Life Insurance for Seniors Over 80

Life insurance is a legal contract between you and an insurance company. It is one of the important elements of financial planning. But can you go for an insurance policy if you are over 80 years of age? You may think that it is unaffordable or such an option is not available.

Usually seniors require a policy mainly to pay estate taxes or some other expenses or leave a legacy to their beneficiaries. When you are over 80 years old, you need an insurance which is most cost effective having the best rate and suits your individual situation. To know the best insurance that suits you, you could compare the rates of different companies. While looking for cheaper rates it is also important to consider the financial strength of the insurers.

6 Things That Spike Your Auto Insurance

You may already know the importance of shopping around to score the best rate on your auto insurance premiums, but did you know that certain factors (or the absence of them) could cause your insurance premiums to rise? 

To understand what makes your insurance premiums spike, it helps to understand the basic nature of auto insurance: Insurers make money when they insure drivers who don't have accidents, and don't make claims. They lose money when the opposite happens. As such, it is in the insurer's best interest to predict driver risk factors as accurately as possible. When any of the following factors are present in your life, they indicate an increased likelihood that you, as a potential auto insurance policyholder, may have an insurance claim that will cost the insurer money. To compensate for the increased likelihood of a payout, insurers charge you more money in the form of a raised premium. Here are six things that spike your auto insurance.

How Much Will Hurricane Sandy Cost Insurance Companies?

Just days after Hurricane Sandy pummelled the east coast of the United States, and made her historic turn inward towards the New Jersey coast, insurance estimates began rolling in, and the news wasn't good. The storm, which affected a broad area, particularly devastated the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. Many in the tri-state area and beyond suffered severe or moderate property damage, flooding, power outages and more. Now that the clean-up for Hurricane Sandy has begun, insurance companies are attempting to gauge just how expensive this catastrophic storm really was and what the real cost of this natural disaster looks like. Here is a look at preliminary figures from the damage Hurricane Sandy caused and an in-depth look at just how much money the superstorm is costing insurance companies as a result.

5 Most Expensive Cities In The U.S. For Car Insurance

Maintaining a car can be a very expensive venture if you are not careful. From annual inspection and periodic upkeep to keeping the car fueled and insured, owning a car can easily deplete your bank account and leave you strapped for cash. One major cost associated with owning a car is paying for car insurance. Depending on where you live in the United States, car insurance could either be a small expense or take a dramatic toll on your budget. Here is a look at five of the most expensive cities in America for car insurance.

Detroit

According to an article released by Yahoo! in January 2012, Detroit, Mich. has the highest car insurance premiums on average in the U.S. The Motor City's insurance rates are most unfriendly to cash-strapped car owners. According to Runzheimer International, the average car insurance premium in Detroit was $5,941 in 2011. That's nearly $2,000 more than the runner-up. The Motor City is filled to the brim with automobiles, and as a result of the high population of citizens and cars, along with a no-fault insurance system, its insurance premiums have stayed among the highest in the country.

Reasons Renting Is Better Than Buying

A lifelong goal that many citizens strive to achieve is homeownership. While many people own their own homes in today's society, this wasn't always the case. Historically, families either needed to build their own homes or rent a home from someone else. While both renting and buying have their own sets of financial advantages, renting does appear to have an edge when the economy is poor. There are tremendous financial benefits to renting as opposed to buying a house of your own. Here is a look at 10 reasons why renters have the better financial deal over homeowners.

In Retirement, Snowbirds Leave Cold Weather Behind

The ideal retirement for many people involves not only saying goodbye to the daily grind and getting the freedom to spend their days as they please, but also the opportunity to live a nomadic lifestyle and to stay where the weather is nice all year long. In the summers, this means a northern or temperate climate. In the winter, it's time to head south or perhaps for the mountains. For an increasing number of people around the world, the dream of being a snowbird that migrates according to the seasons has become a reality. 

More Affordable Than Ever

There are a variety of ways to partake of the "snowbird" lifestyle, and the way you choose to follow the sunshine will determine how much it will cost. Starting at the top end of the expense scale, some snowbirds simply purchase a second home in their desired winter retreat location. This approach creates a substantial and ongoing set of expenses that may, depending on how lavish the property is and where it is located, even surpass the costs associated with a primary residence.

