Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some of our frequently asked questions. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

  1. What is auto insurance?
  2. Must I have auto insurance?
  3. What happens to me if I drive without auto insurance?
  4. Who is covered by my personal auto policy?
  5. In general, What affects insurance company premiums?
  6. What should you consider when purchasing automobile insurance to keep your cost down?
  7. Do I save money on service charges if I pay premiums in full rather than on a quarterly or monthly basis?
  8. I already have car insurance. Are there any ways to cut my costs?
  9. Will my premiums go up if I have an accident?
  10. What is a deductible?
  11. Do auto insurance companies insure the same class of drivers?
  12. What is assigned risk?
  13. My daughter just got her driver’s license. How can I keep my costs low?
  14. Why buy homeowner’s insurance?
  15. Why buy renter’s insurance?
  16. What is the connection between risk and the insurance company?
  17. What kinds of risks does homeowner's/renter’s insurance protect you against?
  18. What is the difference between a dwelling policy and a homeowner’s policy?
  19. Can I cancel my own policy at any time?
  20. What does property damage cover?
  21. Additional property coverage
  22. What does personal property (contents) damage cover?
  23. What is the basic difference between individual and group health insurance coverages?
  24. What types of individual health insurance policies are available?
  25. What types of group health insurance coverages are available?
  26. How can I get health coverage?
  27. What’s the difference between primary and secondary coverages?
  28. What will determine my health insurance premium?
  29. What variables will affect my insurance premium?
  30. I have health coverage through my employer but i’m leaving my job soon. Though I like my current coverage, I cannot carry it from job to job. What are my options?
  31. What is life insurance?
  32. What is the connection between risk and life insurance?
  33. Why buy life insurance?
  34. Is there a certain amount of life insurance i'm required to buy?
  35. What is a “needs analysis”? Do I need one to determine how much life insurance I should have?
  36. How is cost determined?
  37. Will I have to be examined by a doctor to buy life insurance?
  38. Will a life insurance policy affect my eligibility for medicaid benefits?
  39. Will I need life insurance when I retire?
What is auto insurance?

Auto insurance is a contract with an insurance company that can protect you against severe financial loss if you are ever in an auto accident. Varying types of coverage act as a bumper against various accident-related expenses, like liability, medical costs, damage to vehicles, and property damage.



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Must I have auto insurance?
Most states have laws in the books that require basic auto insurance coverage for every driver. A few states ask only that you demonstrate “financial responsibility.”

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What happens to me if I drive without auto insurance?
If you are involved in an auto accident or stopped by a police officer and found to be driving without car insurance or proof of financial responsibility, you will be subject to penalties specific to the laws of your state. For violation of the financial responsibility law, those penalties could include a fine or loss of driving privileges. If you are uninsured and in an accident that involves property damage or injuries to people, you will be required to pay out of-pocket for any damages assessed by a court.

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Who is covered by my personal auto policy?
You and the family members, friends and associates that you let borrow your car are all covered by your personal auto policy. Explicit permission is not required each time they borrow your car. They are covered as long as they have a reasonable belief that you would have permitted the loan.

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In general, What affects insurance company premiums?
The key factor in setting car insurance rates is the expense of paying for accidents and the costs associated with settling them. Other expenses relate to marketing the insurance (agent and broker salaries, commissions, expenses, and advertising), and general overhead (management and staff salaries and offices expenses). Expenses are partially offset by investment earnings on the premium dollars that have been received from customers but not yet spent.

Car insurance underwriting results usually follow a cycle that lasts several years. They tend to have a number of good years followed by a few bad years and then back to some good years. If investment earnings are good, they may offset expenses and losses in underwriting. Companies prefer to have surpluses beyond underwriting and expenses so that investment earnings can build profits. Many states also require insurance companies to have minimum cash reserves, which can effect premiums.

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What should you consider when purchasing automobile insurance to keep your cost down?
How much liability coverage do you need?

