Insurance & Risk Management
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Life Insurance: Protection with a Purpose
Discover the many reasons it makes sense to purchase life insurance and how to determine your financial needs. Learn more about life insurance here.
When it comes to making certain that your family has an umbrella of protection in the event of your untimely death, nothing comes to the rescue like life insurance.
The purpose of life insurance protection is manyfold. However, some of its best uses are to;
- Establish an instant cash emergency fund.
- Pay off credit cards and other individual/family debts.
- Pay off mortgages.
- Create a children’s education fund.
- Pay estate taxes.
Life insurance can address all of the above financial responsibilities if you’re not here to take care of them yourself.
How do you determine how much life insurance is enough? Quick answer: you prepare what’s called a “needs analysis.”
Start with a notepad, a #2 pencil, and an eraser.
First, list the total value of all your assets, including savings accounts, retirement funds, real estate, personal investments, and current life insurance.
Second, list all the expenses your family might face if one spouse were to die, including mortgage payoff, rent, college funds, car and credit card payments, and child care.
Third, knowing that some assets might be sold and some insurance may already be in place, subtract the accumulated needs from the cash available at death. In many instances, the needs of your beneficiaries will exceed the value of your current assets and existing insurance. Hence, you have a “cash shortfall.”
Like apples and oranges, life insurance comes in different forms, such as term or cash-value insurance. Each form can be applied to either specific needs or to a basket of needs.
For more information, click the links below to view videos on life insurance.
Life Insurance, Part 1 | Life Insurance, Part 2 | Life Insurance, Part 3 | Life Insurance, Part 4
Getting Started
Not sure where to begin? Click the links below to explore the various ways you can begin securing your financial future.
Executive Compensation: Keeping Competitive
In order to hire the best in your industry, develop a compensation plan that rewards key employees.
Business Succession Planning
Find out how to protect your financial independence and the future of your business with a comprehensive succession plan.
Retirement Planning: What You’ll Need
It’s never too late to begin preparing and saving for your retirement. Find all the information you need to get started today!
The Cost of College
The cost of a four-year college education is daunting. So, how can you build a college fund? Find out what your options are.
Disability Insurance: How will you cover your income?
A long-term disability could destroy your financial security. Find out how disability income insurance can help.
Statistics show that over their working lives many American workers will suffer a disability that could potentially wipe out their retirement savings, deplete family emergency funds, and/or require the sale of assets such as the family home.
And, regardless of your profession, career, or business, the fact that a long-term disability might destroy your financial security can be a daunting realization. The most troubling part of disability is that the family or loved ones of the disabled person might be relying completely on the disabled person’s ability to earn the income necessary to pay all of the monthly bills, rent or mortgage, car payments, and put food on the table.
There is also another component to the loss of income for the disabled person and that addresses the need for additional care and rehabilitation.
The time to consider disability income insurance is when you’re young, healthy, and able to qualify for the coverage by passing the medical part of the application process. In addition, like most insurance that covers the person, disability income insurance premiums are lower for younger individuals than for older individuals.
The premium cost of disability income insurance is governed by several factors. The first step is to chose an income amount that will cover your monthly expenses and also fit the percentage allowed by the insurance company, generally a maximum of 75% of your income. Next, chose a waiting period that will need to be met before benefits are paid, something like three to six months. Then consider how long benefits will be paid i.e. age 65 or life. The sooner you chose to start receiving benefits and the longer you receive them will govern the premiums you pay.
Disability income insurance is designed to cover the time when you are unable to perform the duties of your career or profession as a result of illness or injury (non work related – that would be covered by workers compensation).
Analyzing your need and structuring disability insurance policy benefits requires some evaluation and knowledge about the insurance company’s underwriting process. It’s best to seek competent advice before you do it on your own.
For more information, click the links below to view videos on disability insurance.
Disability Insurance, Pt. 1 | Disability Insurance, Pt. 2 | Disability Insurance, Pt. 3 | Disability Insurance, Pt. 4
Identity Theft: Could It Happen to You
It’s easier to commit than you might think and can be financially devastating. Find out how to avoid identity theft here.
If you’ve ever spoken with someone whose identity has been stolen, you know that it is a nightmare that can continue for a long time. Repairing your credit and all of the different facets of your life that have been detrimentally affected is a daunting task. Frequently, the financial loss is so overwhelming that many people never recover. Therefore, it is important to understand how identity theft happens and what you can do to protect your credit record and your financial future.
It took a substantial amount of time, but finally, the Federal government recognized that something must be done to protect Americans. Legislation has been passed that punishes identity theft more severely than previously, although many believe that it still does not go far enough.
Essentially, when someone steals your identity, they pass themselves off as you. With the right amount of personal information, they can apply for credit cards, personal loans, and perhaps even a mortgage. There have been even more brazen attempts—to secure valuables such as automobiles, jewelry, or real estate.
There are lots of ways thieves can get your private information. Here are a few of the many methods used:
- “Shoulder surfing”: As the name implies, thieves watch everything you provide to another individual or enter into a machine such as an ATM.
- “Dumpster diving”: This is a crude nickname for combing through trash in order to find any hint of information about you.
- Pulling information off the Internet: If you enter private information on an unsecured website, you are at risk because a hacker could retrieve it.
Your first concern should be to protect all of your personal information. There are many items that come under the heading of “how to protect yourself” so that your identity cannot be stolen. And there are many responses that come under the heading of “It happened, now what do I do”? And of equal importance is the question, “Who can I contact in case it happens to me”?
In the end, you should learn the secrets of what prevents identity theft so that it will not happen to you.
For more information, click the links below to view videos on avoiding identity theft.
Avoid ID Theft, Part 1 | Avoid ID Theft, Part 2 | Avoid ID Theft, Part 3
Long-Term Care: Putting Your Family at Ease
The costs associated with providing long-term care at home for a loved one can be out of reach. How prepared are you?
More Americans are living longer largely because physicians, surgery, and medications are contributing to longevity in a very positive way. However, the fact that many people are living longer does not negate the fact that many are also spending more of their elder years in long term care facilities or being cared for at home by family members.
There are several factors that must be considered when dealing with the high cost of nursing care for a loved one in an extended care facility or in a home environment. Many people believe that one of two government programs, Medicare or Medicaid will immediately step-in and pay for an individual’s long term care in a long term care facility. The fact is that each of the government programs pays something but there are specific circumstances that govern what will be paid and how much will be paid and when it will be paid.
The critical mistake that many individuals and families make is to underestimate the costs of long term care and overestimate the amount of public funding available to pay those costs.
In addition, it is easy for healthy individuals to assume that they will never require long term care. The “I’m invincible” component plays a large part in this type of thinking. However, the world changes dramatically when cancer, heart disease, or a stroke enters the picture.
Thinking about and preparing for an illness or severe accident that may place an individual into a position that requires long term care is frequently difficult at younger ages.
The solution to funding the high cost of long term care in the future must be shouldered by each individual because of the low probability that government funding will be available. Therefore, long term care insurance is the most obvious choice because it accomplishes two primary goals A) long term care expenses are paid either for care in a facility or at home, and B) a person does not have to liquidate all of their assets in order to pay the costs. In the end, having the right long term care insurance brings peace of mind to families.
For more information, click the links below to view videos on long-term care insurance.
Long-term Care, Part 1 | Long-term Care, Part 2 | Long-term Care, Part 3 | Long-term Care, Part 4