Beware These Disaster-Related Scams

Superstorm Sandy is the most recent large-scale natural disaster to hit the United States. Sandy caused an estimated $25 billion in damages and left 7.5 million customers without power in 15 states along the east coast. A disaster of this magnitude means two things: people need help and con artists will try to take advantage of victims' desperation. 

Here are some of the most common natural disaster scams and how to avoid being a victim.

Identity Theft

The Federal Emergency Management Agency reports that people pretending to be FEMA or other government officials are calling or going door-to-door asking for personal information. FEMA advises citizens not to give out their social security number, banking information or other forms of identification. Crooks use this type of data to perpetrate all manner of identity theft crimes. Legitimate businesses and government agencies will go to great lengths to protect your identity. FEMA and the Small Business Administration (SBA) will not ask for personal information until the victim first contacts them. Do not respond to unsolicited phone calls or visits. Make the contact yourself. 

8 Qualities That Make A Good Insurance Agent

If you have ever contemplated becoming an insurance agent or wondered whether this career path could be right for you, then there are several qualities that you will need to possess, at least to some degree. All good insurance agents share some of the following core qualities in one way or another.

People Skills

1. Puts the needs of the client first - An agent who is only out to earn a commission, regardless of the needs of the client, is not likely to last long in the business. Agents and brokers who listen carefully to what their clients and prospects say will be able to earn their trust, which is the hardest part of their job. Those who are willing to put their clients into a product that pays a lower commission because it better fits their needs are much more likely to be successful.

Automatic Cancellation Of PMI When You're Underwater On Your Mortgage

Do you have an underwater mortgage with Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)? If so, you might think you're stuck with those extra payments until you can get your loan equity back into positive territory. Fortunately, that isn't necessarily the case. In fact, most borrowers are entitled to have PMI automatically canceled once they've had their mortgage for a certain amount of time, and it doesn't matter how muchyour home may have decreased in valueor how far underwater you may be on your loan.

PMI Understood

Private Mortgage Insurance, or PMI, is the insurance you're typically required to buy when you take out a conventional mortgage with less than 20% down. Most homeowners know that you can ask to have it canceled once you reach 20% equity in your home (an 80% loan-to-value ratio for example), either by paying down your loan balance, a rise in your home's value or a combination of both.

Tax Variations Of The HEART Act

In 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax (HEART) Act bill, which gave U.S. service members and their families many forms of financial assistance as a further means of thanking and compensating them for their service in the ongoing war against terrorism. The HEART Act contains several provisions designed to allow service members and reservists to make a smooth financial transition both into active duty and then back into their civilian lives. Military families should take care to familiarize themselves with the provisions of this bill, as it offers a wealth of benefits for those who qualify. 

Investing In Medical Equipment Companies

Medical equipment companies offer investors excellent long-term potential, especially if you can identify the best companies to acquire. There are a number of features that make medical companies especially attractive, whether you are a growth or value investor. Of course, there are also risks.

Features of Medical Equipment Companies

Medical equipment companies possess several features that give them unique advantages over other companies. In many ways, medical equipment companies are similar to the pharmaceutical industry.

Retirement: The One Thing Couples Shouldn't Do Together

Many working couples dream of the day when they can retire and sail off into the sunset together. The investment and insurance industries have done much to convince the public that this ideal is possible only with the help of certain products and services, and the financial media has endorsed that idea. However, working couples should take a moment to consider whether retiring at the same time is a wise course of action. This article will compare the financial ramifications of joint retirement versus one spouse working longer than the other, and why the latter option may be more advantageous in the long run.

Introduction To The Continuing Claims Report

The U.S. Continuing Claims report is released every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. The economic release determines the number of workers that initially filed and continued to receive unemployment insurance. Data is compiled by the Employment and Training Administration(ETA), an agency within the Department of Labor, from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and Washington D.C.

The ETA calculates rates of unemployment for seasonally adjusted workers, non-seasonally adjusted workers, newly discharged veterans, former federal civilian employees and railroad retirement board employees. The ETA further calculates first-time claims and claims that were either extended or received under emergency unemployment compensation, disaster relief and those that fall under previous Trade Readjustment Acts.

Essential Health Benefits Under The Affordable Care Act

ObamaCare (the Affordable Care Act) has dominated headlines since the new Health Insurance Marketplace opened for business on Oct. 1. Amid controversy, misunderstanding and technical glitches, the many positive changes that ObamaCare brings to health care have gotten lost in the shuffle. One such change pertains to the types of services that are covered by health insurance plans: Starting Jan. 1, 2014, all health insurance plans offered to individuals or through the small-group market to employers with 50 or fewer employees are required to provide coverage for an Essential Health Benefits (EHB) package.