1. Do you need collision coverage?

2. Do you need comprehensive coverage?

3. What deductible amounts do you want?

4. Do you want an agent, or can you buy by phone or mail?

5. Do you want to use multi-quote services?

6. What discounts might you be eligible for?

a. Multi car

b. Safety features on car

c. Security features on car

d. Driver’s education

e.Good student

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Do I save money on service charges if I pay premiums in full rather than on a quarterly or monthly basis?
Annual premium payments are usually the most economical. By giving the insurance company the entire year’s premium, you avoid incurring additional administrative charges that add up with quarterly or monthly billing. Many companies charge a much smaller fee if you have your premium deducted automatically from a checking account every month. Check with your company.


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I already have car insurance. Are there any ways to cut my costs?
1. Consider your insurance as a backstop against major losses, not a way to pay for minor fender benders. Select larger deductibles, making sure you have adequate savings to pay the deductible amount if you have an accident.

2. Eliminate coverages you no longer need, such as comprehensive and collision for old cars that do not have much value and are not being financed. But be careful. There have been instances where some people dropped the non-required coverages for cars that no longer are being financed when they still had significant value. They then sustained heavy losses when an uninsured driver demolished their car.

3. Take advantage of discounts that might be offered by your company for driving education, safety devices, multiple vehicles, security devices, annual/low mileage, retiree, anti-lock brakes, accident free record, non-smoker, preferred driver, and many more.

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Will my premiums go up if I have an accident?
It depends on the type and severity of the accident, on your previous driving record, and on your history with your insurance company. In many cases there will be an increase.

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What is a deductible?
The deductible is the amount you must pay toward a claim before your insurance begins to pay. For example, if you have a $500 claim and your policy has a $100 deductible, you will pay $100 and your insurance will pay $400. Selecting higher deductibles is one way to reduce your premiums. Of course, you must decide whether the monthly savings are worth the risk of paying more in the event of an accident.

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Do auto insurance companies insure the same class of drivers?
No. The average driver with, perhaps, a few violations spread over many years and a car that is not extremely expensive or statistically at high risk of accidents would be classified as a standard risk. This is the pool of drivers that most companies insure.

A few companies concentrate on attracting the drivers with outstanding driving records and the characteristics that statistically are correlated with low risk of accidents. These drivers are classified as preferred. Niche companies that insure primarily drivers classified as preferred, can expect to have a lower than average incidence of accidents and therefore be able to charge lower premiums.

At the other end of the classification scale, the non-standard risks are the drivers that by statistics, or through their own driving history, are at higher risk than average of having accidents.

Some companies cover a broad range of drivers. Others try to primarily insure only one segment. Some establish a fleet of companies with each company having a different underwriting goal. This allows them to insure a broad range of drivers and charge appropriate premiums for each group.

There are some drivers who do not fit into any of these groups and they cannot get insurance with any company. These are the people who must get insurance through an assigned risk program. These programs vary from state to state, but most allow drivers who cannot get insurance through voluntary acceptance by an insurance company to have access to insurance – though often at a relatively high price.

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What is assigned risk?
If your state requires you to have auto insurance in order to drive, you may be faced with a dilemma if insurance companies won’t accept you. Most states, therefore, have some sort of assigned risk plan to assure that you can get coverage. The cost of insurance under the assigned risk plan may be high, but the plan must accept you.

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My daughter just got her driver’s license. How can I keep my costs low?
To begin with, in many states young female drivers get lower rates than young males. You may be able to further reduce your cost by taking advantage of available discounts. Check with your company about what discounts she may be eligible for, based upon:

1. Driver’s education

2. Good marks in school

3. Low mileage driver

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Why buy homeowner’s insurance?
1. As one of -- if not the -- most important assets that a person has, you need to protect your home from damage and destruction 

2. Mortgage lenders require homeowners to carry insurance to protect the lender's investment from damage or loss

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Why buy renter’s insurance?

Just like homeowner's insurance, renters face risks of loss. Sure, since a renter does not own the dwelling unit, she does not risk the residence itself. As a renter, the greatest risk is damage to or loss of personal property. Renters can also be liable to third parties that are injured while at the residence.

