Life insurance is a basic financial necessity in protecting yourself and your family. If you or your spouse die, not only does your family lose a loved one, it also results in loss of an income, but still retains all of the bills and debts that are needed to be paid. Unfortunately people refuse to obtain life insurance for a variety of reasons. Some simply don’t want to think about death and others worry that they are uninsurable because of their health or lifestyle. None of these reasons should prevent you from being insured. Life insurance is one of the fundamental personal risk management strategies you should have in your portfolio. Here are four common reasons people give for not applying for life insurance.
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Pre-Existing Condition: You may have a medical condition that you think will exclude you from coverage. If you have a terminal disease, this will almost always be true. For other conditions that can still result in a long life, many insurers will still extend coverage at higher rates. As long as you fully disclose the condition and the medical treatment you receive for it, you may be able to get life insurance. For larger policies, insurance carriers will often rely on their own lab tests and an inspection of existing medical records to make sure you are otherwise healthy.
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Obesity: Will almost always increase premiums, but in most cases it won’t exclude you from coverage. Obesity is a potential underlying factor in many illnesses, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. For that reason, it will be considered as a greater risk than someone who is within their recommended weight for height guidelines. To save money on your insurance policy, try to lose some of the weight before applying for coverage. Ask your insurance agent ahead of time at what weight the premiums change so that you have a goal to shoot for. You also may be able to get your insurance company to re-underwrite your policy after the first year if you lose a significant amount of weight after your policy origination.
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Cost: To determine the amount of insurance you need, take in consideration at least two years to pay the bills PLUS pay off your mortgage or any other debt that you currently have and use that figure for your base coverage. Also, term life insurance is more inexpensive than whole life and it gives you no-frills coverage for a set number of years. Having some life insurance is better than having no life insurance at all. You can always increase your coverage in the future as your budget allows.
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Too Many Choices: Buying life insurance can be a frustrating and confusing process. Every insurance provider and every policy is different. Don’t let this stop you from digging in and getting the right insurance for you. There are two main types of life insurance: term and whole life. Term insurance gives you life insurance coverage with no bells or whistles for a fixed rate for a defined period of time. At the end of the term, a new rate is offered. The length of time matters as insurance becomes more expensive as you get older. Whole life insurance offers an investment component that you can borrow against or withdraw in the future.
The Bottom Line
Because of the need for a little basic learning when purchasing life insurance, many consumers put it off. Life insurance is an important part of your personal risk management, however, and it is worth it to jump in, get educated, and get insured. Many obstacles that people believe will keep them from buying insurance can be overcome with a little help from an experienced life insurance agent.
Here at Donald J. Medeiros Insurance Agency our goal is to try to help our viewers by outlining potential exposures and suggest solutions for all insurance needs. By no means can we address a viewers’ specific concerns in every incident. So, we strongly advise to check with an insurance agent to ask about your specific coverage needs.
Come visit us at www.donmedeirosinsurance.com or give us a call at 508-678-1271. We look forward to hearing from you! If you have a Facebook account, fan us at http://www.facebook.com/donmedeiros.
