How to Evaluate a Life Insurance Quote

Life insurance is an important topic not only for you but also for your loved ones – as well as anybody else who depends on your financial support to live or survive.

 

But if you do your homework in advance and get answers to the most common life insurance questions, your journey to life coverage would be easier and you could get the best term life insurance policy you want – that is, a policy you can afford, that suits your needs perfectly, and that is issued by a company that is economically sound.

What Types of Life Insurance Are Available Out There?

There are two basic types of life insurance: cash value and term.

Term life insurance provides coverage for a limited period – say, 60 months or 10 years. The premiums start out low, and the insurance company typically would guarantee that the premiums would not go up during the term. Note, however, that rates can increase after the specified period.

Cash value life insurance, as the term implies, enables you to build up a cash component to your policy over time. If possible, I recommend you choose this type of insurance policy because if you are faced with financial tumult, you can tap into the cash on a temporary basis and repay it back later. More specifically, there are three ways you can benefit from the cash value of your insurance policy:

 
  • Borrow against the policy,
  • Buy more insurance with the cash value, and
  • Use the extra cash to increase your retirement income.

How Should I Evaluate Life Insurance Premium Quotes?

To evaluate life insurance premium quotes, you can do it the hard way or the easy way. The hard way is that you canvass the offices, or call the customer service departments, of different insurance companies and talk to a “live” staff member. Alternatively, you can compare the quotes online – a procedure that not only is the easiest way but also saves you time, money and energy.

Portals such as AccuQuote, Insure, and Insurance Hot Line give you helpful resources and information to make a relevant life insurance decision. Before visiting the site, make sure you have handy things like medical history, pre-existing conditions, type of policy preferred, and policy term.