How Can I Save Money on Life Insurance?

Did you know that the cost of your life insurance policy can vary based on your current health and lifestyle? Buying the wrong benefits for even the lowest premiums not only wastes your money, but also puts you and your heirs at risk. With your heirs involved it becomes even more important to follow these 7 simple steps to keeping your life insurance…lively.

Know what you need — Knowing exactly what and how much you need allows you the ability to shop for and compare specific quotes. The biggest mistake most people make is buying too much of the wrong life insurance.

Consider all of your options — Many options are available when seeking life insurance, including:

1. Term Life Insurance: — insurance bought for a specific time period, e.g. 15 years
2. Whole Life Insurance: — insurance covering the span of a person’s entire life, including natural death
3. Variable Life Insurance: — insurance allocated to investments; cash reserve dependent on success of investments
4. Annuities: — an annuity is an agreement or contract for a life insurance company, charity or trust to pay a person (you) a series of payments over time.

If you need more life insurance once you’ve purchased your policy, you should consider a Rider Policy—an amendment to you existing policy increases the amount of benefits.

1. Buy as soon as you can — Insurance premiums go up with age because you are more susceptible to illness and injury. It is best to purchase your first policy as soon as financially feasible. There is always the option of obtaining a Rider Policy later, if necessary.
2. Beware of fractional premiums — Typically you pay premiums once per year, per quarter or per month. Most people choose quarterly or monthly payments because they are more economically attractive. However, many companies charge fees in order to facilitate smaller, more frequent payments.
3. Focus on financially sound companies — Nowadays, everyone’s Aunt Sally sells life insurance. Limit your search to companies with high ratings from independent research agencies.
4. Take care of yourself — Find out what insurance rate class you fit into, then make any changes necessary to lower that rate. Exercise, eat right, and don’t smoke or participate in risky activities like cliff diving. Qualification for lower premiums requires an evaluation of your lifestyle as well as a health exam.
5. Shop around — Make use of the internet. Not only can it provide you with an outlook on what to expect in terms of available policies and premiums, but it can also offer you the opportunity to research each of the companies and policies you are interested in.  Shopping around helps you to decide which agent is right for, which policy is right for you and how much insurance you can really afford, without getting ripped off.

Remember, although you may want to reduce the cost of your life insurance, it is important to maintain full coverage that meets both your immediate and long-term financial goals.