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Life insurance provides you with two major benefits. First, it protects loved ones against the financial consequences of your death. Second, it offers living benefits.

Everyone knows that the financial consequences of death can be overwhelming. When a spouse, parent, child, sibling or grandparent dies, there is a great deal of emotional trauma to deal with by the surviving family members. However, the financial consequences can be even more destructive. If there is no life insurance in place, surviving family members are thrust into a position of extreme financial difficulty. Not only do they have to contend with the loss of future income, but there’s also the death and burial itself. They generate sudden and unexpected expenses.

If you look at the mortality statistics, you will see that a significant number of people die each year, long before they achieve their normal life expectancy. If the deceased is a breadwinner in a family, that premature death can have tragic consequences, on many levels. Not only are survivors trying to deal with deep personal grief and loss, but they are also facing grave financial concerns. They can no longer rely on that breadwinner’s salary to meet the daily living expenses.

Funeral costs are not the only immediate expenses that crop up. Other expenses could include such things as executor’s fees and estate administration. Outstanding debts like promissory notes, car loans, mortgages, the balance on credit cards and medical expenses must be paid. Not to mention there are death taxes, and state and federal taxes.

The future security of your loved ones is another factor in a premature death. Just basic living expenses, the mortgage, and raising and educating children are some of those concerns. Actually, it doesn’t matter what financial obligations are left behind, the only option your survivors have is to pay them, and that takes money. If you want to assure yourself that your family is not forced to deal with the financial devastation a premature death can cause, then a life insurance policy is the perfect answer.

Some survivors may have a time during which it will be difficult to work, and some may have to think about a survivor’s blackout period. This is a time where social security stops paying the surviving spouse, because dependent children are no longer a factor. These events are difficult if no monies are available. Also, some families try to plan for a surviving spouse’s retirement needs. Because of the fact that life insurance can generate an immediate estate, at a time when it is most needed, it is a means of estate building.

Life insurance also supplies living benefits, as some types of permanent policies offer a cash benefit. In addition to the death settlement, they accrue a cash value, and this cash value belongs to the policyholder. Some permanent policies also permit withdrawals from the cash benefit, and these can be used for any reason the policyholder chooses. The policyholder can also take out loans from the insurance company, by using the policy’s cash value as loan collateral.

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Insurance Provider who specialises in Life Insurance Policies.

You may be frequently and constantly reminded often about life insurance in many ways, The newspaper advertisements, telecast over television program and radio, web advertisements are the means through which we are reminded about this. Insurance has come about almost more than one field such as life insurance, vehicle insurance, health insurance, property insurance, fire insurance, and as many more.

In life insurance line, there are two categories of policies. One is called term insurance policy and other one is called whole life coverage. Though these have many subsidiary branches, the main are the above two types.

Whole life insurance covers you for your whole life. In the event of your death, your beneficiary will receive a financial compensation set by the terms of your policy. It often comes with a fixed premium, which means that you pay a fixed amount your whole life, as opposed to paying less when you are younger and more when you are older. Whole life insurance policies could be said to blend insurance protection with some features of an investment fund.

Term life insurance covers you for a set number of years, or term, instead of your whole life. Term life insurance is generally less expensive than whole life insurance, and is generally a little more popular than whole life insurance for this reason. If you have term life insurance, then you must be careful about its expiration. If you don’t plan ahead, then you will find yourself looking for another life insurance policy at a time when life insurance will cost you more.

At the time of taking a term insurance, its validity period is predetermined. Which is reason that such policies premiums are lower? The insurance agent?s cover-up people and attract them by showing the low premium factor. Though the whole life coverage policy seems to be expensive, it has many advantages of its own. So long the policy is kept alive by regularly paying premiums; the whole life policy gives full lifetime coverage. This policy has no expiration factor as in term life policy. And also the initial premium stands through out without any change irrespective of the period factor of the policy i.e., 20 years, 30 years or the whole life.

Whole life insurance can also be used as an asset. Many whole life insurance policies will allow you to borrow money against the value of your policy. This can be a valuable resource, and make whole life insurance a greater asset than term life insurance for some people. You can even decide to cancel your policy in exchange for its cash value. (This is called “cashing out” your policy.)

