Do you have restless leg syndrome (RLS)? If not, surely you know someone who does. Those of us with RLS tend to kind of whine about it (I may be projecting…).
Now comes real reason to whine. Not only is RLS a pain in the rear, it appears to have some connection to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. For anyone not aware of restless leg sydrome, it manifests itself as involuntary movement or spasms in the legs that show up about the time you want to wind down.
That is the pain in the rear part of RLS. You can be as tired as you can get, yawning and ready to fall asleep and just when you are about there, your legs start doing the river dance thing.
In this recent study it showed that people with RLS were twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke. The researchers didn’t seem to think that RLS caused the other conditions, but rather some of the causes of restless leg, short periods of high blood pressure for instance, can also cause other health issues.
From a life insurance standpoint, RLS is really not a rateable issue by itself. That is to say that absent any indications of heart disease, your rates wouldn’t increase just based on having RLS. If more evidence comes in showing this link to be consistent and measureable, that might change.
Bottom line. The deeper we dig, the more we find different health issues are related.
January 2nd, 2008
Now that we have all of the 2007 excuses out of your system, let’s get down to business. You have responsibilities and you should have life insurance. You all recognize that, so here’s what to do.
Find a good independent insurance agent. Made that easy enough! See, this is going to be painless. 5-10 minutes on the phone and you should have all of your questions answered and have quotes on the way. Make sure you discuss budget so the quotes you get are going to be realistic.
If you are in less than perfect health, make sure you can answer basic questions about your health issue. If you have diabetes, know what your A1c is. If you have high blood pressure, know your medication and you average readings. If you have had cancer, know the stage and grade of the cancer or get a copy of the pathology report.
All of these things allow the agent to provide accurate quotes. There is nothing more frustrating for you, and honestly for your agent, than providing a quote without the correct information, only to have it change once it is applied for and the medical records are acquired.
Once you have the quotes, make a decision on what to apply for. Don’t beat this decision to death since you’re not locked in to what you apply for. In most cases you can change the amount and term length or type of policy after the application process and the exam are already moving ahead. I can’t emphasize enough that getting started is where most life insurance applications fail. People get bogged down and just don’t ever move ahead. Don’t be one of those. Life insurance is too important to the future of your family.
There is amazingly little for you to do in the application process. Provide some information, sign an application and take an exam (they come to you). No money is required. You aren’t obligated to accept the policy if it isn’t what you expected. By law you get a chance to review the finished product, the approved policy, before committing to putting it in force. And you remain in the driver’s seat.
The only guarantee you have to live with is that, in order for the policy to stay in force, you have to make the payments. All other guarantees are the responsibility of the company and therefore not something you have to be concerned about signing on board for. For example, just because you put a 30 year term in force doesn’t mean you are locked in to a 30 year commitment. If your needs change, you can replace or lapse the policy with no problems on your part.
Bottom line. It’s easy, and the feeling of knowing that your life insurance is in force and your family is protected is priceless. Get started today.
January 2nd, 2008