If you rent, insurance acts as a risk transfer device to protect you against a catastrophic loss. In exchange for payment of a premium, you transfer the risk of property loss and liability to third parties to an insurance company.



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What is the connection between risk and the insurance company?

Insurance is a contract between the insured (you) and an insurance company that protects against the risk of large catastrophic loss. If a light bulb burns out in your hallway, that’s a small loss. If an electrical fire destroys a room, that’s a large catastrophic loss. 

Insurance companies gather groups of people that share homogeneous risks. The probability of loss is determined across the group as a whole. By spreading the risk of loss across the entire group, each member contributes a small known loss (in the form of a premium payment) in exchange for protection against a catastrophic loss. Should a covered loss occur, the insurance company pays money. 

In its essence, insurance is a risk transfer device -- moving risk of loss from individuals to the insurance companies. Insurance companies determine the probability of loss across the entire homogenous group, add the cost of administration, and spread the estimated expected losses across the group by collecting a premium from each member of the group.

Homeowners are one such homogeneous group. All homeowners face similar risks, such as loss or damage to the home, loss or damage to its contents, and liability for injury or harm to third parties who come to the home. It is insurance company actuaries who determine what it will cost to pay all the losses the group is expected to incur, factor in administrative expenses and profit, and decide how much each member of the group must pay for the insurance.



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What kinds of risks does homeowner's/renter’s insurance protect you against?

The major risks covered by homeowner's insurance are: 

1. damage or loss to the home itself, as well as other structures on the land; 

2. damage or loss to the items of personal property in the home and other structures; and 

3. injury or harm to third parties (typically guests and others who come to your home).

The major risks covered by renter's insurance are damage or loss to items of personal property contained in the residence and liability to third parties who are injured while in the residence.

The particular risks covered depend upon the type of policy purchased, as discussed below.



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What is the difference between a dwelling policy and a homeowner’s policy?

A homeowner's policy is a package which covers loss not only to the dwelling structure, but other structures on the land, personal property contained in the dwelling, and liability to third parties who come onto the dwelling and surrounding land. In its purest form, a dwelling policy covers only the dwelling structure itself -- providing a much smaller amount of coverage. Though not very common, dwelling policies are used in some areas of the country to insure seasonal homes that are unoccupied for part of the year.



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Can I cancel my own policy at any time?

As a policy owner, you can cancel your insurance at any time, especially if you sell your home or change companies. You will receive a refund of the unused insurance premium, but at the "short rate." The short rate is less than the mathematical equivalent of the unused premium -- the expenses that the insurance company incurred in establishing the insurance coverage.



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What does property damage cover?

The property damage portion of a homeowner's policy covers loss or damage to the home and other structures on the property. In the event of a total loss, the amount paid depends upon the dwelling policy limit of the insurance contract as well as the type of coverage provided under the contract. 

On some policies, other structures (such as detached garages, tool sheds, fences, guesthouses, and gazebos) are typically covered at the rate of 10% of the limit set for the dwelling itself. For example, an insurance contract that provides $100,000 coverage for a dwelling typically will provide up to $10,000 coverage for other structures. Trees, shrubbery and other landscape are typically covered for 5% of the dwelling limit.



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Additional property coverage
Some insurance policies also provide additional property damage coverage when a loss occurs as the result of a covered peril. Covered items include:

1. Reasonable temporary repairs 

2. Necessary to protect the property against further damage 

3. Reasonable cost of removing damaged property and debris 

4. Expenses of removing property and storing it for up to thirty days 

5.Reimbursement for fire department service charges 

6. Reimbursement of up to $500 for loss of credit cards, check forgeries or acceptance in good faith of counterfeit money. 

Most renters’ insurance policies do not have a property damage component. Some renter's insurance policies, however, do provide for loss or damage to the premises caused by the renter.

