| Go with straight term over universal life insurance
Dear Bruce: I read your column every week, and I am impressed by your knowledge. That is why I would like to get your feedback on universal life insurance. I met with representatives from a financial institution, and they were pitching this type of insurance policy for $600 a month. The $500,000 policy has investment options, I can withdraw money without getting taxed until my death and my family gets the insurance money plus whatever value on the investments (tax-free). I am 46 years old is this a good investment for me? Or should I get a term-life policy for $500,000 with premiums of $50 a month, and invest the $550 ($600 minus $50) in my 401(k) or annuities? I was thinking of refinancing my current fixed-loan mortgage to an interest-only loan and withdrawing some cash to buy another house.
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL ...
And, finally, if you're interested in controlling health care costs and if you want to make sure health care is available, elect people who will vote for medical liability reform -- there are too many lawsuits running too many good doctors out of practice in America. (Applause.) I'm looking forward to working with the United States Congress on an idea that we put forward that will make private health insurance more affordable and more accessible to more of our citizens. And that is to change the tax code. I believe strongly that we ought to create a standard tax deduction for health insurance like the standard tax deduction for dependents. A family with health insurance would get a $15,000 deduction from incoming payroll taxes, whether they buy coverage on their own or get it from their employer.
Learn About Life Insurance; Part 3: What are the principal types ...
There are two major types of life insurance—term and whole life. Whole life is sometimes called permanent life insurance, and it encompasses several subcategories, including traditional whole life, universal life, variable life and variable universal life. In 2003, about 6.4 million individual life insurance policies bought were term and about 7.1 million were whole life.Life insurance products for groups are different from life insurance sold to individuals. The information below focuses on life insurance sold to individuals.TermTerm Insurance is the simplest form of life insurance. It pays only if death occurs during the term of the policy, which is usually from one to 30 years. Most term policies have no other benefit provisions.There are two basic types of term life insurance policies—level term and decreasing term.Level term means that the death benefit stays the same throughout the duration of the policy.
Free for all or free market?
Sometimes, borrowers demand collateral to give you a loan. One financial instrument that has a high standing as collateral is a life insurance policy. So far, the practice was that you could assign policies only to parties that had some insurable interest in you for example, a bank that had given you a loan. But selling the policy was another matter the unspoken rule was that selling is a no-go. .
Aflac Incorporated at Raymond James Institutional Investors ...
STEVEN SCHWARTZ, LIFE INSURANCE ANALYST, RAYMOND JAMES: Good morning, and welcome to the annual Raymond James Investor Conference. For those of you I have not met in the past, my name is Steven Schwartz, and I am the life insurance analyst for Raymond James. This morning, starting off the life insurance presentations for the conference in its normal 8:00 role will be Aflac. And today, we have with us representing Investor Relations Robin Mullins, and then we have Kriss Cloninger. Kriss is CFO and President of Aflac, Inc. I don't even know what to say anymore. It's been five or six years that we've been introducing Aflac here. It is a stupendous company that truly owns this space. I was trying to think of something to say this morning, and the one thing that really came to me was that this is a company that really controls its part of the insurance industry.
Less-expensive term insurance the way to go
Dear Bruce: I read your column every week, and I am impressed by your knowledge. That is why I would like to get your feedback on universal life insurance. I met with representatives from a financial institution, and they were pitching this type of insurance policy for $600 a month. The $500,000 policy has investment options, I can withdraw money without getting taxed until my death and my family gets the insurance money plus whatever value on the investments (tax-free). I am 46 years old -- is this a good investment for me? Or should I get a term-life policy for $500,000 with premiums of $50 a month, and invest the $550 ($600 minus $50) in my 401(k) or annuities? I was thinking of refinancing my current fixed-loan mortgage to an interest-only loan and withdrawing some cash to buy another house.
MetLife may get new Beijing partner -sources
BEIJING/SHANGHAI, March 22 (Reuters) - The Shanghai partner of MetLife Inc. (MET.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has entered exclusive negotiations to team up with the top U.S. life insurer to restructure its joint venture in Beijing, sources close to the deal said on Thursday. If it goes ahead, MetLife would be able to consolidate its operations in China, a market with huge potential as only fewer than 4 percent of its 1.3 billion population have life insurance coverage. MetLife's premiums in China more than tripled last year to 392.9 million yuan ($51 million). At present, the company has two 50/50 joint ventures in China: United MetLife Insurance Co. in Shanghai and Sino-US MetLife Insurance Co. in Beijing. Its partner in Shanghai is Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd., which is run by the son of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and is an investment arm of the city government.