Beware The Liability Of Sharing Your Car With Strangers

Car sharing, the newest way to rent a car, is catching on in the U.S., Canada and Europe. But both renters and the car owners they rent from may be taking on risks they don’t fully understand.

At least one fatal accident involving car sharing has already occurred, resulting in litigation over financial responsibility. In February 2012, the 24-year-old driver of a car rented from one of the so-called peer-to-peer rental companies caused an accident in Boston, injuring four other parties. The driver died in the crash.

Don't Fall Victim To These Obamacare Scams

Obamacarehealthcare exchanges are now open to the public. The launch has sparked some criticism, with computer glitches and confusion regarding how to sign up.

Thieves are using this chaos to their advantage, and a trend of new scams have started, including the "imaginary" Obamacare card. The Better Business Bureau released a statement informing the public that they in fact, do not need an insurance card under the Affordable Care Act to buy coverage.

How To Get Around The Health Insurance Marketplace Glitches

The new Health Insurance Marketplaceis off to a shaky start since its Oct. 1 launch, despite its intention to provide a simple, easily accessible comparison of healthcare plans and purchase coverage. At a Oct. 21 White House Rose Garden event, President Obama acknowledged glitches that have plagued the central online Marketplace, stating, “The problem has been that the website that’s supposed to make it easy to apply for and purchase the insurance is not working the way it should for everybody. And there’s no sugarcoating it. The website has been too slow. People have been getting stuck during the application process. And I think it’s fair to say that nobody is more frustrated by that than I am.” 

Cheap Home Insurance Tricks

Do You Need Home Insurance?

Unlike Car Insurance there's no legal requirement to have home insurance, though some mortgage companies will make it a condition of the loan to have buildings cover. This raises the question do you need it at all?

Buildings cover is generally a good idea, as there's always the ‘loss of home' disaster scenario, though contents cover is a bit more wishy-washy. Ask yourself “what would I do if I lost everything?” How much of it would you actually want to replace? Having said that, done correctly contents cover can be very cheap, so the equation is pretty finely balanced. Still it may be worth self-insuring.

Affordable Healthcare for the Uninsured

In this faltering economy, most of us have had to do some scrimping and belt-tightening, but health care is one area where it really doesn't pay to cut back. Unfortunately, for many Americans, life without health insurance isn't just a concern, it's a frightening reality: 42.8 million people under the age of 65 are uninsured, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Even when you don't have coverage, though, it's critical to keep up with checkups, screenings, and prescriptions — not only for your well-being (and your family's) but also for the health of your pocketbook: If you wind up sick or in the hospital because of a condition you ignored, you could find yourself buried in medical bills. (In fact, medical debt is a top cause of bankruptcy in the United States.) Luckily, you can still get the care you need if you're uninsured. Here's how.

4 important questions to ask about life insurance

You’re working hard for your money and you’d like your family to enjoy the fruits of your labor throughout the coming years. Preparing for your family’s future, however, means more than investing appropriately in order to achieve the right combination of growth and stability for your goals and time horizon. For many people, it also involves purchasing the right amount of life insurance during their working years.

Life insurance can help mitigate the financial impact on your loved ones in the event of your death. With a life insurance policy, your family can use the proceeds to help replace lost income, eliminate debt, pay for college, keep a business afloat, or address other financial needs and goals while they adjust to a new life.

How to Find Affordable Life Insurance

Affordable life insurance is readily available everywhere. The question is finding the right policy for you through understanding the insurance that you're getting. Even with its affordability, cheap insurance need not be of substandard quality.

Insurance Company

With the unpredictable economy, it's important to choose an insurance company that has been in service for a long time.  Longevity is essential because it is a factor that tells you if a company has survived previous economic troubles. 

Ask Questions

Don't be afraid to ask agents about the insurance policy terms that you want to purchase. If you can, list all the questions you want to ask so as not to leave out some that are important to you. You can also do your own research on life insurance policies to give you a general idea on what terms you would like the insurance to have.

