Archive for December 6th, 2007
It used to. It wasn’t that long ago, 30 years or so, when the only way a person could have permanent life insurance was with a whole life policy.
Whole life is a cash value policy that was defined as having a level premium to age 100 with a cash value that equaled the death benefit at age 100. On the face it sounds like something that everyone ought to have. Then came universal life insurance.
With universal life you could do the same thing, but they allowed you to vary the premium amount if there was sufficient cash value to cover any shortfall. What they didn’t tell you was that for everything to work out you had to pay back the loan. What most agents didn’t tell you in the beginning and I have to say, probably most still won’t mention is the fact that their is a huge difference between guarantees and assumptions.
Just a refresher from an old post, the two following attachments point out that difference.
bad-ul.pdf
good-ul.pdf
Back to the question at hand though. Does it really make sense to build cash value in your life insurance? Should you buy whole life? I know this really fluffs the skirts up on all those old New York Life and Northwestern Mutual agents, but the answer is NO.
If you can buy life insurance (that is what you’re buying right) for one third or less of the price of a whole life policy, with a guaranteed level premium to age 100 and a guaranteed death benefit to age 120, why would you put that extra cash into your life insurance? Why wouldn’t you put it somewhere where you can build real cash value?
Bottom line. With the reality of the universal life with a no lapse guarantee type policy, whole life is nothing more than a way for agents to make more money from you than they should. It is a cash cow for the agent and the insurance company and a cash drain for you.
December 6th, 2007
Well, it’s almost a hard and fast rule. In most overweight people, weight loss will lead to lower lipid levels and a healthier balance between total cholesterol and HDL, good cholesterol.
Almost! Anyone who follows the whole cholesterol issue, or for that matter watches television and sees cholesterol lowering drug commercials, knows that part of the issue is lifestyle, but for some, part of the issue is genetics. Scientists believe they have isolated the gene that stymies cholesterol change that would normally come with weight loss.
To put it in a nutshell, they have determined that one genetic variant links weight loss and cholesterol absorption, while another variant blocks that link.
Knowing that this variant exists will help doctors recognize those in which weight loss alone is not the entire treatment necessary for cholesterol control. For many it may take a plan of diet, exercise and prescription medical help.
We have talked often about how important it is to have your cholesterol checked on a reasonably frequent basis. Undiagnosed or untreated, cholesterol can cause health issues that often carry mortality risks. Out of control cholesterol will impact your life insurance rates, and rightly so. The cholesterol link to heart disease is well documented.
Bottom line. Get checked. There are free health fairs just about everywhere and therefore, no reason not to know. If you cholesterol numbers are out of the normal range, see a doctor and find out what you need to do. Often it is as simple as getting off the couch. Sometimes more aggressive treatment is necessary.
December 6th, 2007
With localized prostate cancer the treatments of choice have generally been radioactive beam, radiactive seed or prostatectomy. All are very effective in stopping a low stage cancer. Effectiveness comes with side effects though.
Incontinence and impotency are the most common side effects of all three treatments. There is a newer treatment called high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) that has been tested more extensively in the UK. While not yet fully accepted, the first 5 year survival studies are out and the rate is about 80%, with fewer side effects.
These numbers put HIFU on the same plane as radiotherapy from a survival standpoint. HIFU treatment had been on the chopping block, doomed to be relegated to clinical trials only until this study. This will likely push it toward mainstream treatment.
Bottom line. A low stage, low grade prostate cancer, successfully treated will generally lead to better than standard rates as long as the PSA reaches certain threshholds. With radiotherapy, the PSA needs to reach .5 and remain at or below .5 for a year. I would expect the same guidelines will be applied to HIFU.
December 6th, 2007