You can easily find quotes for both kinds of life insurance online. Usually for free. As with most things, comparing quotes from different companies is a wise idea. You will also need to choose a beneficiary who will receive your policy benefits in the event of your death. It would also be wise to hire a lawyer as well, to make sure all of the legal angles are covered.

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Life Insurance provider. For more information visit: http://life.insurance123.co.za/

At one time or another we are faced with disappointments and failures. Although these life lessons cannot be avoided, we should at least be prepared to challenge them with full effectiveness. We understand that everyday will not be joyous or pleasurable. For that reason, we should expect both good and bad times at some point in our lifetime. Life is at its apex when everything progressing smoothly and everything seems promising.

Unfortunately, when something goes awry in life, we our failures; that is, we could have taken precautions to prevent the dreadful event. For most of us, financial woes are the root of most bad times. That is why the first and foremost precaution we should be employed is to secure the financial future of our family. In doing so, part of our worries would be settled. Nowadays, there are numerous ways to secure our family?s financial position.

An easy and surefire method to secure finances is to buy a life insurance policy. Talk to your friends who might already own a policy, read the terms and conditions on the policy, with due diligence, and then invest in a life insurance policy. All life insurance policies provided by different insurance providers are usually good. However, the policy that you choose must depend on your basic needs and on the extent of your savings. Review your responsibilities with regard to your family?s financial position. It is important to invest wisely, based on first hand information, rather than on hearsay.

After you have invested in a suitable life insurance policy, your outlook on life will change for the better. You will be more confident and full of energy. Knowing your family?s future is secure makes for brighter days. Bad times are easier to deal with and/or face. Your uphill struggle and determination will produce a profitable tomorrow. Financial planning will help you to achieve your dreams. If you plan properly, life will be a little less stressful. Then again, all is not perfect; therefore some ups and downs should be expected. In spite of that, financial stability will enable your family to call a halt to any disruptions.

Making life insurance your safety net is a failsafe method to achieve peace of mind. Overall, your family will feel optimistic towards life. Like you, they will feel stronger and confident because you have given them a new lease on life and the future. Thus, once you select a life insurance policy for the betterment of your family?s well-being, you are equipped to tackle the disruptions of life. It will be easy for you to live cheerfully, without fear. Remember if any financial problems occur, your life insurance policy will take care of it. So relax, put your mind at ease because your financial safety net is equipped to keep capture the challenges or ups and downs of everyday life.

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Life Insurance provider. For more information visit: http://life.insurance123.co.za/

Life insurance can be categorized as either “whole life insurance” or “term life insurance”. Essentially, the difference is that whole life insurance is designed to provide coverage for the duration of policyholder’s life while term life insurance provides life for a specified period of the policyholder’s life.

In addition to providing coverage for a lifetime (or until the policyholder reaches 100), whole life insurance also builds up cash value over time. Coverage remains in effect for the policyholder as long as premiums continue to be paid.

For a whole life policy, the premium remains the same cost (in contrast to renewable policies where the price can change). The cash value of the policy is also guaranteed, therefore making it safer, but these policies require the whole of the premium to be paid in order to keep them active.

Whole life insurance is a good option to consider for individual long range financial planning. Whole life insurance brings security of permanent lifetime insurance protection coupled with the ability to cancel or surrender the policy at any time for cash. In addition, there are tax advantages to whole life insurance allowing policyholders to save money overtime on a tax deferred basis.

If you’re lucky, some whole life policies can even result in more money value than the amount promised. This is a result of changes in the market and rates of interest credit. For instance, these policies can change in value depending on the performance of the policy’s company. The difference between whole life and variable life policies is the lack of a guarantee of value. You can borrow against the value of your whole life policy, temporarily ‘cashing it in,’ as a loan. The value of whole life policies ideally compete fairly with other similar investments in fixed revenue.

