Question on Life Insurance,I'm very ignorant in the subject.Can someone explain it to me,?

Question

How much,? what for ? I have no clue, and I know is GREAT to have one. Advise me ?

Answer 1

Life insurance is a plan that pays out a death benefit in the event of your death as long as you pay the premiums.

What its for? The provide income protection to your family in case you die. Life insurance should not be used as a gain or profit off your death. Instead, it should be used to cover regular expenses as if you were not dead. Of course, anyone can do anything they want with the death benefit.

There are two main types of life insurance.
Type 1: Cash value life insurance
Type 2: Term insurance.
You can read all about the difference between the two at: http://obe231.blogspot.com

How much coverage should you seek? Financial experts say it should be ten times the amount of your annual gross income. So if your annual income is $40,000, then you should get $400,000.

What I would suggest is getting term insurance. There are many different terms you can choose from 5 year, 10 year, 15, 20, 25, or 30 year. At the same time, you should be saving toward retirement. I personally own term insurance because it make sense to get one than to have cash value life insurance.

Some say that cash value is better than term because you can use the cash value to pay your premiums in the future. What they don't understand that if you use your cash value, you are borrowing it. If you die without paying the loan back, your death benefit is reduced by the amount you borrowed plus any interest due.

With term, insurance and investments are kept separate. If you can't pay your term for some reason, you can use your investments and don't have to pay it back. Though, I don't see how you can't pay your term insurance because they are very inexpensive to get. Even if term do expires in the future, it still more cost effective to get than to have cash value life insurance. Though, you probably won't need life insurance by the time the term expires. As long as you invest each month, your need for life insurance decreases.

Answer 2

When you think about how much life insurance you need, consider the expenses others might have if you died. If you are the breadwinner for your family, how much would it take to replace your income until your children are grown? Under any circumstance, you would probably want enough to cover final expenses like travel, burial, a funeral, etc. without putting a strain on your family.

Also, consider if you want term (usually 10 - 30 years) insurance. This is usually cheaper, but at the end of the term, it is gone. Some term policies have a return of premium, where you actually get your premiums back if you survive.

You may also want a permanant policy like whole life or universal life. Some of these can be paid up over a period of years, and you will have insurance forever no matter when you die. Of course, this is more expensive so you may have to consider this.

Most permanant policies also have a cash value that gradually builds up so you can also use them as a savings vehicle.

Answer 3

Without more info, it will be tough to advise you properly.

You need to look at your family and how much money would be needed to replace your income and cover any debts that would fall onto your family.

Also, you need to decide how much you can afford to pay for the insurance.

There is TERM LIFE, which will only last a certain number of years (normally 10, 20, or 30). It is cheaper, but does not accumulate a cash value, so when the number of years is up, the policy ends and you get no money back.

WHOLE LIFE is more expensive, because the policy accumulates in value, and after a few years, you could cash it in and get some money back, or borrow against the value that has built up. It also stays in effect for your whole life (hence, the name), and could build up a value greater than the face value by then.

GROUP LIFE: it is kind of like term life, in that there is no cash value. Your employer may offer group life to you, and possibly at a reduced price. The price will usually go up each year because the longer you live, the more likely you are to die.

There are other life insurance policies, such as Universal Life and Annuities, but if you are clueless, you may want to start with the basic three explained above.

Personally, I would go for a mix of all three. A smaller whole life policy, if treated as a conservative portion of your long-term portfolio, will basically yield you a result similar to a CD or low-paying annuity, but will pay off if you do die in just a few years or in 31 years (when your longest term would have already expired).

However, an additional term policy can add some bang to your buck, so that if you get hit by a bus next year, your family can, for example, pay off the house.

Again, as said above, if your employer pays for all or a portion of a group life plan, it may be a great deal, and could allow you to get a slightly lower term policy and have just as much protection.

FINALLY, make sure your sales rep checks off any of the free or super-cheap riders on your policy, such as the accelerated benefits (usually free, lets you get benefits early if terminally ill) or sometimes an accidental death rider (sometimes pretty cheap, pays out lots extra if your death is from an accident). Also, ask if the term can be converted to whole life at a later date and just how expensive it would be to do so.

Good luck!

Answer 4

First of all you would not be considered Ignorant ! You are simply uninformed about insurance. Ignorance is something people CHOOSE to have.

On to the question...

Life insurance is merely something you obtain IF in the event of your death, you would cause a financial burden upon someone. No life insurance is needed if you have no one in your life such as children or a spouse.

You can figure out how much your family needs annually to live if you were to die and you were the bread winner. Double that amount and add a zero on to it and that will give you amount of the life insurance policy needed for those you leave behind. For example : Say you work and bring home $50,000 annually and you and your family live off that comfortably. Double that = $100,000 and add a zero = $1,000,000. So you will need a million dollar life insurance policy to have no burden upon your family at your death. Easy easy!

Answer 5

If someone dies who is covered under a life insurance policy then the insurance company will pay the designated beneficiary the amount stated in the life insurance policy.

There are many different types of life insurance and many prices. Like any product many companies sell similar policies at very different prices so you have to shop around.

Don't buy life insurance unless you actually "need" it. It isn't an investment.

Answer 6

An add-on to the tons of info you've already gotten...If your employer is offering Term life and you are young or don't plan on staying with them forever, just take the free basic life and don't supplement it. I say that bc you are MUCH more likely to have an accident on the job that to be killed on the job. So if you want any extra insurance, get some ADD instead.

Answer 7

You have some good answers here already.

Bottom line, life insurance and health and disability are PART of a complex financial picture known as your life. If you have enough money, you don't need as much insurance. If you don't have enough money and you rely on your paycheck and someone else relies on you, you need to have insurance.

How much and what kind depends on too many factors - your age, health, income, savings etc.

Bottom line: go talk to one or more financial professionals including insurance agents and family law attorneys.

Good Luck

Answer 8

How much,?
frist we have to answer what for ?
each earning member has a responsibility to one's dear ones dependent on her or him.
god forbid; anything untoward happens to the breadwinner the dear dependents should not go hungry.
the dwelling place should not be siezed to liquidate the mortgatge.
dear ones education should not be stopped, being unable to meet the cost.
such risks can be managed by shifting the risk by buying an insuance policy.
now howmuch.
god forbid; if any untoward incident happens, the cover should liquidate the commitments and given enough corpus, to yield a monthly income to meed the monthly expenses.
but the period should not go beyond the earning life.
a good calcuation is required.
i hope that i have made a fair attempt to clarify.

Answer 9

Short answer to complex question:

What is the financial impact of your premature death? If at or near zero, you don't "need" life insurance.

If there is an adverse financial impact caused by your premature death, how much is that, and to whom?

Life insurance provides an income tax-free (almost always) to the designated beneficiary at the death of the insured.

Term is the cheapest, but it later becomes very expensive.

Permanent insurance costs more but is designed to last forever.

Find a competent agent to assist you (you can do it online, but if there are problems with your application, good luck.)