When you first set out to  purchase life insurance, you thought it would be fairly simple.  However, being confronted with all these options can make one’s head spin.  Then, you start getting conflicting opinions from different sources – whole life is the best choice, buy only term life, buy term and invest the difference, etc., etc.

I can make it fairly simple for you to make the right choice.  What are your needs for life insurance?  Are you interested in death benefit only or are you looking to accumulate some cash value with your policy?  Are you looking for coverage for a specified term or will you need life insurance for your whole life?  Once we determine the length of time you need the insurance, we then look at what product is the most appropriate for you.

If you are only interested in a death benefit for a finite period of time, the choice is easy – term life insurance is most probably the best choice for you.  You can also look at a return of premium policy, which pays you all your premium back at the end of the term (provided you survive the term period).  Return of premium term is usually priced well for younger ages.  As you get older, the added cost for this type of product might have you looking at regular term insurance again.

If you’re looking for a lifetime benefit with the potential of accumulating cash in the policy, I believe that whole life insurance, when structured properly, is a wonderful product.  It has guaranteed death benefit, guaranteed premiums and guaranteed cash values.  The only reason I don’t recommend it to everybody is because it can be cost-prohibitive to many folks.  However, if you have a positive cash-flow and are fully maxed-out in your qualified plan (401K, IRA, etc.), this is a great vehicle for accumulating additional tax-favored savings, in addition to the life insurance benefit.

If you want lifetime protection and don’t care about cash accumulation and whole life premiums don’t fit your budget, I would recommend a universal life policy with lapse-protection.  These policies will not generally accumulate much cash value and, even if the cash value drops to zero, the death benefit and premium are still guaranteed.  We often call this product lifetime term insurance, because it guarantees the death benefit and premium and will most probably not accumulate cash, and you are covered for your whole life, rather than a specific term.

Once we ascertain a client’s needs (and budget), we will assist in choosing the right product.  Sometimes, we will present a combination of term and permanent, as the immediate need for life insurance may be greater than it will later in life, although there will still be a need (funeral costs, debt elimination, etc.).

We recommend to our clients to do a policy review every couple of years, as needs change and, when needed, policies can be modified, dropped or added to.

According to Buzzle.com, a study by Virginia Tech Driving Institute revealed that those who resort to texting while driving are 23 times more likely to meet with an accident. A comparative study of texting while driving vs. drunk driving statistics published in a leading car magazine in the United States revealed that texting while driving is even more dangerous than drunk driving.  Studies reveal that a person who is texting while driving at the speed of 35 mph will cover 25 ft. before bringing the car to a complete halt as compared to a distance of 4 ft. which a drunk driver would cover at the same speed.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,  5,870 people died in car crashes in 2008, alone.  The same statistics revealed that 515,000 people were injured in various car crashes in the United States.  Around 28 percent of all crashes in 2008 were caused by drivers in the age group of 18 to 29, who admitted to texting while driving.

Just yesterday, I heard of a famous L.A. plastic surgeon who died in a car crash in Malibu.  A preliminary investigation revealed that he was probably texting while driving.

In 2008, a Metrolink train in Los Angeles crashed, killing 25 people and injuring scores of others.  It was determined that the engineer had been texting to a friend when the train crashed into another.

What does this have to do with life insurance, you might ask?  Well, people are dying…that’s what.  However, my intention here is not to get people to think about life insurance.  Rather, it’s to wake up to this cause of many unnecessary deaths, with a lot more to come, if this behavior isn’t changed.  I am compelled to write this post because I see people texting while driving on a daily basis and it’s been getting a lot more prevalent.

Here’s what needs to happen with this problem, as I see it – the same attention that’s given to drunk driving needs to be given to this behavior; public service campaigns need to be directed at the target age group that seems to be doing most of the texting while driving; fines for this behavior need to be high enough to at least cause one to pause before sending or reading a text (this would include large financial penalties and jail time for repeat offenders).

Parents need to have honest discussions with their driving-age children and give them the hard facts and statistics about this problem.  A good place to start is  Oprah Winfrey’s No-Phone Zone.  It has some sobering information on it.  Sit your driving age children down and visit the site with them: http://www.oprah.com/packages/no-phone-zone.html.

I appeal to those of you who are texting while driving.  Please stop doing it now – the life you save may be your own…or mine…or…???

However, why are you giving this information out only to get a quote?  The life insurance website does not need it.  All they need for a quote is your gender, date of birth, state of residence and some basic health and lifestyle information.  There is no need to add any personally-identifiable information to the above.

Why do some websites require your name and contact information in order to issue you a quote?  There are two very simple reasons:

• The online agency wants your contact information so they can follow up with you to try to sell you the policy.  As a salesman myself, I can’t fault another salesperson for following up on, what appears to be, a qualified “lead.”  However, is this why you chose to use the Internet to research life insurance?  If you’re like most folks we speak to, you are using the Internet to avoid high-pressure sales calls.

