Should Seniors Opt for Term or Permanent Life Insurance?

Article by Denise Mancini
Life insurance policy needs are usually different at different stages of an individual’s life. When you’re just starting out as a young, single adult, you may see little use in getting your life insured.As you grow older, so do your responsibilities. You may have dependents who rely on your income to subsist and you need to ensure their financial security in case you’re no longer around to care for them.Then you reach a stage of greater financial stability where your kids have been through college, the house has been paid for, other consumer debts taken care of, and you probably have money put away for retirement.At this time in your life, your need for life insurance could be significantly different and you could do well to revisit your policy. The question you, as a senior, must ask yourself is whether it’s term life or whole life insurance that you need now.Term life insurance, as the name suggests, provides coverage only for a specific period of time. Term life insurance is usually recommended for young families that are starting out and have dependents, mortgages, and other financial commitments, but limited resources.As it’s relatively inexpensive, it allows younger people to buy considerable insurance on their life at very low premiums. The purpose of term life insurance is pure coverage in the event of the insured’s premature death and it has no “investment component”. The only way term life insurance can be cashed out is if the policy holder dies.The biggest benefit of term life insurance is its affordability. However, the premium rates keep rising as you age. Therefore, if seniors were to purchase term life, they will lose out on its cost benefit as the rates offered to them would be considerably higher especially if they are not in the best of health.They would also need significant amount of savings to live a comfortable life post retirement and meet any unexpected medical expenses associated with old age. That’s why whole life insurance policy is recommended for older people.Whole life or permanent life insurance, unlike term life, offers coverage for your entire life as long as the premiums are current. In addition to providing coverage, whole life policy also builds cash value.Because it provides continual protection and has a savings feature, whole life insurance policy is more expensive than term life. Even so, whole life insurance is believed to be a better bet for the retired or nearing retirement folk for several reasons.
Term life insurance provides coverage until the age of 75, where permanent life insurance remains in force for your whole life.You need to have reached a certain financial ability to afford whole life insurance. Older people generally have lesser financial obligations and can afford higher premiums more easily than those who are starting out.You can cash the policy out for the accrued value in case of an unplanned medical emergency or even use it as collateral for loan. In short, whole life insurance acts like an asset that can be used at the time of need.Unlike renewable term life insurance premiums that generally increase with age, the premiums on most whole life insurance policies remain the same over the years.The insured can have the peace of mind that whenever their time comes, which is more of a concern as you get older, there will be guaranteed coverage for their partner.Most whole life insurance policies offer dividends that can be added to the cash value or death benefits.Proceeds from whole life insurance can be used to pay for the funeral and other final expenses when the insured passes on.Seniors can also buy a whole life insurance policy as an estate or legacy for their grandchildren.A smaller whole life insurance policy would generally not require you to go through a health examination, which works well in case of declining health.However, whole life insurance is a long term commitment that one should consider purchasing only if they are confident of keeping up with the payments. Letting your whole life insurance policy lapse because you’re unable to pay the required premiums can spell disaster for your financial plans and should be avoided at this crucial juncture of your life!About AccuQuote:AccuQuote is a leader in providing term life insurance quotes to people across the United States. In 1986 it began operating with a single goal: to make the process of buying term life insurance as easy as possible for its customers. Their experienced professionals consistently deliver the most affordable term insurance rates by comparing thousands of life insurance policies from dozens of top-rated carriers.
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
The New York Times bestselling Freakonomics was a worldwide sensation. Now, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with SuperFreakonomics, and fans and newcomers alike will find that the "freakquel" is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first.
SuperFreakonomics challenges the way we think all over again, exploring the hidden side of everything with such questions as: How is a street prostitute like a department store Santa? Who adds more value: a pimp or a Realtor? What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common? Did TV cause a rise in crime? Can eating kangaroo meat save the planet?
Whether investigating a solution to global warming or explaining why the price of oral sex has fallen so drastically, Levitt and Dubner show the world for what it really is—good, bad, ugly, and, in the final analysis, superfreaky.
Book DescriptionThe New York Times best-selling Freakonomics was a worldwide sensation, selling over four million copies in thirty-five languages and changing the way we look at the world. Now, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with SuperFreakonomics, and fans and newcomers alike will find that the freakquel is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first.