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What does personal property (contents) damage cover?
Contents (personal property) coverage is a typical component of all homeowner's and renter's insurance policies. Personal property refers to all tangible goods commonly found inside your residence and owned by you or family members who live with you. Examples of personal property include your clothes, furniture, furnishings, and appliances. Coverage for automobiles, aircraft, and other vehicles is typically excluded.

Your policy will have an overall limit on how much it will pay for all personal property involved in a single claim. The typical limit is at least 50% of the home’s insured value. The policy, however, will have separate limits on such items as computers, antiques, silverware, cash, firearms, works of art, furs, and so forth.

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What is the basic difference between individual and group health insurance coverages?
An individual policy is purchased by you directly with the insurance company.

With a group health insurance policy, the group is the master insured and the insurance company contracts with the group. Insurance certificates, issued to a participating member, act as your policy. Often group health insurance costs less than would have been charged had the insurance company sold individual policies to each member separately. In addition, group health insurance often contains special coverages that are not available or are very expensive on an individual basis. The purchasing power of the group makes this economically feasible.

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What types of individual health insurance policies are available?
There are a variety of policies which insurance companies offer on an individual basis. Some of the more common types of policies include:

1. Major Medical - provides coverage for doctor visits, surgery and hospitalization or ongoing illnesses. 

2. Hospital and Surgery - provides coverage solely related to hospital stays and surgical services, such as room and board, laboratory tests, X-rays, plus doctors’ charges

3. Hospital Confinement Indemnity - a policy designed to pay a set amount (an indemnity) for each day you are an "in-patient" at a hospital.

4. Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) - centralized service provider, commonly with a general practitioner (limited selection of participating doctors) coupled with coverage by specialists upon referral. Doctor visits, surgery, hospitalization and often reduced-rate prescription medicine are provided. May also cover preventive care, often not included in major medical policies.

5. Specified Disease (also called “Dread Disease”) - covers costs associated with a single disease, such as cancer, AIDS, heart attack, etc.

6. Short-Term - typically a major medical policy but with coverage lasting only for a specified length of time. Might be purchased to cover the time you are between jobs.

7. Accident Only - provides coverage for doctor visits, surgery and hospitalization resulting from an accident (no coverage for disease or illness).

8. Dental - provides coverage for costs associated with dentists and orthodontists.

9. Vision - provides coverage for sight correction

10. Home-Health Care - care provided to enable you to remain in your home while receiving services which can range from assisted living (help around the house) to around-the clock nursing with other health care providers on call.

11. Long -Term Care - coverage provided to individuals who otherwise would not be able to take care of themselves. A range of services from delivery of prepared meals, assistance with managing the residence, to stays in residential facilities. Often associated with long-term illness and the elderly.

12. Limited - Benefit - not very common, a bare-bones type of coverage intended to cover specific situations.

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What types of group health insurance coverages are available?
Group health insurance makes individual coverages available on a group basis. A primary advantage is the purchasing power of the group that achieves reduced acquisition costs for the insurance company. The insurance company is then able to reduce the rate it charges to provide insurance for each individual member of the group. The Group is in a better position to bargain with the insurance company for additional benefits for its members. There are a variety of types of group health insurance plans, the major distinctions being the mechanism used for purchasing the insurance. Common varieties of group health insurance plans include:

1. Fully Insured Employer Group - The employer contracts directly with the insurance company to provide certificates to covered employees. Typical arrangement is either for major medical or health maintenance organization (HMO) coverages.

2. Small Employer Group - Insurance companies group certain industries together and then gather small employers together to form a larger group. These groupings enable the insurance company to better predict the cost of providing the insurance. The small employers can then get coverages otherwise not available unless charged a much higher rate. All the small employers get the same policy without deviation.

3. Large Employer Group - same as a fully insured employer group with direct contract between the insurance company and the employer to provide individual certificates to covered employees.

4. Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) - a group program under which the organization provides a full range of medical services to participants. Participants are either assigned or select from a group of general practitioners, who then refer their patients to specialists when the need arises. Good generalized system of providing medical care which is marked by curtailment in selection by the individual participant of the health care provider who render services. Individual participants insured by an HMO are called “enrollees”. 

