Life Insurance Information

The Life Insurance Resource Center is designed to help consumers make the right choice when purchasing life insurance or annuities. Many consumers spend substantial sums of money each year on life insurance premiums with very little idea of what they are getting for their money. Reluctant to probe into the technical jargon of the life industry and the mysterious world of death benefits, cash values, standard provisions and riders, most buyers don’t realize that there are major differences in the types of life insurance they can buy and the various sources for such coverage.

This resource center will help New York State consumers choose the right coverage, the right company, and the right price. The center will familiarize you with basic terms, describe the major life insurance policies and annuities that are available, and provide important shopping tips. Separate sections devoted to newly approved annuities, replacement of policies, beneficiary selection, and policy cost and benefit comparison are currently under construction.

New Yorkers have long enjoyed a competitive life insurance market. In fact, nearly 140 insurers currently write life insurance in New York State and these companies generate over $188 billion in annual premium. This resource center will help you choose among these insurers in order to provide the best protection for you and your family.
Life Insurance Information is very important for those who want to insure themselves and their near and dear ones. There are many people involved in the life insurance business and one needs to have Life Insurance Information at the fullest before dealing with any of them.

There are three important types of insurance policies available in the market. These are:

# Whole Life Insurance Policy
# Term Life Insurance Policy
# Accidental death Policy

Whole Life Insurance Policy: One needs to have full Whole Life Insurance Information before buying a policy. The whole life insurance policy provides coverage for the whole of life and even after death. The premium rate is thus fixed and a little higher than other insurance policies. It also provides added facilities such as pensions and accidental disability compensation and many more.
Term Life Insurance Policy: Term Life Insurance is a kind of policy which lets the insured to change the policy after certain period of times according to one's needs. The premium for this life insurance policy is lesser than other policies. But the insured is only compensated if he dies within the contract period. There is not even any cash back possibility.

Accidental Death Policy : One needs to have the accidental Death Life Insurance Information because it does not provide compensation for any kind of death other than accidental deaths. This policy is only available for short term policy and there is no cash back opportunities.

Life Insurance Premium Another Life Insurance Information which is very important to know is the Premium that one pays to keep the life insurance policy in force. A premium is a certain amount of money dependent on the value of the policy, the type of policy and the facilities that are provided by the policy. The more valuable a policy would be the more would be the rate of premium. Premiums can be paid monthly,periodically and yearly depending on the contract on has signed.

There are many people associated with the life insurance business. Life Insurance Agents and Life Insurance brokers are some of them.

Life Insurance Agent : A life insurance agent works on behalf of the company. His duty is to meet with various potential life insurance policy holder and convince them about the policies of his companies,remind them when the premium is due and so on. He gets a commission per policy that he issues and a fixed payment per month from the company.

Life Insurance Broker : A life insurance broker is a person who helps the potential insurance holder to have a suitable life insurance policy. He is not officially recruited by any insurance company but he does this for the commission he gets from both the insured and the insurance company. A broker can deal with more than one company, not like an insurance agent.

Major types of Life Insurance

There are many types of life insurance products available to meet the differing needs of many individuals and families. It is often difficult to understand what kind of protection each policy offers. Learn more about the various types of life insurance products and to clarify the differences between these policies. In order to evaluate which life insurance policy will meet your particular needs, it is important to discuss the matter with an agent or advisor. There are numerous factors to evaluate before purchasing life insurance coverage. Some of the many things you should consider include your age, marital status, number and ages of your children, medical history, earning capability, debt ratio, and anticipated financial needs.

Single Premium Life insurance requires the insured to pay a one-time premium to receive a fully paid life insurance policy. There is usually a minimum death benefit that depends on the individual insured and the amount of the lump sum payment received for the policy. Normally, the full payment goes into a cash value account and the interest rate is applied to the cash value account annually. The interest rate may fluctuate from year to year but there is usually a guaranteed minimum interest rate amount. The insurance company typically charges an annual fee, which covers mortality risks and administrative costs. This policy is usually looked at as a long-term policy since insurance companies typically charge a large amount on a Single Premium Life insurance policy if the insured takes money out during the first few years. The insured may take out a loan against this type of policy and usually the terms are favorable to the insured. Most insurance companies try to structure these policies to meet federal tax law requirements so that death benefits are free from income tax to the beneficiary.