The last attractive basic feature of whole life insurance one should consider, arguably the most valuable, is the opportunity to earn dividends. The dividends are set based on the overall return on its investments for the insurance company. While universal life insurance is often adjusted monthly, interest on whole life policy is adjusted annually.

You should not purchase whole life insurance if you cannot afford it or if there is a good chance that you may not be able to afford it in the future. It’s best, however, to purchase life insurance while you are still young. If term life insurance is all that you are able to afford, that’s better than no policy at all. The higher premiums found on whole life insurance are because they do cover you for the whole of your life; making it worth the higher costs if you are able to afford it. But whatever policy you choose, be sure that you can indeed afford it. Whole-life premiums will never change, and while this is good if you can afford it in the first place, if you cannot it can be very bad. Get life insurance, but get what you can afford. Any coverage is better than none at all.

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Life Insurance provider. For more information visit: http://life.insurance123.co.za/

Finding the right life insurance policy can be a complicated and confusing process. You have to know the ins and outs of the different types of life insurance, and thats after you’ve figured out whether or not you even qualify, or if you even need insurance. Thats where we come in?we can make the policy-shopping experience a smooth and easy one so that, when your time comes, your loved ones will be provided for.

The different types of life insurance include whole life insurance, term life insurance, universal or variable universal life insurance, no-load life insurance, and mortgage life insurance. Mortgage life insurance lets you have your mortgage immediately paid off upon your death, so that your family can live without a mortgage as long they own the house. We will explain these different types of insurance, so that the choices won?t seem so overwhelming.

? Term Life Insurance: With term life insurance, you pay a fixed premium over a determined period. If you die within that time, the insurance company pays the specified amount but, if you outlive your term life insurance policy, you lose what you pay in and have nothing. Another problem term life insurance poses is the possibility of the premium increasing after a certain interval. In many cases, you may purchase another insurance policy after the term expires, but usually at a significantly higher rate.

* Whole Life Insurance: Whole life insurance is just that you will be covered all the way until your death. Whole life insurance is measured two ways, it has a face value, which is the amount that would be paid out in the event of death or at policy maturity, and it has a cash value, which would be the worth of the policy if you were to cash it out and receive a lump sum before your death or before your policy matures.

-Universal life insurance: This kind of life insurance differs greatly from the two above. In this insurance type, your premiums go into investments such as bonds, mortgages, and money market funds. Your investment funds pay for your death benefits, which you agreed to in life. What if the investment fund I have created does not prosper? Do not worry your guaranteed minimum will be paid. This life insurance policy tends to be more flexible and allows you to change the benefits and premiums. This makes universal life insurance ideal for younger couples and families.

? Variable Universal Life Insurance: With variable universal life insurance, the amount of the death benefit is highly dependent on how well your investments perform over the years.

* No-Load (or Low-Load) Life Insurance: This type of policy is beneficial in that companies will sell these to you at a flat rate that isn’t based on commission, so more money goes to the final payoff instead of elsewhere. A financial advisor can be helpful when determining how much life insurance you’ll need in order for your family to live the way they live now if you were gone, which will in turn decide the rate at which you’ll pay for the policy.

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Life Insurance website. For more information visit: http://life.insurance123.co.za/

There are so many reasons to get life insurance. You want to provide for your loved ones after you are gone. Maybe you want your business to keep running after your death, or donate to a cherished cause. Life insurance should help ease your worries, but the process of researching and purchasing life insurance can be confusing and complicated.

Figuring out how much life insurance you need is known in the insurance business as an estimate. For a start, have a seat and ponder over how much insurance you would buy if you didn’t have to worry about the pricetag on it. Now take that idealized insurance idea and look into the market to see how much it would actually cost you. Don’t try to acquire a policy you can’t afford to maintain for the long haul. It’s better to have a slightly cheaper insurance policy that’s there when you intended it to be, than it is to have more expensive life insurance that you have to drop before you pass.

When making a decision about how much insurance you need, start by figuring out how much life insurance you would want to get if cost were not a factor. Think about such factors as funeral costs, what your spouse and children need, and outstanding debts. After coming up with an amount based on those considerations, review price quotes, then balance the amount according to your budget realities. Life insurance is usually one of the first things to get cut in times of personal economic hardship. It is so important to choose a life insurance policy you can really afford, because you need it to be there for your family in case something happens to you.

