Insurance World

‘Travel Insurance’ is an insurance policy that covers different problems that can occasionally be associated with traveling. This insurance covers cancellation of trip due to illness, personal accident, medical expenses and all other expenses that may arise as a result of loss, damage, injury or difficulty occurring between the dates specified in the policy at the point of purchase.

Yes, we are talking about a contract here that will be engaged between you the happy traveler, and the insurance company of which you must pay a certain amount of money or “premium” to claim certain benefits you’ll require that may or may not be associated with traveling. It is very important to choose the correct type of policy before traveling with family for vacation or for a business trip. Ensure the policy you decide to go with provides adequate coverage in case of delays , cancellations of transportation and lost baggage.

Types of Coverage available in Travel Insurance

You can determine which insurance is best for you and your situation by learning about the different kinds of coverage offered by the insurance companies your familiar with. By simply phoning to get more information you’ll ‘learn the lingo’ and discover the options available for your particular type of trip and destination.

***Please Note: ensure you get more than one opinion if this will be your first time travelling or going to a certain country. I’ve found many times in travelling myself that each agent knows different information depending on their experiences and length in the industry, plus depending on your length of travel and location you may want to find someone that’s travelled there recently. Quite often each country will have it’s own set of regulations and you’ll shortcut your research simply by talking to someone that has done the trip before you. P.S. - if you go this route the person you talk to will also know many of the best places to visit and the ones to avoid like the plague to best maximize your time.

Among all the coverage the most important to arrange for is medical expenses. Coverage can also be found for mishaps in different sports and adventures like skiing, diving or hiking. Different insurance companies offer different amounts of coverage and some specialize in certain areas so due diligence may pay off for you depending on your trip.

Some common types of coverage with typical travel insurance policies are stated below:

Cancellation of Trips: The most common coverage offered by an insurance company and covers non-refundable payments from airlines and other types of transportation routes. Cancellation insurance will cover you if the trip is cancelled or interrupted due to bad weather, illness or any unforeseen circumstance.

Delay of Trips: Expenses that arise in case of the delay of trips can also be covered in your policy.

Personal Liability: Covers a legal liability claims made by others against you for whatever reason.

Medical Expenses: The insurance policy covers reasonable medical costs for treatment in hospitals, road ambulance and other treatment done by any registered paramedic, doctor, hospital in case of any injury or illness during the journey. In some countries the small cost of your policy will pale in comparison to spending one night in a hospital if needed.

The benefits of travel insurance are as long as the days on the beaches of Maui, for most it’s the peace of mind that if something does happen they won’t have a shocking and expensive bill to handle down the road.

I hope this has been of assistance in one way or another to you. Do Enjoy Your Trip !!

Do you love someone enough to spend your hard earned dollars on a life insurance premium — month after month?

Because the real benefit of a life insurance policy isn’t for you. It’s for those you love… but after you’ve gone.

Life insurance is money paid to those who rely on you right now to provide a secure standard of living. They can lose this in a heartbeat.

Life insurance is money when needed the most… with no income tax or publicity.

Buying a life insurance policy is challenging because it isn’t an easy subject matter to begin with.

Most people get confused about how it works and whom they can trust enough to make the purchase.

And there’s a large number of companies and sales agents all clamoring for your attention.

This article will help to clarify a huge misconception about term life insurance. Also, I’ll introduce you to what many knowledgable professionals consider to be the best kept secret in a life insurance policy.

Buy term and invest the difference is a phrase touted by those … including many life insurance agents … who have absolutely no idea how much harm it’s implementation can cause.

The principle theory is you no longer need life insurance when you reach a certain age such as 55, 60 or 65.

Supposedly your kids have finished school and are doing just fine earning their own income. And you and your spouse are living comfortably on retirement savings and social security.

On the surface and to the naive, this might appear reasonable.

Now, it’s easy to pick apart this hypothesis, but let’s focus instead on the real problem with this scenario.

We are living longer than ever before. We may not be enjoying it very much due to poor health but, nevertheless, we’re hanging on.

Life insurance companies know this better than anyone. In fact, most of them now use age 115 has a factor when calculating life insurance policy premiums.