Zila Pharma Says Guardian Life Insurance To Cover ViziLite Plus ...
(RTTNews) - Zila Inc.'s (ZILA | charts | news | PowerRating) subsidiary Zila Pharmaceuticals Inc., noted that The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America would offer coverage for ViziLite Plus exams. Zila Pharma is the marketer of ViziLite Plus with TBlue630 system for the early detection of oral abnormalities that could lead to cancer. ViziLite Plus exam is the device that takes only minutes to diagnose oral cancer and is totally painless and non-invasive, the company said. Copyright(c) 2007 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved .
Health Insurance Promotions Fair
The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) at Virginia Tech will hold its first Health Insurance Promotions Fair April 9 in the Graduate Life Center Multipurpose Room. Students, as well as members of the community, are being strongly encouraged to attend free of charge. &ldqou;People should come because this is a great opportunity to learn about health care insurance, which is something that everyone needs,&rdqou; said Jiadi Wang, senior biochemistry major at Virginia Tech and AMSA Vice President. The fair is being held to inform individuals about the importance of obtaining health insurance and will feature guest speakers from multiple insurance companies. These speakers will present twice on the day of the event – the first at 2:30 p.m. for students and 3 p.m.
BASEBALL NOTEBOOK: Lidle's widow sues insurance firm
The widow of former New York Yankees right-hander Cory Lidle has sued MetLife Inc., claiming she is owed more than $1 million under the Major League Baseball benefit plan. Lidle died in the crash of his small plane Oct. 11 in New York and was covered by the benefit plan of MLB and its players union, which had a life-insurance benefit of $450,000 and an accidental-death benefit of $1.05 million. But the plan, which applies to all players with major-league contracts, contains an exclusion for ''any incident related to travel in an aircraft ... while acting in any capacity other than as a passenger.'' MetLife paid Melanie Lidle $450,000 but ''has refused to pay the entirety of the policy'' despite demands, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The family lived in Glendora, Calif., during the offseason.
Are twenty-somethings valuing their lives enough?
Men aged between 35 and 42 are the most typical applicants for life insurance policies, according to a new study of life insurance enquiries by insurance comparison website, Insurancewide.com.
The research looked at 4,000 customers' online requests over the last 9 months.
Up to the age of 28, equal numbers of both women and men look for a policy. However, from age 28 onwards, between 65% and 70% of enquiries are from men. Additionally, as many as 40% of applicants are now going online to seek critical illness cover to protect their income against illness.
“Perhaps surprisingly for thirty-somethings, by far more men than women are applying for life insurance cover," says James Harrison, chief executive of Insurancewide.com. "In the forties and fifties age brackets, men are also by far the most likely to apply."
“It's encouraging to see that people in their late twenties are investing in their future but we would urge people to start buying policies at an earlier age if they have debts, a mortgage and dependants or are self employed.
4/10 life insurance customers ripped-off by ratings
Shocking research from specialist insurance website BestDealInsurance.co.uk reveals how greedy life insurers are making huge profits from loading up customers' life insurance premiums for what are sometimes only minor ailments. David Thomson, Chief Executive from the company says: “It is scandalous just how many consumers are getting hammered by their life insurer for so-called health risks. For example, if you want insurance and a family member has multiple sclerosis some companies will impose a limitation on to what you are covered for.
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Serving two very different markets is a successful formula in ...
WITH the paperless office still as far away as ever, the future of the printer industry is looking bright. Corporate and consumer users are producing more pages than ever, and meeting demand for devices, inks and toners is a profitable exercise.
At the same time, intense competition, rapidly evolving technology and pressures to be green are posing challenges. Survival requires big investments in research and development, manufacturing and marketing. For Lexmark chairman and chief executive Paul Curlander, steering his company through this constantly changing market is no simple task. Since taking the reins in 1999, he has fought for market share with big-name rivals and worked to grow business in two very different markets -- large enterprises and the consumer space.
Big benefits for top earners
Conestoga College president John Tibbits considers his car an essential part of job. So essential that it comes as part of his contract, paid for by the college. Tibbits received more than $25,500 in taxable benefits last year on top of a salary of about $297,000, according to salary disclosure figures released by the province. About $8,000 of his benefit package went toward a car. Tibbits drives between the college's five campuses and travels to Toronto several times a month for meetings. Life without a car would be difficult and it would likely be more expensive for the college to pay for his public transportation, he said. "I couldn't do my job without a car," Tibbits said, calling from the road while returning from a meeting. "I'm not whining.
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