Despite what you might have heard, life insurance is rarely a good investment.

Listen to the average sleazy life insurance salesperson for even a few minutes and you’ll come away convinced of one thing: Life insurance is so insanely complicated you couldn’t possibly understand it, so you better just pass on it until you don’t feel so overwhelmed. Self-employed people, in particular, are targeted by an industry that would have us believe that its policies are the tax-favored ticket to comfortable retirement, college funds, and the orderly transition of family businesses. They’d like to sell you a policy without even mentioning the words death benefit.

But don’t invest in life insurance unless you need that death benefit. Life insurance carries commissions, fees, and charges (including the so-called mortality charges that pay for the death benefit) that most mainstream investments do not. Still, death benefits are what life insurance is all about for any worker, self-employed or not. If you have a family that depends on you for money, you need term life insurance. That’s not so complicated, is it? If you already know you need term life insurance and want to add a few investment wrinkles, there are products that do that.

What is a term life insurance trust? It enables you and your family to do three things in particular. One, it provides you, your spouse and your heirs with term life insurance coverage after it is implemented. Two, it allows a trustee to distribute death benefits from a term life insurance policy as that trustee sees fit. Three, it gives you the chance to reduce your estate taxes.

When you create a term life insurance trust, you are creating an entity (the trust) to buy life insurance policies for you and your loved ones. You don’t own the policies, the trust does. So the insurance proceeds go into the trust when someone passes away. Because the trust owns the life insurance policies instead of a person, the life insurance proceeds aren’t subject to probate, income taxes or estate taxes. The trustee can distribute those proceeds to one or more parties as stipulated in the language of the trust. Also, if your estate ends up really large, the trust can buy additional life insurance to provide additional cash to pay additional estate taxes.

Sometimes these trusts establish investment policies for term life insurance proceeds, and even timelines for who receives what when (families may want to delay an heir from legally receiving an inheritance until age 18 or 21, for example).

Going with a term life insurance policy is one of the best ways to save when considering life insurance options. Cheap term life insurance typically provides the most coverage for the dollar, the best value.

For example, parents with young children and a limited budget might start with a term life insurance policy of 20 years—long enough to keep their children safe until they are independent – or until greater family wealth is built up over time. If the family still needs life insurance at end of that term, when the family income is likely to be higher, they can convert to a larger term life insurance policy or one of the higher-priced permanent or whole life insurance products.

Term life insurance is particularly applicable in the current economic environment and for people such as parents with children, particularly young children; or for people with older dependent children and dependent elderly parents; or for entrepreneurs starting a new venture or who are critical to their family or small business; and even for young professionals with no dependents who are looking for an affordable term life insurance option.

Experts say such group life insurance policies should be considered supplemental only. Such group benefits are often set to a maximum benefit that can be significantly less coverage than is recommended for an individual or family’s personal life insurance needs.

In addition, employer-provided group life insurance is usually limited to the length of employment. When the individual leaves their company, the group term life insurance expires, and they are no longer insured. If an employee is moving to a different job, remember that some employment benefits don’t kick in right away and the insured can fall through an insurance gap. Additionally, if a person is laid off or the company fails, they are at risk when they can least afford it. Having your own cheap term life insurance policy in force before this happens is the best way to protect your family.

To get the best possible deal on your term life insurance, there are a few things you can do. Of course being in the best shape possible will get you the lowest rate. Also using an independent agent like us means that we can shop over 50+ different insurance carriers. This way we really are able to guarantee you the best deal in for your term life insurance policy.

In these uncertain times, life insurance is probably not your top financial priority. However, no matter how tight your budget already is, life insurance is the one thing you can make affordable and should never cut out from your budget.

If you’re like most people, you bought life insurance to provide for your loved ones in the event of your death. But because you’re self-employed, you may have an even greater need for life insurance. You’ll want to protect your family after you die, as well as protect the financial needs of your business.