• The website is gathering your information so they can sell it.  These “lead-generation” websites generate income by marketing insurance leads to life insurance agents and brokers.  Some of these sites will actually sell your information to multiple agents, who will then contact you to sell you life insurance.  Again, I’m not faulting the agents and brokers for attempting to sell life insurance to “qualified leads,” but, as I mentioned before, is this why you’re researching life insurance on the Internet?

There are some websites that are used solely for the purpose of lead generation that will sell your information to other agents and brokers.  They require you to submit your contact information multiple time – the first for their own marketing efforts, then when you submit the information, you are given access to other vendors.  For each vendor you want a quote from, you have to submit your information again.  Some of those vendors are also lead generators, so they might sell your information to even more agents and brokers.  You might be getting a lot more phone calls about life insurance than you were expecting.  So much for the convenience of the Internet.

If you would like to get life insurance quotes online without having to give out your personal contact information, there are several excellent sites (including Lifeinsure.com)that will give you quotes anonymously.  Then, only when you are ready to apply, will you need to submit your name and contact information.

You should look for the websites’ privacy policies to see how your information is used.  If a website’s privacy policy does not explain what they do with your information or, even worse, if they don’t have a privacy policy, I would advise you to look elsewhere.

Let me get this straight – he was rude to a passenger (several, according to eyewitness accounts), cursed her out on the airplane’s intercom, stole a couple of beers (he didn’t pay for them) and violated FAA safety regulations by activating the slide exit and left the plane while it was on the runway.

It must be nice to be a hero.  I am a life insurance broker.  I am far from being considered a hero.  My profession is made fun of in films and TV shows, friends and acquaintances don’t return phone calls when I’m calling to discuss that dreaded life insurance, and I can turn any lively party into a somber affair by answering the question posed by one of the guests, “so, what do you do for a living?”

Steven Slater became an overnight hero with his boorish, irresponsible  behavior.  I have been selling life insurance for over 20 years.  I am kind and polite to all those in the public I deal with, even those few who have been rude to me.  More importantly, I have provided financial security to thousands of families and financial relief to those families who received life insurance benefits upon the death of their loved ones.  I am still not a hero.

However, I think I have learned something from this Steven Slater business.  Next time somebody abruptly walks away from me at party after I answer their question, “what do you do for a living,” I might just grab a beer, curse out all the guests and leap out the window (provided we’re on the ground floor).  Maybe then, I’ll be called a hero.

Mortgage insurance or mortgage protection insurance is a life insurance policy that would pay off your mortgage in the event of your death.   You would typically purchase a life insurance policy (usually term) that would pay off the mortgage in the event of your death so your beneficiaries wouldn’t be burdened with mortgage payments.

We used to see many mortgage insurance products with a decreasing benefit that matched the decreasing loan obligation over the period of your mortgage (typically 30 years).  However, these types of policies seem to have fallen out of favor in recent years as regular term life insurance policies became less expensive.

Most of our clients purchase term insurance to cover not only their mortgage, but also other debts, college education for the children and living expenses for the family.  So, while it is important to have enough life insurance to pay off the mortgage in the event of your death, it’s also wise to have enough of a death benefit to cover other expenses.

One of my associates came into my office this morning and informed me that a mutual acquaintance passed away last night.  He had colon cancer that, obviously, was detected too late.  He had surgery last week to remove the tumors and part of his colon.  He didn’t make it.

Being the life insurance man I am, I asked my associate if this person had a life insurance policy (if I had known him better, he would have).  She told me he didn’t (she’s also an insurance person, so she had asked one of the surviving children).  She told me that he had looked into it but decided against it because he was upset that the premiums were so much more expensive for cigarette smokers.  The sad part of it is he could have afforded it.

As he was only an acquaintance, I am not familiar with his financial matters.  However, I do know that he leaves behind a wife who, on top of grieving the loss of a loved one, will now have to figure out how to survive financially – will she have to liquidate assets (house, etc.) in order to continue living comfortably?

Was there a business continuation plan in place that would be used to pay the wife for his share of the business?  As he didn’t have life insurance in place for his family’s well-being, I highly doubt if he had life insurance in place for business continuation purposes.  It’s now up to the business partner to work it out with the deceased partner’s wife.  If there is no business continuation plan in place, will he do the right thing and compensate the wife for the deceased partner’s share of the business?  If so, will he have to liquidate business assets to do so?

Buying a life insurance policy is a selfless act.  Unless you’re purchasing a cash-value policy with the goal of accumulating cash, there is no personal gain to be had by buying a life insurance policy (other than the peace of mind it gives you that you are protecting your family).  In most cases, you are purchasing it to make sure your family survives comfortably after your death.

Conversely, not purchasing life insurance, as shown by the example above, is extremely selfish.  This gentleman could have easily purchased a policy for less than the cost of his cigarettes and other non-essential items.  Now, his family and business partner must pay the price of his selfishness.

I don’t like this approach, but this story has me so riled up that I can’t guarantee that I won’t relay it to others who need and don’t have adequate life insurance. As a matter of fact, I’ll start using it right now – go and make sure you have enough life insurance so your survivors won’t suffer a similar fate.

