How to Lower Your Life Insurance Costs in 5 Easy Steps
Are you worried about today's economy and rising prices?Have you ever thought how these factors may affect your life insurance premiums? Here are 5 fast and easy steps you can take to lower the premium for your life insurance. Arming yourself with a good dose of common sense and these 5 facts will enable you to find the best deals.
Are you worried about today's economy and rising prices? Have you ever thought how these factors may affect your life insurance premiums? Here are 5 fast and easy steps you can take to lower the premium for your life policy. Arming yourself with a good dose of common sense and these 5 facts will enable you to find the best deals.
1. Shop Around and Compare
Shop and Compare! Two words that really make sense in today's volatile economy. Assuming you have already determined the amount of coverage you need, don't just sign up for the first policy that you find. Be sure that you shop around and really check your options. The internet is a great place for you to start. Some of the better sites will allow you to run your own quotes without needing to speak to an agent. This will allow you to get a feel of the market. Knowing what life insurance rates to expect prepares you search intelligently for the most coverage at the lowest possible price.
2. Good Health
It should come as no surprise that your insurance company is concerned by having clients who are less than ideally healthy. Make yourself a low risk for your insurance company by maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If you haven't been already, it will pay to stop excessive drinking, smoking, and drug use. A clean bill of health will result in a considerable reduction in your insurance rates.
3. Term Life Insurance
The fastest way to lower your life insurance premium is to choose a term life insurance policy instead of a permanent of "whole-life" policy. Term life insurance is the original type of life insurance that simply insures you against a certain risk - in this case your death. At some point, the insurance industry began to craft policies that combined a rate of return on the premium paid as a way to sell more policies. The advantage is that these policies last for the insured's entire life, as opposed to a pre defined period of time that term life insurance policies cover.
The reason this is not a good deal for the policy holder is that the premiums are higher since you are paying for the "pure" insurance portion of the policy, and extra that will allow you to 'invest' for an interest rate return. In addition to the higher premiums, the higher fee's that are leveraged on these types of policy by the insurer actually results in a lower rate of return than most people would get by just taking the extra amount they are paying and putting it into a CD or other interest bearing product.
4. Consult an Insurance Agent of Financial Professional
To make sure you have the right coverage and type of insurance, a good discussion with your agent will pay dividends in lower premium. Insurance agents are experts in their field and should have a solid grasp of the marketplace. He or she should be able to get you the most affordable coverage in line with your needs. Be sure to avoid agents who only represent a single company's products. A good, independent agent can shop different carriers and compare similar plans to find you the best rate. For term life insurance, and online agency is the right place to start.
5. Start Now
You will never be younger than you are today! It pays to get your life insurance at a young age. The premiums you will pay by starting young will be a fraction of what you can expect to pay as you grow older. For the insurance company they realize that statistically, the younger the client the less likely they are to have developed health problems and are therefore a lower risk. Such a low mortality risk is favorable for the insurer to offer lower rates because they will be less likely to have to pay a death claim.