Life Insurance

Life Insurance Comparison - Comparing Life Insurance Policies

With raising a family and running a business getting ever more expensive these days, shopping and comparing prices for thing you are about to purchase becomes more and more important. Life Insurance is no exception, just like when you are doing a comparison between different models of cars if you were shopping for a new vehicle, or comparing lenders and rates when shopping for a mortgage, it is equally important to compare Life Insurance Premiums and Companies.

The best and easiest way to compare life insurance quotes is by using a life insurance broker. A broker has no ties with any particular life insurance company, and is fully independent. They stand to gain the most, if they can find you the best deal, and keep you as a customer for life. If you are lucky enough to find a really good broker, they will have a life insurance quotes website which you can go on and compare a whole lot of insurance companies and life insurance rates. I find that most people really appreciate that, because they can do all the preliminary shopping by themselves, and once you narrowed it down to a few policies and companies, then the broker can give you some help in deciding which life insurance policy and insurer is best for your situation.

Comparing Life Insurance - what to consider
There are several things you want to pay attention to when comparing life insurance quotes. First of all, what kind of policy do you think you need? Is it a 10 year term or a 20 year term policy? Now some companies even have 30 year term life insurance policies. The rule of thumb here is, the shorter the term the cheaper the life insurance - at least in the short term. In the long term, the longer term policies are more cost effective, because the shorter terms do renew and the price goes up every time the do, where the longer term ones stay the same price for the whole term.

For example, if a 30 year old male takes out a 10 year term policy for 500,000, his premium will be in the neighborhood of $27 per month. To compare to a 20 year term, the premium is $40.50 and the 30 year term premium will be $62.10. So why would anyone take out a 30 year term you ask? Well, you have to remember that the 10 year term, although less expensive at first, will increase after 10 years, and then increase again after 10 years, so in the 30 year span the person that renews the 10 year policy will pay much more than the person that took the 30 year term.

So the bottom line is, when you are deciding on the term, you have to consider more than just the initial price, you should consider also the long term picture, ask yourself, how long do I think I will need this for, how old are my kids, how many years do I have left on my mortgage and so on.

Another thing to keep in mind when comparing life insurance rates is, which insurance company do I want to be insured with. I know that is not easy for you to answer, since you may only have heard of 2-3 companies out of the 30 insurers that are available. This is again where your life insurance broker can help you, as he should have a lot of experience in dealing with most of the insurance companies on that list.

Should price be main consideration for most People when choosing life insurance?
Its important, but its not the only factor. for once have advised my clients sometime, not to go with the cheapest company.

To give you an example, in the last 6 months AXA Life Insurance has drastically reduced their rates, to be more competitive. I have recommended AXA to several clients because of the cheap premium, but then found out that unfortunately the underwriting experience with AXA was terrible. Many of those clients had to wait 2-3 times as long to get a policy, and I have not found it to be worth the savings of a few dollars.

At the same time, BMO Life Insurance has just slightly more expensive rates, yet, they are well organized, customer friendly and fast. It is really a pleasure to work with them, both for myself and my clients. I always say, if an insurance company is difficult to deal with at the time of application, imagine what they will be like at the time of a claim.

Finally, I wanted to mention that although most of the time people are comparing term life insurance rates, you can also compare Whole Life Insurance, Universal Life Insurance and Term to 100 or as it is called T100. The rates for those products also differ from company to company, and it is important to get the right one, however it is a little more complicated, since there are other factors such as cash values, interest rates, investments, and so on.

If you get just one thing out of this article, ir should be to take matters in your own hands, and don't be sold a policy, rather do your research and buy a policy according to your needs.