Life Insurance. It’s not a subject most people like to think about, yet for a responsible spouse or parent life insurance is one of life’s necessary evils.
Do you need life insurance? To find out, ask yourself the following questions:
Would a death benefit help a loved one pay off a mortgage loan or other debt? If you died would your loved ones need your death benefit to continue their present standard of living? Will your children be able to continue their education without your death benefit? Is there a family member with special needs who would be adversely affected without your death benefit? Will your loved ones need your death benefit to pay funeral and possibly medical bills?
If your answer to any of those questions is YES then you are a prime candidate for life insurance.
Here in Oregon, as elsewhere, there are two principle types of life insurance: whole life and term life.
Whole life insurance is a policy that you buy once and keep for your whole life. The premium on a whole life policy never changes no matter how long you live.
A term life insurance policy, on the other hand, is good for only a predetermined number of years. Once the term of the policy runs out, you’ll need to buy a new policy at a higher premium, based on your age at the time of renewal.
So which type of policy is best? That will depend on a number of factors. For a person with limited financial resources a term life insurance policy may appear more appealing since a term policy will have a less expensive premium than a whole life policy – at least at first.
However, when the term life policy reaches the end of its term, a new policy will need to be purchased at a higher rate – possibly much higher than the flat rate you would still be paying had you purchased a whole life policy to begin with.
So how can an Oregon family afford life insurance? Fortunately there are several things you can do to save money and get discount life insurance in Oregon.
First, don’t smoke. Smokers pay considerably more for life insurance than nonsmokers. Also there can be no history of drug or alcohol abuse and you cannot routinely participate in any hazardous activities, such as extreme sports.
Second, take out insurance as soon as you can – the younger you are when you take out your first policy the lower your premiums will be – and if you purchase a whole life policy at a young age your low premium will never change.
Even your driving record can affect the rate you pay for life insurance. Some life insurance companies penalize you if you have had even one moving violation in the past 3 years. Others forgive one or even two violations.
This is where it pays to shop around. Get online and find a site that allows you to fill out a simple form and then compare the rates from a variety of companies. In this way you can be assured of not only saving money, but of finding the best discount life insurance in Oregon that is just perfect for both your family’s needs as well as your budget.
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