As long as you are alive and healthy, your income-producing capability is relatively secure, and you and your family can enjoy the lifestyle you have established. If you were to die, however, your family could face hard economic times. Your family’s financial needs may include:

* Final expenses, such as burial and funeral costs
* Unpaid medical bills
* Income replacement
* Mortgage balance
* Debt repayment (credit cards)
* Education fund for children
* Emergency expenses

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Why life insurance may be even more important when you’re self-employed

As a sole proprietor, you are personally liable for all of the debts of your business. Legally, there is no difference between personal and business assets. By definition, a sole proprietorship ends when the owner dies. So, any losses or financial obligations at your death become the responsibility of your estate. It is possible that personal assets may have to be sold or transferred to pay off business debts. Business debts may include:

* Business loans
* Mortgage or lease payments on business location
* Payments due to suppliers, vendors, consultants, employees, and so on
* Taxes due to local, state, and federal taxing authorities
* Fees to lawyers, accountants, and other advisors to settle business affairs

A nationwide study recently found that Hispanics are significantly less likely than the general population to have life insurance (39% vs. 71%). However, Hispanics are more likely than the general population to say that they would need various things taken care of should something happen to them and worry about leaving enough to take care of their families. In fact, 89% of Hispanics said that someone in their situation should have life insurance and a majority of respondents said they would not do without it.

Although nearly nine in ten Hispanics without life insurance feel they should have it, a majority either does not understand how the coverage works or where to get it. Among the main obstacles identified by Hispanics was understanding and appreciation of life insurance among Hispanics with lower incomes and no college education.

If you don’t have enough to save for your children’s college funds and your retirement, then your retirement takes precedence.

There have been many things said about term life insurance agents. Most of it bad. These
are the agents that have gotten into the insurance business just for the quick buck.
Term life insurance is something that is needed by 96% of all people in the country, but
unfortunately people hesitate to buy because they are afraid of getting scammed.

The only way you can get scammed is if you don’t ask questions. Questions about the
different scenarios of death are the biggest thing to think about. For your term life
insurance you need to think about your debt, mortgage, spouse, family, charities, church,
not to mention hospital bills if any from your death.

The cost of cheap term life insurance is further evidence that whole life insurance, also called permanent insurance, is in most cases a supreme waste of money.

Most insurance agents love to sell permanent value policies because they cost a lot more, and agents are compensated by a commission on what they sell. According to our quote program, a 30-year-old buying a $500,000 whole life insurance policy — a popular type of permanent insurance — would pay a $5,505 annual premium. The same 30-year-old who buys a 20-year level term policy today will pay less than $600 a year.

Here’s what the agent selling the permanent policy isn’t saying: You rarely need the same amount of life insurance forever. Life insurance is needed to provide a certain amount protection in the early stages of your life, when you have yet to build up other assets. It’s only in rare cases, if you have a disabled child who may survive you, say, or a very large estate that requires some tax planning — that a permanent policy might make sense. For the vast majority of us, cheap term life insurance is the only logical choice.

Let’s say that 10 years ago a healthy 30-year-old guy bought a 20-year level term life insurance policy with a $500,000 death benefit. Translation: He bought insurance for 20 years and agreed to pay an annual premium that would not rise in that time. If he dies during the 20-year period, his beneficiaries get a $500,000 payout. If he’s still alive after 20 years, the policy expires with no payout to anyone.

This policy has an annual premium of $725 a year, according to past sales estimates. But if the same fellow, now 40 and still in good health, wanted to save a bundle, he could take out a new 10-year, $500,000 level term life insurance policy and pay just $560 a year. That’s a 31 percent saving!

Or, if he decides to extend the duration of his term life insurance policy, he could add an extra 10 years to his current coverage for cheap. So instead of taking out a new 10-year policy, he would go for a new 20-year policy. The cost: $740 a year. He just bought an extra 10 years of coverage for only $15 more a year than he paid on the policy he bought in 2000. That is what I call cheap term life insurance.

Besides the computer you’re using right now, name a big-ticket item that costs a lot less now than it did 10 years ago, and delivers a lot more for the money.

Not easy, is it?

Well, I have one for you: term life insurance. Protecting your loved ones with a term life insurance policy costs one-third less than it did just a decade ago.

Let’s think about some unfortunate parents in Utah that I have had as clients for years. Each parent had a 20 year term life insurance policy and each one was a $2,000,000 term life insurance policy and were the primary beneficiary on each other’s policy. Their old policies sold by a different term insurance agent, their child was named as the secondary beneficiary on both policies. When the parents died, the child would get the entire $4,000,000 payout, but because the beneficiary is a child and not a spouse, the entire death benefit is subject to the estate tax limit. In this case, the estate tax could be almost $2,000,000. So the parents were actually paying for an insurance policy that helped Uncle Sam as much as their child.