Whole life, on the other hand, is designed to cover a person until they die, as long as the policy is still viable; that is, as long as you pay the premiums in full and on time. With whole life you can also often pay it up through a certain period, such as ten years. Because this type of policy will inevitably pay out, it’s not as good a risk for the insurance company and will cost a little more than term life, but will never expire, making it worth the extra cost if you can afford it.

These policies aren’t mutually exclusive. You can, if you’re a family man with plenty of responsibilities, take out a long-duration term policy, and then also get a smaller whole life policy as well. This will keep you covered for both the short term in case of disaster and the long term once the term insurance expires.

I recommend that families who have a lot of expenses balance their life insurance by purchasing larger amounts of term life insurance, and a smaller amount of whole life insurance that they can pay up. By doing so, they will still have some whole life insurance after the term life insurance expires.

Universal life insurance is like whole life insurance in that it does not expire as long as the policyholder keeps the policy. It differs from regular whole life insurance in that it places the life insurance and the cash value in separate accounts, whereas regular whole life insurance keeps them together. Largely due to tax considerations, this type of life insurance is attractive to many people as a way to unite life insurance and savings. You can withdraw or borrow against the policy once it accrues enough cash value. You may even see an increase in the face value of the policy. This explanation of universal life insurance is very barebones, since a full explanation of it would require another article.

Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Life Insurance website. For more information visit: http://life.insurance123.co.za/

If you want your survivors to have sufficient funds, in the event of your death, then life insurance is something you will want to look into. Insurance companies pay in a lump sum, which means the funds can be used to handle the immediate expenses involved with estate settlement and funeral costs. However, this also provides help with the long-term needs of your survivors. A life insurance policy allows you to make provisions for your dependents, and some even offer options in case you become disabled. You can also find a few that propose a retirement annuity.

South Africa really has a wide variety of life insurance options and providers. You can easily find policies that offer term, whole and universal life insurance plans.

With term life insurance, your coverage will only last for a specific span of time. When that term of time is over, your policy simply ceases to exist. If you only need extra protection for a short span of time, this policy is ideal. If you feel you only need your life insurance to see you through paying off your home mortgage, then a term policy would work extremely well for you. Being short term coverage also makes the life insurance more affordable, but there is a down side. It does not have a cash value or any investment potential.

Whole life insurance coverage is a little different, and far more complete. A payout of some kind is assured, and it expires only upon the policyholder’s death, or when it’s is given up. Once you are covered, you do not need to worry about the possibility of becoming uninsurable later in life. The insurance company will invest the premiums, and policyholders can borrow against the policy as soon as it builds cash value. Naturally, it costs more than a term life insurance policy.

An investment component is included in a universal life coverage plan. A cash value will be credited to premium payments that are above the cost of the insurance. Each month you receive interest on the cash value. Although there exists a possibility for rapid growth, it is not guaranteed.

South Africa is home to several excellent insurance companies, one of which is1LifeDirect. This company has not been around long, but they have made a favorable impression by providing customers unique products and low monthly premiums. Because they use a direct sales model, there is no middleman. This means 1LifeDirect saves their customers on the cost of premiums. Discovery Life Insurance generates excellent insurance products, probably because it draws its skill from the medical aid industry. It also has a great loyalty program.

Liberty Life Insurance is one of the bigger names in the insurance industry, and they put forward three premium options that fit just about any need. RMB Insurance has one of the largest assortments of products on the market, which is a plus for customers, and finally, Sanlam Insurance can provide either life insurance for personal coverage, or group life insurance coverage.

Susan Reynolds is the content coordinator for a leading South African Insurance Provider who specialises in Life Insurance.

There is a difference between life insurance brokers and life insurance agents. Agents generally work for one company. When you work for a specific company, it is understood that you will sell their products. Because of that, an insurance agent does not sell products for a rival company.

