Is my life insurance a good deal?

This is a pretty subjective question, but I have a few thoughts to share that I think can make you more comfortable about your life insurance purchase.

Does it match your needs?

When you purchase life insurance that you don't need or doesn't accomplish what you intend, then that is a bad deal no matter how cheap it is. Think about why you purchased or are purchasing the life insurance. Debts, funeral expenses, income replacement, estate taxes, tax free investing, etc. all have different life insurance product needs. If you want to make sure your wife and small children have income to live on until the kids are grown, then find yourself a level term product that lasts until your kids are adults or the age you plan to retire. If you want to make sure your funeral expenses are paid for, then a guaranteed whole life insurance product that will pay if you die tomorrow or 50 years into the future probably makes the most sense.

Price

I always recommend that you research and shop around to find a plan with a good rate at a company with high ratings and a high level of customer service. I apply this philosophy to most of my shopping. When I get ready to purchase a new electronic gadget that I need, (or want, whatever) I will usually look up the product on both Amazon and Google Shopping just to see what the going rate is. I love shopping with Amazon. Their service is great and I really trust them as an online retailer. If their price is pretty close to the lower prices on Google Shopping, then I will usually buy from Amazon rather than risk saving a few percentage points to go with an unknown company or someone on Ebay.

When I buy running shoes, I usually go to a store that specializes in running shoes. The people there usually are runners and they know their shoes. They usually pull about ten pairs of shoes they recommend and we work for about thirty minutes to find the perfect shoe. Sure I could probably find a better rate if I purchased online or from an athletic super store but with a running shoe, finding the really good shoe is more important to me than finding the cheapest shoe.

When I purchased my life insurance, I took the same approach. I went to an online life insurance website that I trusted and got a list of companies and rates. I went with the second cheapest company for the type of product I wanted because the company had higher ratings and was only a few dollars more expensive per year. I didn't even check other websites or shop with other agents because I had found the shopping experience I trusted the most to find the life insurance product that fit me the best.

Michael, Garden State Life Insurance

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Intro to Buying Your Life Insurance Online

As technology continues to improve, the concept of buying life insurance on the Internet is constantly evolving. Five years ago your buying choices on the Internet were pretty much limited to applying with quote sites that essentially acted as your online independent agent and gave you a list of premium rates. There was always the argument that if you knew what product you needed and you didn't want to mess with an agent buy online, but if you weren't sure what you needed, then go to a local agent and let them provide that extra level of service.

The lines have now blurred. Now many of the insurance companies themselves are selling their products directly online to consumers and many agents have gone online themselves. Both have added some of the convenience factors that were normally reserved to the online quote sites. Now many of the quote sites have added extensive educational resources to their websites and have added new dimensions of customer service to offer a little more than just a few emails and an envelope in your mailbox.

The one thing I will say is that if you have a special health condition (e.g. bipolar, high risk profession), then you are still better off finding a local independent agent that is familiar with the underwriting guidelines of the different companies and can find you the best policy. Agents that are connected within the industry can make contact with insurance companies and find out what kind of rate they will offer you given your special health condition and avoid the hassle of you going through the full application process with a number of companies to find out where you can find the best rate. That said if you don't have a quality independent agent in your area, then more and more of the best agents are setting up shop online and offering their services to more than just one area.

Michael, Garden State Life Insurance

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