5. Self-Funded ERISA - available to large groups. The group contracts with an insurance company or third-party administrator to handle the paperwork. The group pays for all costs associated with the operation of the insurance plan itself, along with the added cost for administration.

6. Association Group - similar to a fully insured employer group, the distinction being that instead of an employer, it is a different type of group, such as a credit card company offering insurance as a benefit to its cardholders or a church group offering insurance to its parishioners.

7. Group Managed Care - a long-term health insurance plan offered through the group or association.

8. Preferred Provider Organization – another kind of health care network (doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers) that contracts with health insurance companies.

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How can I get health coverage?
Employer-sponsored group insurance

Millions of people obtain their insurance through their employment. Upon reaching the eligibility requirement (such as a full-time employee working more than 40 hours per week for a six month continuous basis), the employee becomes covered under the employer's group insurance policy and the employee is issued an insurance certificate or health insurance card. Medical insurance is a very common fringe benefit of employment. Some employers will provide coverage solely for the employee, some employers pass along the cost of dependent coverage to the employee, while other employers pay the entire cost of medical insurance for the employee and his/her family.

Individual insurance

Health insurance which is purchased by the individual. Some major health insurance companies offer a broad range of coverages and options to individuals, who pay directly out-of-pocket for the cost of the insurance. Many insurance companies require completion of an exhaustive application and may require a medical examination before coverage will be offered to the individual.

Government-sponsored insurance

Some states offer health insurance benefits to their residents, often with certain income requirements for eligibility. These plans are designed for the "working poor" - individuals who are employed but no health care coverage is available where they work. This enables the state to protect its residents from catastrophic loss due to illness, disease or accident without placing an additional burden upon its program for the truly indigent.

Association-sponsored insurance

You may belong to a group or organization that offers health insurance as a benefit of membership. Check membership benefit statements, brochures, or ask organizations leaders to determine availability of health insurance through your group or organization.

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What’s the difference between primary and secondary coverages?
Since many people have available medical insurance from more than one plan (such as two employed spouses covered under group health insurance plans), insurance companies do not want insureds to profit through their health insurance. To prevent double recovery, most health insurance plans have provisions which determine how primary versus secondary coverage will be determined. 

Primary coverage is provided through the plan of which they are a member (such as the spouses both covered through their respective employment - the primary coverage is provided under the plan provided by the employer of each spouse) or the plan under which the member has been a participant for the longest time period.

Secondary coverage, usually as a result of being covered as a dependent under someone else's health insurance plan, provides reimbursement for medical expenses after exhaustion of coverage available through the primary plan.

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What will determine my health insurance premium?
Insurance premiums are determined by actuaries employed by insurance companies. The cost of advertising, selling, paying for services rendered by health care practitioners, administration of the insurance program as well as the investment of premium payments and a profit margin are factored into the premium amount. Actuaries determine the exposure to risk according to the provisions of the insurance policy and then set a premium rate. Additional underwriting factors, such as adverse selection for individual policies and special industry exposures for employer-sponsored group health insurance plans, are also factors of the premium charged.

Often the premium charged on an individual plan is much higher than the premium charged for similar coverages offered through a group plan due to "adverse selection." Under group plans, an insurance company can determine that a percentage of participants will generally be in good health. Under individual plans, it is more likely that people in poor health and having a greater need for insurance will seek to buy coverage - "adverse selection" is the result of the basic premise that those people in good health do not have as much need for insurance as people who are in poor health.

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What variables will affect my insurance premium?
Purchasers of insurance often can control several factors used to determine the insurance premium. Some of these factors, which act as limitations of the insurance coverage, include:

• Deductibles - The amount you yourself have to pay out-of-pocket before reimbursement of your expenses from the insurance coverage. It is usually a flat dollar amount. The higher the deductible, the lower the premium.