In contrast, life insurance brokers operate between the customer and the insurance companies, in general. They do not tie their wagon to a specific company, but look at all companies, seeking the cheapest life insurance policy, which still matches the specifications you have set.

Choosing the right life insurance policy is much easier, if you have a good broker. They will do all the research and sift through the mountain of options, looking for the packages and deals that might work best for you. Although some do charge a fee, brokers are paid on a commission basis. The insurance companies reimburse them whenever they pass on a customer. In fact, the broker’s commission is already factored into the cost of the insurance policy premium. It is interesting to note that, if you went directly to the insurance company, you would still pay the same price for a particular policy.

Rebating is a practice that is prohibited in many places. Still, you will always find some brokers that still use this practice. Rebating is when an insurance broker lowers their commission rates, and then passes that savings on to their customer. Although the saving could be very enticing, it is just not a wise choice to deal with an insurance broker that rebates. The main reason is, of course, that it is illegal. Aside from that, the rebated amount is taxable income. You would have to declare it as such.

Having a good life insurance broker is a very important piece of the insurance puzzle. Not only will they have a liaison with several different companies, which will allow you to have a wider range of options, they can also guide you through the maze of information, as well. When deciding on your broker, do not be afraid to ask some questions.

Determine the broker’s level of experience. The more experience they have, the better it will be for you. Newer brokers just do not have the same level of experience, and they haven’t developed the same contact depth. Inexperience can be costly. A less experienced broker’s relationship portfolio will not be as extensive, which means you might not receive the best option available. Inexperience often results in misinformation and misdirection. That is something you could end up paying for.

Determine just how qualified your broker is, and ask how many companies they work with. This will give you an idea of just how extensive the polices and options will be. It stand to reason, the more companies they do business with, the more options you will have to choose from. Your broker really should be familiar with each company’s peculiarities, as well. The more your broker knows the insurance market, the more money you stand to save.

Susan Reynolds is the content coordinator for a leading South African Insurance Provider who specialises in Life Insurance.

No. You really don’t need a life insurance broker. However, there are certainly times and instances when a life insurance broker can be extremely helpful. In fact, they can actually save you a significant amount of money.

Regardless of which kind of insurance you wish to purchase, there are a large number of companies to choose from and an equally wide-ranging number of complicated plans available. Decoding those plans can be intimidating, especially if you have no experience in this area. Because of this, it is sometimes a very good idea to secure the services of an insurance broker.

A life insurance broker is an intermediary. They function between you and an insurance company. It is their job to search for the lowest possible insurance policy, and an insurance broker does not work for a specific company. They have established rapport with many insurance companies, and this allows them to hunt for the best options, answer difficult questions, and point you in the right direction, in terms of your insurance needs.

Once you have chosen your broker, simply give them your details and needs. At that point, it’s the broker’s job to sort through the surfeit of options available, looking for the best deal. The broker will give you multiple quotes to choose from, and this will allow you to compare several insurance estimates from the leading companies. Using that information, you can make an informed decision on which one will work best for your particular situation.

Because they do not work for any one company, a broker must be familiar with all the leading insurance companies. They know the reputation of each one. They also know how the company operates. They can answer important questions, as well as inform you about such things as how often premium increases occur, and how they handle claims.

Insurance brokers work on commission. The insurance companies pay them for every policy they sell. If you were to go to the company, and purchase a similar policy, you could not get it at a cheaper cost. What that means is that using a broker to help you find the best policy costs you nothing more, and it takes a great deal of stress off your shoulders. The broker does the research and deals with all the frustrations of weeding out the better polices. All you have to do is consider the options he presents for you, and make a decision on which one is going to work best.

The greatest benefit in using a broker is the extent of his or her knowledge of the marketplace. Not only can they find the insurance you need, they can find it quickly. However, the best part is they can usually get you exactly the kind of coverage you require, at a price that would be difficult for you to duplicate. They understand all the technicalities of insurance contracts, and they can make sense of the fine print. Choosing to use a broker has many benefits.

Susan Reynolds is a content coordinator for a leading South African Insurance Provider that specialises in Life Insurance Policies.