Archive for August 6th, 2007
A client today was telling me about their life insurance policy that was good until 2064. That would be to her age 95. She, like so many people, are really not quite clear on what they have.
In her case she had a 30 year term policy. The guaranteed level premium period went to 2032. After that, while the prices were guaranteed, they were guaranteed to go up substantially every year. By 2060 she would be paying nearly as much a year as the $600,000 death benefit.
Ok, I don’t want anyone left out on this. So, when you get home today, and I mean everyone in the US who has a life insurance policy, pull it out. I don’t care if it’s universal life, whole life, or term insurance. Pull it out and find out how long the premium is guaranteed to remain level.
Bottom line. I hope everyone really does this. It’s can be critical. If you can’t figure it out, call an independent agent to help you research it. If you figure it out too late, you could lose your insurance.
August 6th, 2007
The number of health problems that could be avoided with a change away from fast food eating habits is huge. The amount of money that could be saved on life insurance if that habit were shot and left for dead would be huge. But ours’ is a society that is easily addicted.
Fast food, and the American addiction to it, has led to epidemics of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, just to name the big three. Just so I don’t get that scary looking Burger King guy yelling at me, there are other risk factors that play into those diseases and no body is physically twisting our arms to eat the stuff. Physically no, but mentally they are doing a very good job.
In a Forbes article today they revealed a recent study that basically showed that you could wrap anything in a MacDonald’s wrapper and kids thought it was good. Actually the study had to do with branding and you really couldn’t put just anything in the wrapper. But, as a doctor from Yale points out, “This study demonstrates simply and elegantly that advertising literally brainwashes young children into a baseless preference for certain food products,” said Dr. David Katz, the director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.
“Children, it seems, literally do judge a food by its cover. And they prefer the cover they know,” said Katz, who was not involved in the research.”
Life insurance applications could probably uncover a laundry list of poor lifestyle choices that would adversely affect mortality if they wanted to ask about eating habits. Unfortunately the results of those choices are obvious.
Bottom line. What’s good for you is good for low life insurance rates as well. Save your MacDonald’s wrappers and start wrapping a healthy lifestyle in them for your children.
August 6th, 2007
Gosh. I thought it was going to be a pretty normal Monday. Feeling good. Got to play some golf over the weekend. Then MSN shook up my world by letting me know that I am overweight.
Just for giggles I clicked on a body mass index calculator on MSN’s diet and fitness page. I have to admit, because I deal with overweight issues and how they affect life insurance, I am somewhat conscious of my weight. Based on life insurance build charts I would certainly qualify (if not for a few other issues), for any company’s best rate. At 5′10″ and 175# I am feeling pretty good and good about myself.
Until MSN. According to them, with my build, I have a body mass index (BMI) of 25.1. Anything over 25.0 is overweight. I don’t feel overweight. I’m pretty sure my wife would tell me if I look overweight. If not her, I’m sure one of the kids would would find some unmerciful way to break the news.
Bottom line. We should all be glad that MSN is not in the insurance business. I would have to assume that they wouldn’t offer their best rates to an overweight person such as myself. That’s brutal.
August 6th, 2007
