. The internet is the place to go for immediate attention and a range of competitive quotations. Contact an on-line broker, who’ll offer you all the help you need.

Then sit back and prove the tables wrong.

Term life insurance can offer protection for a small business and its owners in surprising ways. If you own a small business, you probably pay property and liability insurance, and are protected against fire, theft, flood and other disasters. But what would happen if you or one of your key employees was suddenly unable to work due to disability - or death? If something happens to you or one of your partners, what happens to your business? Who will pay outstanding business loans and other obligations?

That’s where term life insurance comes in.

As your company grows, there are very likely to be one or two key people without whom you’d find it difficult to function. Besides you, there may be an accountant who understands the books inside and out, or the sales manager who drums up most of your sales. By taking out a term life insurance policy on each of those people, you can insure your company against the losses it would inevitably face if one of them were to become unable to work because of death or disability.

Why term life insurance? Especially for a young company, the lower premiums and limited term of coverage make more sense. As the company grows and becomes more stable and successful, a term life insurance policy can often be converted to a whole life key person policy - a life insurance policy that is specifically designed to cover the loss of a key person in an organization.

A term life insurance policy can also be used to cover partners in a business who agree to a buy-sell arrangement. In this case, if one partner dies, the death benefit is used as a ‘buyout’ to purchase his half of the company from the family. That way, the family of the deceased partner isn’t stuck with a business in which they have no interest, and the surviving partner isn’t forced into accepting the family as a partner.

Sometimes term life insurance isn’t the best option. A whole life policy, for instance, allows you to use your investment in the policy to finance and fund projects, can help provide the basis for a retirement plan, or provide a cushion for the business to borrow against for expansion.

Whether you choose whole life or term insurance, though, key person insurance is a protection that your company shouldn’t be without.

To view our list of recommended Life Insurance Companies, visit this page:
Recommended Life Insurance Companies.

Carrie Reeder is the owner of eZerk, an
informational website with articles and the latest news about various topics.

Listed below is a useful guide to life insurance terms. It is a list of definitions of life insurance terms that may or may not be familiar to you.

Accelerated Benefit Provision

A provision in many new policies which will allow the policy owner to receive a portion of the death benefit early if the insured person is diagnosed with a terminal illness or permanently confined to a nursing home.

Accidental Death Benefit

A provision added to a policy that provides an additional benefit if the insured dies from accidental causes.

Certificate

A document provided to a person insured under a group insurance policy that provides evidence that the coverage exists.

Convertible Term Insurance

These policies allow conversion, without further medical evidence, to a different type of policy from an insurance company’s range.

Decreasing Term Insurance

The sum assured decreases each year throughout the term of the policy.

Dependent protection

Where the protection is required on a permanent basis rather than just for a specified term.

Evidence of Insurability

Medical and other information about a person applying for insurance that the life insurance company keeps confidential, but uses to decide whether the policy can be issued and what premiums will be charged.

Face Amount

The amount to be paid to the beneficiary when the insured dies.

Free Look

The right of the policy holder to have a period of ten or more days to examine an insurance policy, and if not satisfied, return it to the company for a full refund of all amounts paid.

Grace Period

A period of time after the premium due date when an overdue premium may be paid without penalty. The policy remains in force throughout the period.

Guaranteed Insurability

An option that permits the policyholder to buy additional stated amounts of life insurance at certain times in the future, without having to provide new evidence of insurability.

Illustration

A document used in life insurance sales presentations showing year-by-year numbers indicating how a policy will work.

Increasing Term Insurance

Under this option, the benefit payable on death increases and is particularly useful to avoid the sum assured being eroded by inflation.

Insured

The person whose life is covered by a life insurance policy.

Lapse

The discontinuation of insurance without cash value when the required premium is not paid.

Level Term Life Insurance

In this form a policy will pay out a fixed sum on death during the term.

Loan Value

The amount which can be borrowed by the policy holder from the company using the value of the policy as collateral.

Mode of Premium Payment

The frequency of premium payments during the policy year. Premium payments can usually be made on annual, quarterly, or monthly basis.

Mortality Table

A statistical table showing the death rate for each age.

Nonforfeiture Options

A provision in the policy that allows the policy holder to choose how the cash value of the policy will be used if the policy is surrendered or lapses due to non-payment of premium.

Ownership

All rights, benefits, and privileges under a policy controlled by the insured.

Paid-Up Insurance

A life insurance policy where all premiums have already been paid, with no further premium payment due.

Policy

The printed document issued to the policy holder by the company stating the terms of the insurance contract.

Policy Year

A one-year period starting on the day and the month the policy was issued. The first policy year starts on the date of issue, and ends on the day before the policy’s first anniversary date.

Premium

The payment a policy holder is required to make to an insurance company to purchase insurance coverage and to keep the policy in force.

Rated Policy

A policy issued with an additional premium to cover the extra risk involved if an insured has impaired health, a hazardous occupation or hobby.

Reinstatement

The restoring of a lapsed or surrendered policy to full force and effect.

Renewable Increasable Convertible Term Insurance

This contract combines the options of increasing the sum assured, converting the policy and renewing the contract.

Reviewable Term

Level term assurance with an option to renew the contract at the end of the term, without the need for further medical evidence.

Rider

A provision added to a policy that provides additional benefits.

Settlement Option

The manner in which the insured or beneficiary may choose to have the policy proceeds paid.

Suicide Clause

A policy provision which reduces or eliminates the amount to be paid if the insured dies from suicide.

Surrender

To voluntarily terminate or cancel a policy for its cash value.

Term Life Insurance

This type of policy runs for a specified time period.

Underwriting

The process of evaluating applicants for insurance and classifying them fairly, so the appropriate premium rate may be charged

Waiver of Premium

A provision added to a policy that will waive the premium payments required by an insured during the total disability of the insured.

You may freely reprint this article provided the author’s biography remains intact:

About The Author
John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help UK homeowners find the best available loans via the http://www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.