Term Life insurance provides a specific amount of life insurance coverage for a designated time period. Currently, the available policy lengths for Term Life insurance are one year, five years, ten years and fifteen years. If the insured person dies within the time frame in which the policy is in effect, the insurance company pays out the face value of the policy. If the insured person lives longer than the term of the policy, the policy expires and would pay nothing. Term Life insurance does not build any type of equity is often one of the least expensive types of insurance and is available in several forms. Term Life insurance is typically purchased as a means of temporary protection or when an individual can't afford the cost of other forms of Life insurance. Some people prefer to invest their own money elsewhere and feel they can obtain higher yields without having to use a Life insurance plan.
There are Renewable and Non-Renewable Term Life policies. Both of these types are fairly simple and can be dealt with quickly. With Renewable Term Life, one automatically re-qualifies and is able to continue the existing policy when the original term is up. Non-Renewable simply means that when the policy expires the individual must take another physical and answer more health questions in order to re-qualify for a new policy.

There are also Convertible and Non-Convertible Term Life policies available. With Convertible Term Life policies, the insured may switch his/her term policy into a permanent form of life insurance such as Whole Life, Universal Life or Variable Life. Non-Convertible simply means that one can't switch the policy to another form of life insurance.

Level and Decreasing Term Life insurance are often more difficult to understand and determine which is appropriate for one's needs. The selection of one over the other is entirely dependent on the individual's personal financial conditions and needs. Level Term insurance provides a designated dollar amount of coverage for the entire period of the policy. For example, a five-year Level Term policy for $100,000 will pay $100,000 at any time the insured dies within the policy's effective period. With Decreasing Term, the sum of money that will be paid upon the death of the insured is reduced gradually over the policy period. Less would be paid out as the policy ages. One reason to select Decreasing Term insurance may be that one's financial needs may be decreasing during the policy period. For example, if you were to purchase a 10-year Decreasing Term policy and were anticipating having your house paid off or your children out of college, you may not feel that you need as much Life insurance in the future as you do today.

Whole Life insurance provides coverage for the entire life of the person insured, regardless of how long you have the policy or how much has been collected in premium payments that keep the policy in force. Premiums may be paid throughout the insured's life or for a portion of his/her life (for example, 10 years or 20 years). Also, premiums may be paid in lump sums when the policy is taken out. The cash value portion of a Whole Life insurance policy belongs to the insured and may be taken out as policy loans or when the policy is cashed in. With Whole Life insurance, part of the premium payment goes toward the insurance portion of the policy, part of the premium payment goes toward administrative expenses and the remainder goes toward the investment or cash portion of the policy. The investment portion of the policy usually consists of stocks, bonds and/or mutual funds. Interest drawn on the investment portion of a Whole Life policy is usually tax-free until it is withdrawn.

Universal Life insurance is a variation of Whole Life insurance. The difference is that with Universal Life, the term life portion of the policy is separate from the investment or cash portion of the policy. Also, with Universal Life policies, the investment portion of the policy is invested in money market funds as opposed to stocks, bonds and mutual funds. The cash value portion of the policy is an accumulation fund that investment interest is credited to and death benefits are paid from. With Universal Life insurance, the insured can vary the amount of his/her annual death benefit and annual premium payments. Insured people may also make partial surrenders of the policy and/or take policy loans against the cash value of the policy. A partial surrender is when an insured withdraws some of the funds that have accumulated in the investment or cash portion of the policy.

If insurance terms leave you dazed and confused, here's a quick cheat sheet for four major types of policies. Keep in mind that definitions may vary slightly from company to company and from state to state:
Term insurance -- The simplest form of insurance. You purchase coverage for a specific price for a specified period. If you die during that time, your beneficiary receives the value of the policy. There is no investment component.

Whole life -- Similar to term, but you purchase the policy to cover your "whole life" not just a set period. Premiums remain level throughout the life of the policy, and the company invests at least a portion of your premiums. Some firms share investment proceeds with policyholders in the form of a dividend. Many companies will offer "a relatively low guaranteed rate of return," but in reality pay at a rate in excess of the guarantee.

Universal life -- You decide how much you want to put in over and above a minimum premium. The company chooses the investment vehicle, which is generally restricted to bonds and mortgages. The investment and the returns go into a cash-value account, which you can use against premiums or allow to build. With some policies, sometimes called Type I or Type A, the cash account goes toward the face value of the policy on the death of the policyholder. With a second variety, sometimes called Type II or Type B, the beneficiary receives the face value of the policy plus all or most of the cash account. While Type II is meant to provide a partial hedge against inflation, it demands higher premiums as you get older than Type I.

A variation of a universal policy, often called universal variable life, allows policyholders to choose investment vehicles.

Variable life -- With a variable policy, there is usually a wider selection of investment products, including stock funds. As with a universal policy, returns on investments can offset the cost of premiums or build in the account. And depending on the type of policy, the beneficiaries will either receive the face value of the policy or the face value plus all or part of the cash account.