Business and Investment Center

Whole life insurance, also known as “cash-value” insurance is a basic and consistent type of permanent life insurance which remains in effect your entire life at a level premium. This life insurance is a good choice got you if you do not expect your life insurance needs to diminish over time. A portion of your premium goes into a reserve fund called ‘cash value’ that builds up over the years your policy is in affect. Your reserve fund is tax-deferred and you can borrow against it, until you withdraw it.

The premiums must generally remain constant over the life of the policy and must be paid periodically according to the amount indicated in the policy. You may also have the option of a single premium — paying all of the premiums at once with a single lump sum. Your cash values will grow to equal the amount of the death benefit when you turn to age 100.

Although, whole life insurance is very expensive, and if you’re on a limited budget, you may not be able to afford all the insurance coverage you actually need. But the plus point is that the death

benefit is guaranteed as long as premiums are met. Also death benefit will never decrease if you don’t borrow against it.

Whole life insurance policy’s returns will fluctuate with the markets and will usually follow returns

available from other investments like equity mutual funds. However, if you decide to quit your policy, your cash value can be paid in cash or paid-up insurance.

Whole life insurance is most suitable for you, if you want to:

•    use it as a tax and estate planning vehicle,
•    accumulate cash value for a child’s education or retirement,
•    pay final expenses,
•    provide money for a favorite charity,
•    fund a business buy/sell agreement,
•    provide key person protection.

Before buying the whole life insurance, you need to think carefully about choosing your level of

coverage. Too often people make the mistake of insufficiently covering or even worse, financially

overextending themselves. This would be a tragic error with whole life insurance policy because

defaulting on premium payments can mean policy cancellation and the loss of your entire investment. So be careful and make sure you:

•    pick a life insurance policy that has a guaranteed cash value starting at the very first year,
•    choose the one with the highest cash value in the very first year,
•    consider “participating” insurance policies which can pay dividends, increasing your policy’s value by boosting both the total cash value and the death benefits,
•    beware of any insurance policy that levies “surrender charges” when you cancel.
•    if you ever need to stop paying premiums, your policy lets you use the accumulated cash value of the life insurance policy to pay the premiums, thus keeping your coverage current.

Is it better to be loyal to your auto insurance company or yourself? Does it pay to stay with the same company for a long time or not? When it comes to auto insurance these days, if you are with the same company for over a year, then your more than likely being treated like yesterdays success. When I say yesterdays success I mean, your agent usually doesn’t have time to focus on old business, instead they are hungry looking for new auto insurance policies to write. There are multiple reasons why it pays to be willing to pack up and leave for the next good deal!

First off, did you know that most companies have a discount for new customers? They entice you to stay by lowering that discount each year, in hopes of gaining loyalty in the meantime. Isn’t this backwards? Shouldn’t they be lowering the rate each year for being loyal and staying with them?

Then there are all the really old customers out there with low deductibles. Once again the agent didn’t have time to review deductibles and educate how much money could be saved by raising them even a few hundred dollars. Think of your policy. When was the last time your agent called to make sure you were happy with your coverage?

What about credit and your auto insurance policy. This topic has raised more controversy than any when it comes to auto insurance. If you have been with the same company for a long time, this area is far too often costing the customer hundreds of dollars. I have even seen where up to date Insurance scores have saved thousands per year!

The list could go on and on forever why you will save by being a new customer. Let me sum it all up for you in simplified terms. Insurance companies are literally fighting for your business now days. Competition does one simple thing, saves you money. The same companies have become far too comfortable with there loyal customers. Wake them up. Comparison shop to get better prices.

Take advantage of the competition. Get quotes from multiple companies and let them start competing for your business. If your interested in an excellent source to get quotes from multiple companies with one simple process, then click on the highlighted text. Otherwise shop around wherever you feel comfortable. Take my advice though, and your going to be surprised how much you can save.