Top Ten Tips to Save on Life Insurance Portland OR

Top Ten Tips to Save on Life Insurance

Looking to save money on your life insurance? If you are willing to do a bit of work and consider alternatives in your search, you could save yourself a lot of money.

The most important thing, first and foremost, is to shop around. There are hundreds of insurance companies offering a wide variety of plans and prices. Different companies could have different claim experiences and therefore have very different rates. You could save big bucks, just by doing some comparison-shopping.

What else can you do? You have many options. Here are 10 more ways you can save on life insurance:

1. Consider term insurance over whole or universal life .

   Term insurance is insurance and insurance only. Unlike whole life policies that have a savings component, you just get life insurance. As a result, you can actually save money on premiums with term insurance. In fact, according to one insurance association, the cost of a universal or whole life policy could be 8 or 9 times more than for term insurance with the same death benefit!

   Having said that, if whole life is your preferred policy, there are still ways to save some money and get the insurance that you want. A big part of the costs associated with whole life insurance are administration fees. If you are willing to check around, you may be able to find companies that sell “no load” or “low load” policies. As always, check any fine print when buying these kinds of products, to ensure there are no hidden charges and that you are getting exactly what you expect.

   Do keep in mind that if you choose whole life, it doesn't really give you the full benefit's of a savings vehicle. Any partial withdrawals or loans will reduce your death benefit. Also, if you partially withdraw or take out a loan against your cash value, and the cash value exceeds the premiums you have paid into the policy, you will be hit with a tax bill. Finally, every year you own the policy, more of your premium money goes to pay for the cost of insuring you and less of it goes toward the cash value. Why? Because your risk of death increases and the cost of your insurance component therefore increases.

2. Look for no-commission policies if possible

   What is a “no-load” insurance policy? Well, first of all, it's really more accurately a “low-load” life insurance policy. Such policies have fewer expenses built into them, such as agent commissions and fees for marketing. This can mean lower premiums to you.

   How can you get a no-load policy? You need to buy from a financial advisor who will charge a “flat fee” rather than collect a commission. The flat fee will normally be lower than the built-in cost of commission.

   You can also buy no-load policies direct from an insurance company. If the company is selling without an agent, there is less cost to them and potential savings to you. More and more insurers are selling directly via the Internet. It's worth checking out.

3. Avoid a gua...

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