"You don't buy life insurance because YOU are going to die, but because those you love are going to LIVE!"

Term Insurance is the cheapest life insurance but depending on the term the premium will increase the older you get. If you purchase a 1-year renewable policy, the premium will go up a little bit each year. If you purchase a 10, 20, or 30-year term. The premium will remain the same for the term of the policy ie 10, 20, or 30 years. Once the term ends you MIGHT (depending on the carrier and your medical status) be given the option to renew the policy on an annual basis but the cost is usually cost prohibitive at the new age because you will now be 10, 20, or 30 years older. This type of policy is great to make sure you have life insurance in place for a designated period of time, such as until your children are out of college, you have paid off your mortgage, etc.

​The most expensive is not having any at all.

Waiver of Premium is an endorsement you can add to your life insurance policy for a nominal extra monthly fee that will pay your premiums for you in the event you become disabled. This will allow you to keep your family protected even when a disability takes away your income.

Everyone's situation is different but the rule of thumb is approximately 10x your annual income. However, to do a more comprehensive dive into how much you need, you can use the DIME theory.

This formula encourages you to take a more detailed look at your finances. DIME stands for debt, income, mortgage, and education, four areas that you need to consider when calculating your life insurance needs.

Debt and final expenses: Add up your debts, other than your mortgage, plus an estimate of your funeral expenses.

Income: Decide how many years your family would need support, and multiply your annual income by that number.

Mortgage: Calculate the amount you need to pay off your mortgage.

Education: Estimate the cost of sending your kids to school and college.

By adding all of these together, you get a much more well-rounded view of your needs. However, while this formula is more comprehensive, it doesn’t account for the life insurance coverage and savings you already have. It also doesn’t consider the unpaid contributions a stay-at-home parent makes.

In most cases, you can get immediate life insurance quotes on the quote and apply link above. Once you have determined which life insurance policy will fit your needs you can start the application process directly from your quote. The application will be submitted to the underwriter which in some cases may allow for instant approval. In those instances where you do not receive instant approval the underwriter may call you to verify some of your information, they may schedule a medical exam if necessary and obtain your medical history. Once this has been completed the process usually takes a week or two for the underwriter to come back with a firm quote at which time you can confirm that you would like the policy to be issued.

For Disability and Long Term Care insurance, at this time the quote and the application must be done manually. Once you have completed the appropriate questionnaire we will be able to get you a preliminary quote within a day or two. Once you have decided which quote fits your needs we can submit the application to underwriting for final approval. The total process can take anywhere from 1-4 weeks depending on your occupation, income needs, and medical history.

Disability policies do not come standard with an inflation rider. For a monthly fee you can add an endorsement to have your benefit amount adjust for inflation. There are a number of options but the most common are;

Simple-interest COLA riders apply the cost-of-living adjustment to the principal disability benefit amount every year. For example, if you receive $20,000 per year in disability benefits, then a simple interest COLA rider with a three percent fixed rate would increase that benefit amount by $600 every year.

Compound-interest COLA riders apply the cost-of-living adjustment to the accumulated benefit amount. For example, if you receive $20,000 per year in disability benefits, then a compound interest COLA rider with a 3% fixed rate would increase that benefit amount by $600 in the first year, then $618 in the second year, and so on until the termination of benefits.

Be honest on your application. Underwriters have access to the medical information bureau so they will know most of your medical history but you still have to disclose it all. If you have lied or left out information about your medical history on your application there is a chance that a claim may be denied because of that material misrepresentation. If you smoke, put that you smoke. If you take medications don't forget to put down the medication name, mg, and reason you take them. Make sure you answer the questions on the applications truthfully.