Insurance World

Usually, the death benefit from a second-to-die life insurance policy is intended to go to the children , a charity or pay taxes owed after both spouses pass away.

In the U.S. there is a marital deduction permitting you to leave an unlimited amount of assets to your surviving spouse with no taxes payable at your death. Those assets then become part of the estate of the spouse and if it includes a second to die life insurance polciy it could help pay any taxes. In Canada, there is more lenient tax treatment.

There are also tax ramifications for small businesses, which is why business partners also purchase second-to-die policies.

THE REASON TO BUY SECOND TO DIE LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES

With a second-to-die life insurance policy your beneficiaries can pay debts with the proceeds of your policy, so they won’t be forced to sell your house or liquidate assets to pay the bill.

A second-to-die life insurance policy can help to construct a financial plan reducing the tax burden of wealthy individuals by creating trusts and using second-to-die life insurance as part of the estate-planning process.

ADVANTAGES TO SECOND TO DIE LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES

1. Less expensive. Second-to-die life insurance is usually less expensive than life insurance but depends on the blend of the ages. The premium is based upon the joint life expectancy.

2. Estate Preservation. A second-to-die policy appeals to individuals who feel strongly about preserving their estates with the life insurance paying the taxes.

3. Easier to buy. It’s easier to qualify for a second-to-die policy than for individual life insurance. Since both insureds must die before the benefit is payable, the insurance company is less concerned that one of them might not be in good health.

* Builds your estate. In some cases, second-to-die life insurance is marketed as a way to build an estate, not just insulate it from taxes. Much like individual life insurance, the death benefit of a second-to-die policy can ensure that certain people receive money, even if you spend every nickel.

4. Second-to-die life insurance might make sense for people who don’t have a lot of money but want to leave an estate for their children.

Finding affordable health insurance was not an easy task by any means. Don’t get me wrong: there are a lot of companies that offer low-cost policies. So if you just need some kind of coverage, I’m sure you’ll be able to find it. What I wanted, though, was more than just a piece of paper saying that I was covered in the event of a catastrophic illness. I wanted affordable health insurance that provided coverage for everything from routine checkups to prescription medication to major surgery. This was much more difficult to come by.

Like tens of thousands of other people before me, I recently gathered up enough courage to permanently leave my day job in order to join the ranks of the self-employed. This was a major step for me because I’m the kind of person that values comfort and security. I liked knowing that I would get a paycheck every two weeks whether business for my employer had been bad or good during that period. I also liked the benefits that I got from working for someone else — not the least of which was great medical coverage. So prior to quitting my previous job, I had to try to find some affordable health insurance.

My search for affordable health insurance taught me many things. First of all, I learned to look past the initial quote. Now that I’m self-employed, it’s very tempting to base all of my decisions on money alone. But that’s definitely not the way to go when it comes to medical coverage, so instead of accepting or dismissing a particular policy based on the quote alone, I forced myself to compare policies according to what I would actually get out of them. Second, my search for affordable health insurance taught me that many times, companies that offer low monthly premiums require you to pay huge deductibles in the event of a hospital visit. Sure, I guess I could play the odds and hope that I nothing happened to me, but that would just give me something extra to worry about. Third, searching for affordable health insurance means reading the policy’s fine print. I wanted to know exactly what my policy covered and what it didn’t so that I wouldn’t get hit with hidden charges later on. Reading the fine print saved me from making a couple of mistakes on policies that initially looked good, but turned out to be bad deals.

The quest for affordable health insurance is the Holy Grail for self-employed people everywhere. You owe it to yourself and to your family to carry medical coverage at all times, so don’t give up on your search. Affordable health insurance is not a myth; it can be yours if you’re willing to put in the necessary time to find the best policy for your needs.