One way I helped protect their insurance death benefit from estate taxes is to hold the life insurance policy in an irrevocable life insurance trust. That way, it will not be included in the estate of the deceased, and therefore no estate tax will be levied, regardless of who gets the death benefit.

Let’s say you want to make sure that should you die your beneficiary would have an income of $100,000 a year for the rest of their life. That means you want a death benefit large enough to generate $100,000 in annual income. To figure that out just multiply the yearly amount of income you want your loved one to have by 20. In this case, $100,000 a year multiplied by 20 equals $2,000,000. Is that how much term life insurance is needed for 20 years? Why 20? It all has to do with the rate of return your beneficiaries could earn on the death benefit payout. And I want you to play it conservative, so we are going to do our calculation based on a 5 percent rate of return, which is what you probably can get on a high-quality individual bond investment. So a $2,000,000 death benefit invested at 5 percent will give your beneficiaries the $100,000 a year of desired income. I believe that this is a good way to figure out how much term life insurance do I need.

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Over the years, the competitive nature of insurance companies has resulted in policies getting cheaper and making it a great deal for us. It is especially so for term life insurance policies. With the various companies available in the market, the prices of life policies have been decreasing. And, with internet, it is really easy to find a one-page form, filling in a few different clicks and get quotes from several different companies. However, are the forms some sort of scams or frauds? There are 3 important factors that you need to look out for.

Companies That You Will Be Getting Quotes On
It is safer to be to get quotes from a agency like ours that work with larger companies such as Prudential, MetLife and WestCoast Life. Major companies have the resources to be scanning the internet for frauds that carry their names. It is much safer to be choosing quotes from such companies as compared to small companies that you have never heard of. After all, the company itself could be fake.

Does it require credit card details?
Credit card details are NOT required. Legitimate forms should only be asking you for basic details like your name, addresses and age. Next, there should be questions commonly asked by insurance companies. Questions such as have you been smoking over the last six months and so forth. There is simply no need for credit card details.
We ask for the basic information for your free life insurance quote online.

Where do the form direct you to
After giving you the quotes, you should see a list of quotes for the different major companies. Opting for either the cheapest isn’t always the best. We would never suggest purchasing any policy until you speak with an agent first. It would be rational for you to simply fill in a contact form and let someone contact you, making sure that you check the person’s identity with the term life insurance company before you make a decision.

These are the 3 things that you need to be aware of. Other than that, there is not only no harm but plenty of benefits to getting a free life insurance quote online. After all, such forms require only takes up 1 to 2 minutes of your time but could save you thousands and thousands of dollars in insurance. Besides, since you are not giving away any credit card details, there is no need to worry that you will get cheated.

Between the different life insurance types you now understand the huge drawbacks when it comes to purchasing whole life insurance / permanent life insurance. Get a term insurance policy to protect you and your family instead.

Learn the difference between life insurance types: Term vs whole life insurance.

Tip#1 on finding Inexpensive Term Life Insurance

Knowing the right amount of coverage / death benefit that you actually need is important before you actually go to an online life insurance comparison site to get quotes. You want to have more coverage than you actually need instead of being underinsured. With Term prices being the much more inexpensive of the life ins types you won’t need to worry as much about being over protected as you would on a whole life policy (permanent life). When comparing the monthly premium costs for term vs whole life with same coverage amount cheap term insurance beats out costly whole life / variable life / universal life 100% of the time.

Expenses to calculate before you buy life insurance:

Daily Living Expenses (Food/Clothing) Educational Expenses for the kids (College) Childcare Expenses Mortgage Payments / Housing Payments

Make sure you calculate those expenses and take into account future expenses that may arise. This will give you a good idea of the coverage that you need each month over 30 years or how every many years you need coverage for.