• Co-payments and co-insurance – for example, in a 80/20 plan, the insurance pays 80% of the covered expense and you pay out-of-pocket the remaining 20%. Most plans with a co-pay have a maximum, out-of-pocket, cost. 

• Lifetime maximums - the maximum amount of insurance coverage that will be paid on your behalf during your lifetime. The higher the maximum, the more coverage is potentially available under the insurance coverage.

• Annual or "out-of-pocket" limits - the maximum amount of deductible and co-payments you will have to pay each year. The lower the annual limit, the higher the premium.

• Coordination of Benefits - some insurance companies now offer insurance plans which recognize the fact that other insurance may be available to you, such as coverages under worker's compensation, automobile insurance, a state disability program, or from coverage available as an employee benefit to a spouse. This provision specifies how multiple coverages will coordinate their payments. 

• Renewability/Cancellation - some insurance companies offer health insurance on a guaranteed renewable basis or with a non-cancellation provision (meaning that the insurance company may only cancel coverage in the event of non-payment of premium). Expect there to be an added cost for these features.

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I have health coverage through my employer but i’m leaving my job soon. Though I like my current coverage, I cannot carry it from job to job. What are my options?
f your employment ends, voluntarily or otherwise, or you lose coverage because of reduced work hours, you have the right under COBRA (the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) to continue in the group on a temporary basis. COBRA applies to all employers with 20 or more workers. You will have to pay for the full group coverage, but you may be able to retain your insurance for yourself for up to 18 months.

Your employer will furnish you (or your spouse) a booklet that explains all the twists and turns under COBRA as well as a summary plan description that contains information about COBRA. In addition, when a plan receives notice of a qualifying event, the plan must notify the covered person of their right to choose continuation of coverage.

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What is life insurance?
Life insurance is a contract, often called a “policy”, between you and an insurance company to provide money to a person you designate, in the event that you die during the time the contract is in force. In essence, during your lifetime you pay money, known as the insurance “premium”, to the insurance company. It promises to pay money to the persons you name, the “beneficiaries”, at your death. Some types of life insurance also give the policy owner the right to “borrow” a portion of the “cash value” within a policy, or to receive an “accelerated death benefit” if you become terminally ill or require confinement in a long term care facility.

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What is the connection between risk and life insurance?
Life insurance, like other types of insurance, is based on the concept of sharing risk. For example, everyone understands that people who are 95 years old are far more likely to die in the coming year than those who are 35.

In the 17th century, Edmund Halley, the English astronomer for whom Halley’s Comet is named, created the first scientific table to reflect how long people would be expected to live – a mortality table. Insurance companies use mortality tables to help them calculate the risk that members of various age groups will die. This permits life insurance companies to accurately calculate how much they should charge people who want to purchase life insurance coverage.

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Why buy life insurance?
Some reasons to buy life insurance are:

1. Income Replacement

2. Funeral Expenses

3. Pay Off Debts

4. Pay Off Medical Bills

5. Mortgage life insurance

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Is there a certain amount of life insurance i'm required to buy?
Although there are “rules of thumb” such as your life insurance should be 10 times or 20 times or some other multiple of your annual income, the best approach is to consider your own personal needs so that your survivors have adequate life insurance proceeds to meet their financial needs in the event of your death. 

To estimate how much money may be needed, you should make a list and estimate the expenses that need to be covered. This could include the cost of paying funeral expenses and the amounts that your spouse and young children need for mortgage payments, household expenses, education, etc. 

If you have difficulty drawing up this list, you can seek the advice of a financial planner - preferably one who charges a fee but does not sell products. Or, you can use the “calculators” that are available on many financial and insurance company websites. 

The end result of this process is to estimate the amount of life insurance you should have in order to provide adequately for your dependents and survivors. 

Of course, this amount will usually change over time due to life changes. Therefore, it is good idea to periodically review your numbers to make sure that they are up-to-date.