• If you smoke cigarettes…quit.  I know how difficult it is to do this as I was once a chain smoker. My wife could tell you how unpleasant I was to be around when I did this some twenty years ago.  I am not going to lecture you as an ex-smoker, because I used to really hate that when others did it to me.  You already know it’s not good for you.  I am only addressing the expense it adds to your life insurance policy.  Look at some quotes on our Term Life Quote Engine for a smoker and then go back and try it as a non-smoker.  You will be amazed at the difference in cost.

• If you’re overweight, lose some weight.  I know – you probably want to dump a gallon of cookie dough ice cream on my head for saying this.  Remember, I’m not passing judgement here – I’m only telling you how to lower your life insurance premiums.  Not only will you enjoy lower premiums if your weight loss moves you to a better risk category, but the weight loss might also have a positive effect on your blood pressure and/or cholesterol levels.  High blood pressure and high cholesterol often are causes of higher premiums, so this might lower your premiums even more.

I have seen premiums cut in half by folks who have both lost weight and quit smoking cigarettes.  I’m not suggesting either is an easy task (especially if you attempt to do both at the same time), but doing so might just be beneficial to your wealth (pun intended).

• The Broker:  This is most efficient way of purchasing life insurance.  You enter a little information and the web site’s quote engine will give you several choices, based on your information.  If the quote takes into account health questions (e.g. blood pressure, cholesterol, family history, etc.), your quote will probably mirror the insurance companies’ underwriting guidelines and will most likely be closer to the final premium determined during the underwriting process (the actual premium may vary from the quote if other medical and/or lifestyle information comes up in the process).

• Insurance Company:  A few insurance companies have their own web presence and even offer quotes on their websites.  In most cases, your information will be forwarded to agents or brokers who will contact you.  Many people go direct to an insurance company’s website, thinking the premiums will be less expensive than going through a broker.  As the premiums are set and filed in every state, the price is the price, no matter who you purchase the policy through.  The downside of going through insurance company sites is that you will have to go to many different sites to comparison shop several companies.

• The Lead Generator:  These websites generally don’t give you instant quotes.  They will require that you complete an online form and will forward your information to one or several agents or brokers, who paid the lead generator for your information.  You can usually expect several phone calls from these agent/brokers, as they are looking for a return on their investments.

• The Lead Generator Aggregator:  This is my least favorite of the online options.  With this type of website, you enter your zip code and a list of companies comes up.  Usually, it’s a combination of brokers, insurance companies and lead generators.  You now have to sort through all the offerings and see which one you’d like to use.  It’s basically a duplication of websites you can find yourself in Google (or Yahoo or Bing) and will only add to the time spent shopping for life insurance.  There has recently been a rash of these types of websites popping up out of nowhere.  Most, in fact, are owned by the same company.

I would recommend checking out several broker websites and work with an established firm with a process that simplifies the shopping experience for you.  Several websites, including LifeInsure.com, meet these requirements.

The biggest dead giveaway (pun intended) is when the detectives mention a large life insurance policy on the life of the victim. The detectives usually follow this lead to find the surviving spouse (the perp) had paid off a “hit man” to off the vic (I know, I have been watching too much TV).

I’m not sure if life imitates art or if art imitates life, but if you Google life insurance + murder, you will find several news stories about spouses who arranged murders for hire of their significant others for the purpose of cashing in on life insurance policies.  While most hire someone else  to do the ghastly deed, several I read about committed the murders themselves.  Arsenic seems to have been the method of choice in the cases I read about, but there was also an assortment of the usual implements of death – guns, knives and (gulp), a baseball bat.

As in the aforementioned TV shows, the beneficiary of the vic is always looked at as a suspect, especially if the policy was issued or increased recently.  In every news article I read, a life insurance policy led to the perp.   As my reality sometimes blends in with the TV shows I watch, I can imagine Horatio Caine, removing his sunglasses slowly as he addresses the perp being escorted away in handcuffs, saying (slowly and in a chopped cadence), “It seems to me that the only thing you will be a beneficiary of is a life sentence in prison.”  Then Steve McGarrett (who’s coming back soon in a new version of Hawaii 5-0) says to his assistant, “Book him, Dano…Murder One!”

One of the questions that will naturally come up is “what to do with the spouse who is a beneficiary on your life insurance policy?”   Unfortunately, there is no single right answer to this question.  You might not have any choice in the matter, as the divorce settlement might dictate how the policy should be handled, moving forward.   For example, if the divorce settlement prevents a change in the ownership and beneficiary of the policy,any subsequent change will be held to be invalid.

The court might rule that the policy be maintained for a specified period of time, to either insure alimony or child support, or both.  The court can also decide on which party is to maintain ownership of the policy.  As the owner decides on the benefiaries of the policy, ownership is an extremely important decision.

The court could also establish a lapse provision.  This ruling might include language that would entitle the divorced spouse and children to a percentage of the policyholder’s estate (equal to the death benefit of the lapsed policy), should the policy lapse.

While you probably have many pressing concerns while in the midst of a divorce, the maintainance (or cancellation) of a life insurance policy shouldn’t be overlooked.

The above is the opinion of the author and in no way should it be construed as legal advice.  You should consult with your attorney before making any changes to your current life insurance policy.