Here are the top four life insurances listed from most expensive to the least expensive.
Universal life insurance
Whole life insurance
Return of Premium life insurance (R.O.P.)
and least expensive of all - Standard Term life insurance
The least expensive may sound good but it may not necessarily be the best insurance for you and your family. A lot of people may have different policies. Two or even three. Each one covering a specific need.
Okay, let's get to these important tips that could save you money when shopping for life insurance.
Buy life insurance while you're young.
The younger you are when you purchase a life insurance policy the better. Your rates will be much lower. Buying life insurance for your children when they are young will keep their premiums low for the rest of their lives. Up to 10 times lower!
Find a life insurance policy that meets all your needs.
In other words, a policy that is' tailor-made' just for you and your family. Everyone has different needs.
You have a home with a 30 year mortgage that you would want to protect with a 30 year policy. You are 30 to 40 years of age. You should consider a small Whole life insurance policy with an additional 20 year Term life policy. Perhaps you are close to retirement. A 10 year Term life insurance policy may be right for you.
If you are a smoker, you want to consider a short term life insurance policy. (Just quit smoking!! Get a new policy! Many policies are much cheaper for a non-smoker. You will not only get healthier, but think of the money you'll be saving! Not just on your premiums, but on all that you spend on tobacco!! )
How much life insurance should you purchase to meet your needs and the needs of your family?
First, you need to sit down and figure out what your needs are and the needs of your family.
You need to be prepared when dealing with insurance companies. Their goal is to make money off you. They will do their very best to try and sell you more coverage than you really need. Only purchase enough coverage that will take care of your family if something should happen to you. Such as, burial expenses, out-standing debts, mortgage, etc. Enough insurance for them to live on in a way they have become accustom to. (Note: An average standard is 10 times your yearly gross income plus any large debts you may have.)
The reason one should need to purchase more life insurance than needed is if you are leaving behind a large estate. This would be to keep the assets of your estate from being taxed.
If an insurance company is trying to push you to buy more coverage than you need, move on to another insurance company! There is no trick to buying life insurance. It's not only fast and easy; It's free on the internet! You can get many different quotes from many different insurance companies in no time at all and save you a lot of money.
Save money by matching the right insurance company to your lifestyle Let's say that you have a high risk occupation. Such as an airplane pilot or construction worker. Or perhaps you have a high risk hobby. Such as jumping out of an airplane rather then piloting one. Insurance companies are well aware that they are taking a big. Therefore, they will charge you much higher rates figuring that you may not be paying them premiums as long as they had planned on.
The insurance companies will still insure 'high risk' people. But the amount of those individuals is limited. Example: An insurance company, let's say, has a limit of 10,000 policies that they will issue to a 'high risk' individual. Each individual pays $1,000 per year for their policy. Now, after the insurance company reaches their limit of 10,000 policy holders, a 'new' high risk individual, (#10,001), is going to pay double for that exact same policy. Why? Because insurance companies are NOT going to exceed that limit and put their assets at risk. They need to compensate by charging higher rates to everyone over that limit.
Take notice of fluctuating rates as your insurance policy increases Some insurance companies are willing to give you a bit of a price break when you increase the amount of your coverage. It is possible to get a $300,000 policy from one insurance company for less than a $275,000 from another insurance company, even if both insurance companies charge the exact same price for that $275,000 policy.
It really pays to check both above and below the coverage you are looking at. You may be surprised at what you might find when you compare.
Are you paying too much for life insurance through you place of employment? Chances are, yes! You see your employer and the insurance company work together to agree on one set 'group' rate. Meaning, all employees' pays the same price for their life insurance policy. They are going to figure in the number of 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' employee's. Now, we already know that a person who is unhealthy will pay more.
Not the case through work. Everyone pays the same rate. The 'group' rate'. Therefore, if you are one of the 'healthy' employee's, chances are, you are pay too much because you are paying a portion of the 'unhealthy' employee's premium payment.
Let's say that in a normal situation, an insurance companies rate would be $50 per week for a healthy person and $100 per week for an unhealthy person. In a 'group' rate situation, a set rate would be $75 per week for everyone. Every employee whether healthy or not.
That means that a healthy employee is getting an extra $25 per week taken out of their paycheck to help pay for a portion of the 'unhealthy' employee's premiums.
If this is your case, the wise thing to do, if you are one of the 'healthy' employee's, is to take that $75 per week out of your paycheck yourself and invest it in a life insurance policy that is tailor-made just for you. You would now be in control. You must also keep in mind that if you should ever leave this job, or retire, most likely you would lose any life insurance benefits you had through the company. By investing in your own policy, (and as long as you pay your premiums,) you would never be in fear of losing a policy that you may have paid many, many years in to.