Buying life insurance is changing from a drawn out face-to-face endeavor to a timesaving online purchase. Although the transaction process is changing, there are some aspects that are the same. For most people, it helps if they have an understanding of what to expect when buying life insurance online. Here are five keys to help make buying life insurance online a smoother process.
Why do you need life insurance?
Many people start thinking about life insurance when they have a change in their life. Having a baby, buying a house or a business are all financial obligations that are exciting times. However, if you have that kind of change happening in your life, what would happen if you died? Would it leave someone in your life with a financial hardship? When faced with this problem, most people have a deep heartfelt sense of obligation to care for their family and the way to care for their family is buy life insurance. When you buy life insurance, you know it is not for you, it is for the people you love.
How much life insurance do you need and for how long?
You know that you have obligations but what is the dollar value of those responsibilities? $245,340 is what the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s study says that it will take to raise a child[1]. Asking yourself questions like this is how you answer the second question, how much life insurance do you need and for how long? Look at your obligations and put a dollar value on them. If you are providing for a child, a $250,000 life insurance policy would be enough money to provide for a child. If you buy a policy at birth, it will be in the best interest of your child for you to have life insurance for twenty to twenty-five years. For a young parent, the cost of a term life insurance policy would cost about a $1 a month. If you would like to get more detailed about the total amount of life insurance you need for all of your obligations, there is a great calculator at www.advice4lifeinsurance.com When you go to the quote request page, look for the calculator, it will lead you through a few questions that will help you quickly determine how much life insurance you need.
What is the purchase process?
Now that you know why you are buying life insurance, how much to buy and for how long to keep it, you need to know the most important part of purchasing a life insurance policy online; what is the purchase process? When buying a life insurance policy, you are asking a life insurance company to guarantee to pay your beneficiary an enormous amount of money if you die anytime after paying the first premium. If you bought a quarter-million-dollar life insurance policy for about $30 a month and died after paying one premium, the life insurance company would pay your beneficiary $250,000 income tax free. Knowing the magnitude of this obligation should help you understand why the life insurance company is going to want to know as much as they can learn about your health and lifestyle. If you smoke two packs of cigarettes a day, you are a lumberjack (the most dangerous job)[2] and have three speeding tickets, you are going to pay more than a first grade school teacher that has a balanced diet, doesn’t smoke and exercises regularly.
Once you decide how much term life insurance you need, then use the website quoting tool at www.advice4lifeinsurance.com to determine which companies will offer the type of insurance you are requesting and get an idea of how much it may cost. Our website quoting system will ask for your name and contact information however no need to worry. For many people, it is understandable that you are still shopping and trying to figure out what is best for you to do next. When you leave your name, email, and telephone number, only one insurance agent is going to contact you, and that is going to be me. If you say, you were only shopping; that is OK. I’ll be here when you are ready.
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When you decide you want to apply for a policy, I am available to help answer any questions you may have, gather some basic information and I am going to give you a brief list of information that you will need to gather to complete your application. Shortly after our conversation an insurance company representative will give you a call to collect the more specific information. That representative will then arrange for a no-cost para-medical exam at your home or work. The exam is done by an experienced para-medical professional or a nurse. The extent of the medical information they gather from you will be determined by your age, health history and level of life insurance that you are requesting. If you have a regular doctor, requests will be made to that doctor for information about your health and a request will be made of the Department of Motor Vehicles for your driving record. Once all of this information is received, a person called a life insurance underwriter will review your information and determine if your application will be accepted or if any alterations are necessary. You are not being charged anything for any of application process, and you have the right to change your mind all the way up until thirty days after accepting the final life insurance policy. It may take from four to six weeks to complete this process, and you will receive regular updates on the status of your application until delivery to you.
Only apply for one-at-a-time.
This final information is critical to you getting the best price on your life insurance policy. It is understandable that you will shop around for the best price and plan. Once you decide to apply for a life insurance policy do not apply for another life insurance policy until the first policy is complete. Any time that you apply for a life insurance policy, every life insurance company shares their information with each other through a non-profit business called the Medical Information Bureau or MIB[3]. If you apply for another policy, any company will know about the other policy. If you have not disclosed that you are applying for another policy, you run the chance of both life insurance companies declining to offer you life insurance because they assume that you are trying to hide something. Your information is still kept private and not sold. If you encounter any questions during the application process, it is best to call, email or text me. I will be able to resolve any questions you have and help you get the best term life insurance policy available. If you do have health concerns, let us talk about that in the beginning of our conversations. Buying life insurance online is a streamlined process and can save you a lot of time. However, it is a very human process, that is why I am here to help.
Keep in mind why you are doing this.
The reason you are buying life insurance is because you don’t want to leave those you love with financial hardships in the event the worst happens. Famous writer Maya Angelou had a saying that she learned from her mother that is good advice to remember, always be “Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.”[4]
Thanks for reading my blog.If you liked it, please click the button.–Van Richards
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References
[1] U.S. Department of Agriculture. Parents Projected to Spend $245,340 to Raise a Child Born in 2013, According to USDA Report | USDA Newsroom. 2014. http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=2014/08/0179.xml.
[2] Bureau of Labor Statistics. Logging Workers: Occupational Outlook Handbook. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Labor, 2015. http://www.bls.gov/ooh/farming-fishing-and-forestry/logging-workers.htm#tab-3.
[3] Ryan, J.B. “Insurers keep tabs on medical data.” Cincinnati.com USA Today Network, June 13, 2014. http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2014/06/13/insurers-keep-tabs-medical-data/10511853/.
[4] Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Random House, 1970.
