Life (insurance) Lessons
Life (insurance) Lessons

Pandemic-related layoffs, furloughs and business closures have forced many Americans to tap retirement accounts and cut non-essential expenses to get by. If you’re experiencing financial hardship but don’t want your auto, home or life insurance to lapse, check the website of the agency that oversees…
She’s 82. The cost of her long-term care insurance just went up 80%
She’s 82. The cost of her long-term care insurance just went up 80%

Joyce Viets’ dad was in the life insurance business, so she knew from an early age that you have to plan ahead. “I heard about actuarials my entire life,” the Temecula resident told me. Viets, 82, purchased long-term care insurance nearly two decades ago, anticipating…
New York Regulator Seeks Details From Life Insurers Using Algorithms to Issue Policies
New York Regulator Seeks Details From Life Insurers Using Algorithms to Issue Policies

New York’s top financial regulator is investigating life insurers’ use of big data, complicating the industry’s efforts to boost sales by forgoing medical examinations in favor of algorithms for sizing up risk. New York’s top financial regulator is investigating life insurers’ use of big data,…
How your selfie could affect your life insurance
How your selfie could affect your life insurance

A selfie reveals more than whether it’s a good hair day. Facial lines and contours, droops and dark spots could indicate how well you’re aging, and, when paired with other data, could someday help determine whether you qualify for life insurance. “Your face is something…
Go Short Or Long? How To Pick Your Life Insurance Term
Go Short Or Long? How To Pick Your Life Insurance Term

Among the decisions you must make when buying life insurance, one of the most important is: How long should the policy last? Choose wrong and it could cost you or your survivors. You can buy term life insurance that will cover you for five, 10,…
Disputing a Denied Life Insurance Claim in Pennsylvania
Disputing a Denied Life Insurance Claim in Pennsylvania

Losing a loved-one can be devastating. The situation can be even more devastating when the future that was supposed to be secured by a life insurance policy is denied. It doesn’t make sense. The policy was purchased by your loved-one so they could ensure you…
4 most common reasons why insurers deny life insurance claims
4 most common reasons why insurers deny life insurance claims

When you buy a life insurance policy, there’s a chance your beneficiary’s claim may be denied – and it’s important for you to know how this can happen. Insurers examine the terms of policies carefully before paying claims, to make sure policyholders have fulfilled their…
Best Insurance Moves for April: Spring Cleaning for Your Insurance
Best Insurance Moves for April: Spring Cleaning for Your Insurance

As you’re tackling dust bunnies and cluttered closets in your spring cleaning, don’t forget your insurance policies. They may need to be dusted off and refreshed, too. Reviewing and adjusting your insurance coverage is an important part of overall financial planning. Here’s what to look…
How Much Life Insurance Should You Buy?
How Much Life Insurance Should You Buy?

How much life insurance do you need? The answer depends on several factors, including your age, the ages of your spouse and children, your income, your mortgage and other debts, college expenses for your children and/or spouse, and the size of the last bill you’ll…
Need life insurance? Consider these options for financial protection
Need life insurance? Consider these options for financial protection

When you die, will your family be financially protected? That question remains unanswered by about 95 million Americans living without life insurance, says Marvin Feldman, president and CEO of the LIFE Foundation, a nonprofit based in Arlington, Va., that provides insurance resources for consumers. It’s…
Do You Need Life Insurance in Retirement?
Do You Need Life Insurance in Retirement?

Life insurance helps protect your spouse and children from poverty in the case of your untimely death. However, once your children become self-sufficient and you and your spouse accumulate significant assets, there’s less of a need to keep paying the premiums for life insurance. Here’s…
How to choose a life insurance beneficiary
How to choose a life insurance beneficiary

Many consumers buy life insurance, list their spouses as the beneficiaries and never think about the matter again. But experts say that failing to put much thought into your beneficiary selection can be a big mistake. The first step in choosing a life insurance beneficiary…
Life insurance vs. long-term care insurance: Which do you need?
Life insurance vs. long-term care insurance: Which do you need?

While life insurance is designed to protect your loved ones when you die, long-term care insurance provides money to help you maintain a good quality of life while you’re alive. But with the rising costs of long-term care insurance, some Americans with limited money may…
New Breadwinner in the Household: How Does This Affect Life Insurance?
New Breadwinner in the Household: How Does This Affect Life Insurance?

In the current economy, many households are changing primary breadwinners. For example, after a stint as a stay-at-home parent, your husband decides to reenter the workforce. When he lands a job, your finances, day-to-day arrangements, and lifestyle may become very different. After such a change…
How did a toddler have so much life insurance?
How did a toddler have so much life insurance?

AMONG THE haunting questions that need to be answered about the death of Prince McLeod Rams is one recently posed in a letter to this page. “What about the insurance companies,” Linda Cole wanted to know of the three firms that wrote policies totaling more…
6 myths about buying life insurance
6 myths about buying life insurance

Let’s talk about your death. Not much of a sales pitch, is it? Yet that’s precisely the body under the sheet we’re delicately avoiding when we consider buying life insurance. “They call it life insurance but it’s really death insurance. After all, you’ll never live…
The dangers of letting your life insurance lapse
The dangers of letting your life insurance lapse

It’s one of the life insurance industry’s best-kept secrets – a great number of life insurance policies in the U.S. tend to lapse, meaning the coverage runs out and is not available if you die. Some studies claim as many as 80 percent of policies…
Four life insurance riders to consider – and two to avoid
Four life insurance riders to consider – and two to avoid

If your life insurance policy seems inadequate, you can beef it up by adding optional life insurance riders. Riders are special features that can tack on benefits and bring flexibility to your coverage. However, not all life insurance riders are equally beneficial. “Some riders can…