Four years in the making, SuperFreakonomics asks not only the tough questions, but the unexpected ones: What's more dangerous, driving drunk or walking drunk? Why is chemotherapy prescribed so often if it's so ineffective? Can a sex change boost your salary?
SuperFreakonomics challenges the way we think all over again, exploring the hidden side of everything with such questions as:
- How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa?
- Why are doctors so bad at washing their hands?
- How much good do car seats do?
- What's the best way to catch a terrorist?
- Did TV cause a rise in crime?
- What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common?
- Are people hard-wired for altruism or selfishness?
- Can eating kangaroo save the planet?
- Which adds more value: a pimp or a Realtor?
Levitt and Dubner mix smart thinking and great storytelling like no one else, whether investigating a solution to global warming or explaining why the price of oral sex has fallen so drastically. By examining how people respond to incentives, they show the world for what it really is good, bad, ugly, and, in the final analysis, super freaky.
Freakonomics has been imitated many times over but only now, with SuperFreakonomics, has it met its match.
From Superfreakonomics: Where do you stand on the freak-o-meter?
Four years ago, you were cool. You read Freakonomics when it first came out. You impressed family and friends and dazzled dates with the insights you gleaned. Now Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with Superfreakonomics, a freakquel even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first.
According to Superfreakonomics, what has been most helpful in improving the lives of women in rural India?
A. The government ban on dowries and sex-selective abortions
B. The spread of cable and satellite television
C. Projects that pay women to not abort female babies
D. Condoms made specially for the Indian market Question 2: 3 points
Among Chicago street prostitutes, which night of the week is the most profitable?
A. Saturday
B. Monday
C. Wednesday
D. Friday Question 3: 5 points
You land in an emergency room with a serious condition and your fate lies in the hands of the doctor you draw. Which characteristic doesn’t seem to matter in terms of doctor skill?
A. Attended a top-ranked medical school and served a residency at a prestigious hospital
B. Is female
C. Gets high ratings from peers
D. Spends more money on treatment Question 4: 3 points
Which cancer is chemotherapy more likely to be effective for?
A. Lung cancer
B. Melanoma
C. Leukemia
D. Pancreatic cancer Question 5: 5 points
Half of the decline in deaths from heart disease is mainly attributable to:
A. Inexpensive drugs
B. Angioplasty
C. Grafts
D. Stents Question 6: 3 points
True or False: Child car seats do a better job of protecting children over the age of 2 from auto fatalities than regular seat belts. Question 7: 5 points
What’s the best thing a person can do personally to cut greenhouse gas emissions?
A. Drive a hybrid car
B. Eat one less hamburger a week
C. Buy all your food from local sources Question 8: 3 points
Which is most effective at stopping the greenhouse effect?
A. Public-awareness campaigns to discourage consumption
B. Cap-and-trade agreements on carbon emissions
C. Volcanic explosions
D. Planting lots of trees Question 9: 5 points
In the 19th century, one of the gravest threats of childbearing was puerperal fever, which was often fatal to mother and child. Its cause was finally determined to be:
A. Tight bindings of petticoats early in the pregnancy
B. Foul air in the delivery wards
C. Doctors not taking sanitary precautions
D. The mother rising too soon in the delivery room Question 10: 3 points
Which of the following were not aftereffects of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks on September 11, 2001:
A. The decrease in airline traffic slowed the spread of influenza.
B. Thanks to extra police in Washington, D.C., crime fell in that city.
C. The psychological effects of the attacks caused people to cut back on their consumption of alcohol, which led to a decrease in traffic accidents.
