There is so much that could be written on the subject of life insurance. Many life insurance advisors take class after class, year after year, earning advanced designations, and still they may not know everything there is to know on the subject.
So do we really think we can make you an expert, with a dozen online articles?
Spoiler Alert! We don’t intend to make you an expert. Our goal is to focus on the topics consumers typically find the most important, and to uncover a few strategies and helpful tips most practicing advisors haven’t been taught.
After all, just because you’ve been to chef’s school, doesn’t mean you can make Hungarian Goulash the way your Grandma did. Sometimes Grandmas know a secret or two of their own. And in these articles, we’ll reveal a few of Grandma’s secrets. Literally.
Table of Contents
- No-Nonsense Life Insurance Guide Intro
Financial researcher and New York Times best-selling author Pamela Yellen oversaw the production of this life insurance guide. Allow this expert to introduce the guide to you. This link takes you back to Pamela Yellen’s introduction.
- A Brief History of Life Insurance
In this quick chapter, you’ll learn a few factoids you can impress your friends with. You’ll discover why we owe a debt to the British and the Ancient Romans for this modern-day financial tool.
- What Is Life Insurance? How Does It Work?
If life insurance is complicated, what hope is there for you? Relax! We break it down for you with examples and analogies that make understanding the basics a snap.
- What Are the Benefits of Life Insurance?
There are still people who believe that the only ones to benefit from life insurance are the insurance companies. This article gives five top benefits of life insurance, along with the reasons for each benefit. This information will be helpful if you’re not sure whether or not there’s a place for life insurance – any kind of life insurance – in your financial portfolio. Once you’ve read it, you’ll be in a better position to make an educated decision about whether or not life insurance makes sense.
- What Are Different Types of Life Insurance?
Don’t be daunted by this. Yes, there are dozens of varieties of life insurance policies, just like there are hundreds of varieties of flowers. But as long as you know the basic three or four—the way you know roses, carnations, and sunflowers—you’ll have the working knowledge you need to make wise decisions about life insurance.
- How to Choose a Life Insurance Policy
With so many different life insurance options out there, it’s hard to know which one is best. This article helps you decide which type of policy would be best for your situation by giving you five important questions only you can answer.
- What Is Cash Value Life Insurance?
Cash value life insurance is another name for permanent life insurance. This article describes cash value life insurance, then it goes beyond that to reveal a little-known type of cash value life insurance called high early cash value life insurance. And that is exciting. This is a part of our insurance guide you want to be sure to read.
- How Whole Life Insurance Works
Whole life insurance, as opposed to term, is one of the three main types of permanent life insurance you need to know about. (The other two are universal life and variable life.) This article explains the whole life variety and introduces you to universal and variable, as well.
- The Pros and Cons of Whole Life Insurance
Seems like there are advantages and disadvantages to every choice we make, aren’t there? In this chapter, we outline the good and bad about whole life insurance, so you can decide—because what is a good choice for one person may not be a good choice for every person.
- What Are the Different Types of Whole Life Insurance?
There are several types of whole life insurance policies that can help you meet your financial goals. This section will help you discover which type of whole life policy is best for your family’s needs!
- Universal Life Insurance – What It Is and How It Works
Universal life insurance is the most flexible form of life insurance, but you need to actively manage the policy or it could lapse and leave you with no insurance. Discover what you must know about universal life insurance before you buy.
- What Are Living Benefits of Life Insurance?
Your grandparents and great grandparents knew that life insurance had benefits that went far beyond the death benefit. (This is one of Grandma’s secrets.) Find out what your ancestors knew that no one may have shared with you up until now.
- What Are Life Insurance Loans?
How do life insurance policy loans work? How can financing major purchases using a specific type of life insurance policy as collateral for a loan beat traditional financing, leasing, and even directly paying cash?
- Life Insurance Loan Questions
Many people have questions about borrowing from life insurance policies – everything from “How do life insurance loans work?” to “What if I don’t pay my loan back?” We have answers to help you better understand life insurance loans and how you can use them to finance everything from medical emergencies to college. We’ll also tell you why some types of life insurance are better if you want to borrow from them – and why you simply can’t borrow from some types of life insurance policies
- The Tax Advantages of Life Insurance
Did you know that if you pass away, your family doesn’t have to pay income tax on the life insurance death benefit they receive? That’s a relief, because a life insurance death benefit is typically thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. But did you know there are other tax advantages to life insurance, as well?
- How Expensive Is Life Insurance?
In a way, that’s like asking the proverbial question, “How long is a piece of string?” The answer could be, “How long would you like it to be?” There are a number of factors that affect how much you will pay for coverage, and we review those here.
- Can You Lower Your Cost of Life Insurance?
The short answer is Yes. Read the longer answer for more details and some how-to tips.
- Get Life Insurance if You’re in Poor Health?
There’s a short answer to this question, too, and it’s, “In almost every case, yes.” We give suggestions that range from “Shop around” to “What types of insurance are available, even in the most dire of circumstances.”
- Who Gets the Money When You Get Your Wings?
There’s nothing more important about a life insurance policy than the answer to the question, “Who gets the money?” Our article about life insurance primary beneficiaries explains what a beneficiary is and tells you how to avoid the seven most common mistakes when naming your beneficiaries.
- Why Naming a Beneficiary for Your Life Insurance Policy Is Not Enough
Every life insurance policy has a beneficiary. But you should also name a contingent beneficiary—your “Plan B.” This article explains why. It reveals what can go horribly wrong—and how to keep that from happening to you.
- Is Life Insurance a Wise Investment?
A lot of people think they know the answer, without really thinking through the question. We have some great resources here that can help you arrive at your own conclusions.
- Are Life Insurance Companies Safe?
In a way, that’s like asking, “Are insurance companies insured?” The answers may surprise you.