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What is a “needs analysis”? Do I need one to determine how much life insurance I should have?
A “needs analysis” (sometimes called “programming your life insurance”) is a systematic procedure that looks at your overall life insurance and other assets (investments, social security, pension, etc.) as a portfolio and relates those assets to needs that would have to be covered. Some versions of “needs analysis” would also include a review of other types of insurance (car, homeowners, etc.) you have or might need.

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How is cost determined?
The cost of life insurance is determined by the insurance company’s actuaries who take the following into consideration:

1. Mortality cost, or the cost of paying claims to the beneficiaries of insured people. Mortality costs for most insurance companies have declined in recent years because people in the United States have been living longer. This means there is a longer period to collect premiums and death claims are being paid out later than originally anticipated. Still companies must be careful to select new policyholders who are basically healthy, and they should charge rates which reflect the actual mortality risks of those people who have serious health problems or who engage in potentially dangerous activities. Otherwise, they might have higher than expected costs for death claims, which could cause financial difficulties for them.

2. Operations cost, the cost of operating the insurance company and selling its products. These costs includes marketing costs (commissions; costs of operating sales offices; advertising expenses; etc.), and non-marketing costs (the cost of constructing and maintaining company buildings; salaries of officers and staff; etc.).

3. The return on investments. Insurance companies invest money until they need it to pay claims or expenses. If they can earn good investment returns, this will help to pay some of their expenses and reduce the cost of insurance. They will then be able to sell policies at lower premiums and compete more effectively against other companies. 

The overall effect of all these factors determines how much the company needs to charge in order to provide life coverage while making a profit and paying dividends to its policyholders, if it is a mutual insurance company. Several large mutual insurance companies have recently changed to stockholder owned companies through a process called demutualization. In stockholder owned companies, dividends are paid to the stockholders.

A company that feels it needs to become competitive, can

1. cut marketing costs by reducing marketing staffs; trimming commissions; selling directly to customers by phone, mail, or over the Internet;

2. cut non-marketing costs by having fewer workers and managers; moving to a smaller building; lowering pay scales for new workers; cutting raises and bonuses for existing employees;

3. increase return on investment by making different investments. 

Customers could benefit if the costs are cut and the cuts are then passed on to them.

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Will I have to be examined by a doctor to buy life insurance?
Rules vary from company to company and for different types and amounts of insurance. For very small amounts of insurance or association or group plans, no exam usually would be needed, but company underwriters need to examine and collect medical information on most new customers in order to properly classify the level of risk and set the appropriate premium charge. Answers to questions about the applicant’s health will usually be the first requirement, and may determine if a physical examination is required. If an exam is needed, the company should arrange a convenient time and place for you to meet the doctor or paramedic at no charge to you. Usually, the exam will involve only basic medical tests and medical history unless large amounts of insurance are applied for.

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Will a life insurance policy affect my eligibility for medicaid benefits?
Life insurance is considered to be an asset under federal guidelines for Medicaid eligibility. Therefore, having a life insurance policy could affect eligibility and the policy may have to be relinquished before Medicaid is granted. However, Medicaid is administered by the states, so the details of eligibility requirements may vary from state to state.

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Will I need life insurance when I retire?
In general, the need for life insurance tends to decline with age because some of the reasons for buying it (college for children, income for dependents) either become non-existent or are needed for fewer years. In addition, other assets, from savings and investments, that could pay for these expenses tend to increase. So the need for life insurance will be small or non existent for many people after retirement. Exceptions include those with large estates or those who have business needs for life insurance. You might still have dependents that require income or financial resources after your death. Also, there may be a need to have money to pay off “final expenses”, which could include funeral expenses, car loans, mortgages and other bills. Circumstances like these often present special needs for life insurance that should be analyzed on an individual basis.

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Company Mission Statement:

To maximize the estate of each of our valuable clients through careful analysis and planning regarding their personal portfolio, while additionally ensuring the future interests of their legacy. At Atlas Consulting and Planning, LLC., we strive to provide excellent financial services for each of our valued clients in order to ensure that each individual's needs are specifically met in order to maximize their future financial success.