You hear about retirees who are forced to find work at McDonald’s or Wal-Mart. Have you ever joined a seniors chat room on the Internet and witnessed the concerns most of them have about running out of money before they die?

Many of these seniors are frightened to death. And what about the millions of babyboomers right behind them.

An intelligently purchased life insurance policy can be the saving grace for those you love the most.

Now, let me set the record straight. I have nothing against term life insurance. For over 24 years I’ve personally sold millions of dollars worth.

What bothers me … and what I believe to be criminal … is when term life insurance is sold under false pretenses.

Let’s use a simple example.

A 35 year old nonsmoking male in excellent health can buy a $500,000 term life insurance policy for about $700 per year.

The premium is guaranteed to be $700 for 30 years. Some companies will be a little cheaper and some a little more expensive.

The buy term and invest the difference advocate would compare this to a $500,000 whole life insurance policy at $3,650 per year. Once again, some companies will be higher and some lower.

Theoretically, you have $2,950 to invest each year for 30 years. I say theoretically because in the real world you would never consistently invest $2,950 each year.

Not the same way you would commit to a life insurance policy premium.

How do I know this? Call it human nature based on lots of experience.

But, let’s give you the benefit of the doubt and say you actually do invest according to this hypothetical plan. What rate of return are you going to make over 30 years? 5% … 8% … 10 percent?

By the way, this question opens up another can of worms. The psychology of investing. But, we’ll save that controversy for another time.

For arguments sake let’s assume you get an 8% compounded rate of return each year for 30 years. This comes to $360,920.41.

Okay… so now you’re 65 years old and you have $360,920.41. But guess what?

When you reach 66 your $500,000 term life insurance policy will lapse without value because the annual premium becomes $21,180.

Yep, you read that right! It jumps from $700 to over 21 thousand dollars.

At age 70, it’s $31,430. At age 75, it’s $52,970.

There’s no way on earth you’ll pay this premium. Problem is… you aren’t dead yet!

You have paid $21,000 over a 30 year timeframe to have a $500,000 life insurance policy during a period of time when the odds are you would never die anyway.

Under normal circumstances you will die somewhere around age 80 — give or take. Your loved one’s investment account still won’t be worth $500,000.

What’s more, she will have to pay income tax on the investment gains. Remember, life insurance proceeds are income tax free.

Permit me to repeat myself. I am not against term life insurance … as long it’s purchased with an eye towards the reality of future expectations.

If your term life insurance policy is issued by a highly rated company with a broad selection of products, you will have ample opportunity to convert the term into something more permanent over the course of the 30 years in our example.

Keep in mind your age determines the length of time the term policy will have a guaranteed level premium.

You may not be able to get more than a 10 year guarantee if you are over 50 years of age.

So, exactly what is the best kept secret in a life insurance policy?

It is a universal life insurance policy that guarantees the death benefit regardless of investment performance.

Universal life is the most flexible type of policy on the market. The premium is higher than term, but lower than whole life. There are several on the market, so you must be careful.

If you decide to buy term because of budget constraints, then be certain to buy from a company that also offers universal life.

This gives you the chance to slowly convert the term into universal with the same company over the length of the term guarantee.

As your budget permits convert term into universal.

One word of caution. Long term interest rates are critical to the performance of universal life insurance.

Because they’ve been depressed for several years and will likely continue so, you must get the universal life with an unconditional death benefit guarantee.

Here’s an example using our 30 year old male. The $500,000 universal life insurance policy premium is $2,871 per year. This compares with the already discussed $700 term and $3,650 whole life premiums.

Let’s say you really do decide life insurance isn’t important when you reach 65. By that time, you would have paid $86,130 in total premiums.

Down a rat hole like the term plan? Nope!

The cash surrender value would be at least $85,501. It might well be over $100,000 based on the actual competitive interest rates credited to the policy over the 30 years.

When you buy the right type of universal life you guarantee the death benefit for as long as necessary… plus you have the ability to recover your expense if you wish to cash it in.

You can benefit from the best of both worlds when you use the best kept secret in a life insurance policy.