D. The increase in border security was a boon to some California farmers, who, as Mexican and Canadian imports declined, sold so much marijuana that it became one of the states most valuable crops. Answers and Scoring
Question 1
B, Cable and satellite TV. Women with television were less willing to tolerate wife beating, less likely to admit to having a “son preference,” and more likely to exercise personal autonomy. Plus, the men were perhaps too busy watching cricket. Question 2
A, Saturday nights are the most profitable. While Friday nights are the busiest, the single greatest determinant of a prostitute’s price is the specific trick she is hired to perform. And for whatever reason, Saturday customers purchase more expensive services. Question 3
C, One factor that doesn’t seem to matter is whether a doctor is highly rated by his or her colleagues. Those named as best by their colleagues turned out to be no better than average at lowering death rates--although they did spend less money on treatments. Question 4
C, Leukemia. Chemotherapy has proven effective on some cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, and testicular cancer, especially if these cancers are detected early. But in most cases, chemotherapy is remarkably ineffective, often showing zero discernible effect. That said, cancer drugs make up the second-largest category of pharmaceutical sales, with chemotherapy comprising the bulk. Question 5
A, Inexpensive drugs. Expensive medical procedures, while technologically dazzling, are responsible for a remarkably small share of the improvement in heart disease. Roughly half of the decline has come from reductions in risk factors like high cholesterol and high blood pressure, both of which are treated with relatively inexpensive drugs. And much of the remaining decline is thanks to ridiculously inexpensive treatments like aspirin, heparin, ACE inhibitors, and beta-blockers. Question 6
False. Based on extensive data analysis as well as crash tests paid for by the authors, old-fashioned seat belts do just as well as car seats. Question 7
B, Shifting less than one day per week’s worth of calories from red meat and dairy products to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet achieves more greenhouse-gas reduction than buying all locally sourced food, according to a recent study by Christopher Weber and H. Scott Matthews, two Carnegie Mellon researchers. Every time a Prius or other hybrid owner drives to the grocery store, she may be cancelling out its emissions-reducing benefit, at least if she shops in the meat section. Emission from cows, as well as sheep and other ruminants, are 25 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than the carbon dioxide released by cars and humans. Question 8
C, the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines discharged more than 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, which acted like a layer of sunscreen, reducing the amount of solar radiation and cooling off the earth by an average of one degree F. Question 9
C, doctors not taking sanitary precautions. This was the dawning age of the autopsy, and doctors did not yet know the importance of washing their hands after leaving the autopsy room and entering the delivery room. Question 10
C, the psychological effect of the attacks caused people to increase their alcohol consumption, and traffic accidents increased as a result. Scoring
32-40: Certified SuperFreak
25-31: Freak--surprises lay in wait for you
16-24: Wannabe freak--you’ve got some reading to do
1-15: Conventional wisdomer--you’re still thinking in old ways
List Price: $ 15.99 Price: $ 6.21
Why Should You Compare Home Insurance Quotes?
Article by Samuel Arthur
If you are looking for home insurance quotes you might be tired by the whole prospect before you even begin. It can seem like an arduous process to contact lots of different companies, explain your situation and receive quotes from them all.
It is far easier to take your search online for starters. There are websites that are designed to take all the hard work out of the process for you. You can compare home insurance quotes quite easily without having to pick up the phone or go through lots of time consuming questions all the time. It will still take a short while to get all the comprehensive quotations you need, but you may be surprised at just how effective an online search can be.
Searching online will also make you more aware of how many options there are. You may discover companies that are offering home insurance quotes that you may not have found otherwise. This could be ideal for you as you will have more quotes to compare and you will stand a chance of finding the best possible quote for your insurance requirements.
The most important thing to remember is not to rush through the process. Don’t automatically choose the cheapest quote because it may not be the most cost effective one of the lot. You need to consider the different aspects of each quote. Ask yourself what the quote covers – are the excesses the same on every one or will there be differences? It could be that when you compare home insurance quotes you will find that a slightly more expensive one gives you a lot more cover than the cheaper ones do. Make sure you save all your quotations so you can look back over them and see which ones are best, rather than making a snap decision.
As you can see, when the word ‘compare’ comes into play it doesn’t just refer to the price. It also refers to the content of the quotation. Once you know whether the quotes are on a level playing field you can figure out which one will be the best one for your needs. Don’t be attracted by bonuses or freebies given away at the start of your cover either. The thing that matters the most is the cover you will receive, so this should always be at the forefront of your mind. If the best cover gives you some kind of bonus as well, so much the better.
Home insurance is immensely important and it covers a lot of different things. So the process of choosing it should be given ample time as well. Home insurance quotes from all kinds of different companies will bring you the peace of mind you need when you eventually find the right quotation. Once you have bought your policy you can rest easy and know you’re covered.