Tip#2 on finding Inexpensive Term Insurance

Once you have your life insurance rate quote(s) online wind it down to 3 companies and the quotes that you feel comfortable with and then take a look at the company financial rating:

Highest Rating / Financial Strength Rating of Company:

Standard and Poor’s: A++ (Secure/Superior) A.M. Best: A A A (Extremely Strong) Moody’s: A a a (Exceptional) Fitch: A A A (Secure/Highest)

Again, if you are looking for a great inexpensive term life insurance policy make sure you check the insurance credit or financial rating of the company. That’s a major component of what makes a solid policy. If you purchase any life product from a company that has a terrible financial rating then your policy is worthless. Why? If you die the company may not pay out your death benefit on your policy. You can definitely find very good quality, cheap life insurance from a company with an extremely high or the highest financial rating.

Tip#3 on finding Inexpensive Term Life Insurance

Set not only the correct amount of term life insurance coverage but the correct duration for your coverage.

Knowing that you do not need permanent insurance for the rest of your life you are only covering the years when your children are growing up. Why is this the case? The reasoning behind this is that your children are dependent on your income so you need to insure your income until they become independent which is normally after they find a job after graduating from college. When they can create their own income you will no longer have dependents who require your income and therefore no longer have a need for insurance coverage.

Inexpensive Term Life Insurance is normally quoted in the durations listed below: 30 year term, 25 year term, 20 year term, 15 year term, etc. (increments of 5 years). It is very inexpensive and is only needed for a finite amount of time. If you understand that an insurance gets much more expensive as you get older you only want to purchase it when you need it. Buying insurance is not a way to become rich. There are other ways of achieving financial freedom for you and your family outside of this type of insurance. You won’t have to keep one eye open at night either!

Another great thing about term ins is that you can cancel your policy at anytime without having to worry about a loss of the investment “cash value” as Whole life policy owners do.

Most of the various life insurance policies today offer a variety of options but best term life insurance is one of your options as it offers you maximum flexibility. It is however true that all sorts of options are more readily available with other kinds of insurance solutions. Still, despite the simplicity and limitations, best term life insurance is yet a more sensible and of utility among a large spread of customers.

For those individuals who require a temporary life insurance protection, a best term life insurance policy is . best term life insurance is to fill a gap like when the case is such that an individual is not protected under any life insurance policy due to whatever reasons. Under such circumstances the best term life insurance is as it can still protect the necessary financial interests of the concerned family. If you are looking for a life insurance coverage for just a short period, then too best term life insurance is opted for.

If you’re on the lookout for affordable term life insurance then this article is for you. Contrary to popular belief affordable term life insurance can be a smart decision for a lot of people. In most cases the only drawback regarding term life insurance is the length of the insurance policy. Most insurance underwriters will only carry a term life insurance policy for a maximum of 30 years. With this one drawback there are many consumers who instead opt for a regular life insurance policy, which can also be a cash-value policy. The monthly insurance payments or premiums for this type of life insurance policy are usually more expensive when compared to a standard term life insurance policy. These standard life insurance policies offer a lifetime value and feature a built in savings program. Whether or not that sways you to purchase that type of policy over a term life insurance policy is a decision only you can make.

I will assume you are still interested in the benefits of a term life insurance policy and how easy it can be to actually find affordable term life insurance. The best place to shop for affordable life insurance policies is on the Internet. The ability to instantly and easily compare hundreds of life insurance offerings from many different companies gives you the ability to truly find the most affordable term life insurance policy with all of the features you’re interested in having.

In fact many insurance companies offer websites that are very user friendly and easy to navigate. Best of all you don’t have to worry about talking to an insurance agent that you feel may be interested in only making a sale instead of best serving your life insurance needs. When using online access to view insurance quotes you can quickly compare polices and insurance quotes to see which insurance company offers the best policy for your needs at an affordable price. In order to speed up the process you should have some information about your current state of health readily available. Information such as your current weight, blood pressure, cholesterol level and previous medical history when available will greatly aid in speeding up the life insurance quote process and allow you to receive a more accurate rate in your free term life insurance quote.

There are a few bits of crucial information that can help you lower your current term life insurance rates. For instance if you just had a health checkup (which you should do annually) and can show that you’ve lost weight or decreased your cholesterol level this will allow you to be offered a cheaper term life insurance quote. Additionally if you were a smoker and decided to kick the habit you could be entitled to a decrease in your current term life insurance rate.