Affordable Health Insurance For Low Income Families

As health insurance costs continue to skyrocket, more and more low income families are finding it a struggle to find suitable cover at a cost which they can afford. The good news is that, for most families, it is still possible to find a suitable policy to meet the budget, but it does take a little bit of work. The first step is to do some comparison shopping.

The best place to start your comparison shopping is on the Internet which provides you with quick and easy access to a wide range of insurance companies. Here you can select a number of companies and ask them for a low cost health insurance quote online. For this you will need to fill out a simple application form and it's a good idea to jot down some basic information about yourself and your family's medical history before you start so that you don't have to stop and hunt around for it later.

Once you have a number of quotes, select a handful that look as though they might fit the bill and then look carefully at the cover that each company is offering and compare the plans to determine which plan provides you with the cover that you need at a price you can afford.

Republicans Finally Unveil Their Alternative Health Care Reform Plan — But It's Too Little, Too Late

Well it only took about four years – illustrating the GOP’s impeccable penchant for timing (sarcasm added) – but they’ve finally come up with an alternative solution to replace the Affordable Care Act.

Calling it the Republican Study Committee’s American Healthcare Reform Act – also illustrating their impeccable marketing skills (seriously, don’t they have a market research team that could come up with something a little more market centric or PR friendly?) – the House GOP are unveiling it Wednesday on the heels of an effort from a minority of Republicans (12 Senate Republicans and 71 House Republicans, to be exact, or 12% of the Senate and 16% of the House) threatening to “shutdown the government” if they can’t successfully defund Obamacare before the law's Oct. 1 implementation date.

GLOBAL IDEAS NEWS BRIEF: TAXING TELCOS + AFFORDABLE INSURANCE

Financial inclusion

Can affordable insurance underwrite social development for the world's poor?
The Guardian
MicroEnsure serves over four million people around the world with insurance, 80% of whom have never before been insured.

Charging the mobile
The Economist
East African governments are targeting telecoms firms. Are they being unfairly targeted as a proxy for taxing the informal economy?

Latest on Branchless Banking from Indonesia
CGAP blog, by Leesa Shrader
In terms of financial inclusion, Indonesia is renowned for its large scale microfinance sector, led by BRI, a range of commercial banks and over 60,000 MFIs reaching more than 50 million people. Despite this progress, the 2011 Global Financial Inclusion Index still finds only 19.6% of the population have formal accounts.

There are Two Kinds of Auto Insurance Buyers. Which Kind Are You?

One of the dirty little secrets of the auto insurance world is that there are two types of customers; savvy ones who pay rates considerably below the norm, and those who get a quote from just one company and end up paying way more than they need to.

If you’ve been casually following the news about the auto insurance industry over the past few years, you could be forgiven for believing that rates have skyrocketed and continue to climb.  The real story is that, as a result of relentless consumer and regulatory pressure on insurance companies, auto rates in many cases have actually dropped.  Of course, don’t expect your insurance company to let you know you could be getting coverage for less.

Five reasons Americans already love ObamaCare — plus one reason why they’re gonna love it even more, soon

There’s a reason Republicans have been rushing to try and defund the Affordable Care Act before October 1, when major sections of the law take effect.  

Republicans know what polls show — that most Americans don’t know what’s in ObamaCare, but when told what the law actually includes, a strong majority support the law.

Once state health insurance exchanges take effect, and premiums for all Americans go down, Republicans know the law will only become more popular and harder to repeal.  

Health insurance for college students: Take note of these tips

Noel Carrillo was nervous this summer about his lack of health insurance.

"I was a little bit scared because things happen all the time," said the 26-year-old Westwood resident.

But now that he's headed to medical school at UCLA, help has arrived. Like millions of other students across the nation, he's covered by a university health plan.

Insurance coverage for young adults has been in the news as provisions of the Affordable Care Act have begun to take effect, including the option of young adults' remaining on the parents' policies until age 26. In addition, there are federal regulations taking effect next year requiring nearly all Americans to have health insurance.

Biggest Ideas To Finding Affordable Life Insurance Quotes

What is life insurance?

Life insurance is a real tool for protection and also saving money for the future of your family. It is an umbrella that offers protection in case anything unfortunate happens to you. So taking a insurance must be part of your financial plan. This way, you are assured of a great and better future of your family. First, you need to know whether you are getting affordable life insurance quotes before getting into the insurance contract with any company. These quotes come in categories and vary from one company to another. You will need to be careful in this whole process so as to get a reliable and cheap insurance provider.