Who needs life insurance and why ? Page 2

Now, compare this to Beth who is the single mother of a boy, Robbie, age eight and a girl, Kinsey,

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What is Terminal Illness Insurance?: Terminal Illness Insurance pays out if you are diagnosed with an illness from which you are expected to die within 12 months of diagnosis.
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age 12. How much insurance does Beth need? There's no spouse but if anything happens to her, the kids will go to her sister, and the sister will need financial help. So, assume $10,000 a year to the sister for 16 years -- $160,000 - plus college for the kids at $200,000. This adds up to a policy of maybe $360,000. See the difference that circumstances can make?

Before you purchase a policy, sit down and figure out who will need to be taken care of, for how long they will need the help and, realistically, what that help should consist of. If you die this should not be like winning the lottery for your survivors. Don't buy so much insurance that you will be really strapped for all those years before you pass on.

The next step is to do some comparison-shopping. Different insurance companies often quote different rates on just about the same coverage as they tend to rate risks differently. You should also look at the cost of term vs. cash value life insurance. Many experts believe that if you're young, with young kids, your best bet is a term policy as it costs less, yet can offer good coverage. For example, if you're 35 and in good health, you can probably buy a $500,000, 10-year level term polity for less than $300 a year. And a 20-year, level-term policy might cost you no more than $400 a year.

You might also save money on the term insurance by buying more than one policy. For example, if you have two children, one age 12 and one age eight, you might consider ( personal loans ) buying a 10-year, level term policy to take the 12-year old through college, and a 20-year term policy to cover the eight year old through college.

Finally, you can get quotes on term insurance and even buy it without ever seeing a life insurance agent. There are a number of web sites where you can do this, including quickquotes.com, reliaQuote.com and intelliquote.com.

It is important to understand that the quotes available from these sites are ( cheap loans ) just preliminary quotes. The insurance company you choose will not provide a firm quote until you have provided all requested information and, in most case, have taken a physical. The good news is that the physical will be done in your home and at your convenience.

Cash value life insurance is a much more complex issue. The best way to get information on it is to sit down with a good, experienced agent who can explain the alternatives available and the costs and benefits of each.