Other methods of achieving a lower out of pocket cost for your term life insurance revolve around your actual insurance company. Some will offer a slight discount provided you have a your insurance payment automatically taken out of your bank account. Even more companies offer a substantial savings for each insurance coverage amount increase. Make sure to compare what the rates are between amounts such as $250,000, $500,000 and higher. One thing to consider is your age. As with most life insurance, term life policies are cheaper the younger you are so if you’re debating on whether or not to purchase an affordable term life insurance policy you may want to do so before your next birthday. Finally if you’ve ever had any type of surgical procedure done to treat a major medical condition you may be able to negotiate for a lower term life rate depending on how long ago your operation to treat the medical condition took place.

Variable universal life insurance (VUL), a form of permanent life insurance, is popular because it offers a cash value that may build up with interest over time. The interest earned is based on the performance of the stocks, bonds, or other investment portfolios in which you choose to invest your premiums.

Some financial planners advocate VUL policies because they force you to save money in the cash value component. Others recommend you buy term insurance for the cheaper premium, and then invest the money left over in mutual funds or other investments. VUL also allows you to change your death benefit and subsequent premium payments over time.

Figuring out which instant term life insurance you should buy - 10 years, 20 years, 30 years or some other number - requires a major review of your debts, financial needs, dependents’ needs - and when all those might change. Jack Dolan of the American Council of Life Insurers suggests you ask yourself, “When will my dependents reach financial independence?” Also look at major debts, such as mortgages or other loans, and when those are due to be paid off.

Guenther Ruch of the Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner’s office says it’s a good idea to review your term life insurance needs carefully, both when you buy the policy and on a regular basis throughout your life. “You may not have the coverage you need. You may have more than you need,” Ruch says.

Ruch has the following recommendations for anyone buying instant term life insurance, or anyone who already has coverage:

* Schedule a routine “check-up” with your life insurance providers at least once a year.
* Shop around when you’re in the market for a new policy. Term life insurance rates vary considerably among insurers.
* Remember, an insurance policy is a legal document. Read it carefully and make sure you understand it.

As you age, the likelihood you will die sooner increases. That’s why older individuals pay more for life insurance. However, affordable term life insurance is possible if you shop around. If you are looking for low cost term life insurance, you can lock in low premiums by buying for a “level term” policy. That means for a specific time period, say 20 years, your premium rate stays the same. Many term policies give you the option to renew your coverage at the end of the term without undergoing another medical exam, although your premiums will rise for the next term - often substantially.

A less popular policy is “annual renewable term.” This gives you coverage for one year with the option of renewing it each year for a specified duration, such as 20 years. With this policy, your term life insurance rates will go up every year you renew and are calculated based on the probability of your dying within the next year.

If you’d like to have term life insurance in place to provide for beneficiaries yet you are confident you’ll outlive the policy, you could consider “return of premium” term life insurance. Under this type of policy, if no death benefit has been paid by the end of your insurance term, you receive all your premiums back. It pays to shop around for a policy like this, but on the low end you can expect to pay 50 percent more in premiums than comparable traditional term life insurance.

Smokers will pay more for life insurance, although cigar smokers might get less expensive premiums than those using cigarettes. If you smoke marijuana, but not cigarettes, you still must admit to being a smoker on the policy application. Insurers don’t generally differentiate between different types of smoke inhalation. (Marijuana users must also disclose their drug use.)

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Can I Buy Term Life Insurance with Epilepsy

This table provides a general sampling of how the term life insurance companies that 1stQuote.com works with, might classify you with a medical history of Epilepsy (seizures within 5 years) , and is not intended to be all-inclusive or a guarantee of life insurance coverage. This data is offered solely to provide a guideline for those individuals considering the purchase of life insurance. Any Final Rating Class can only be determined through each individual companies underwriting process.

To see how a medical history of Epilepsy (seizures within 5 years) might affect your cost for term life insurance, get a free, Instant Term Life Insurance Quote

Whole Life vs Term Life Insurance

Whole Life vs Term Life Insurance

As you get older, premiums steadily increase. Level-premium term has somewhat higher - but fixed - premiums for longer periods, anywhere from five to 30 years.

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Term Life Insurance Competition

Term Life insurance is a highly competitive business, in which the salesforce depends almost entirely on commissions.

So stick with term life insurance, and do your investing elsewhere.

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