Bay Area Insurance Agency
Serving San Jose and the San Francisco Bay Area since 1997...
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FAQ's
What you need to know before buying Life Insurance...
-Term vs. Permanent, which is right for me?
The two main types of life insurance policies are term life insurance and permanent life insurance.
What is term life insurance? Term life insurance is the most basic form of life insurance. It provides coverage for a specified period of time (e.g. 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years) in exchange for a specified premium. If the death of the insured individual occurs within this period of time or term period, the insurance company will pay the death benefit. If the term period expires while the insured individual is still living, the policy terminates and no death benefit will be paid.
Permanent life insurance provides coverage for the life of the insured individual(s). These policies are more complex and expensive than term life insurance. They often accumulate tax deferred cash values from which future premiums can be paid or policy loans can be made. These policies typically stay in force as long as the premiums continue to be paid. Some of the main types of permanent life insurance policies are whole life insurance, universal life insurance and variable life insurance.
Which is right for you?
Most term life insurance policies are convertible to permanent life insurance policies. Convertible policies can generally be converted to permanent policies within a specified period of time from policy issue, without providing new evidence of insurability (unless you increase your benefits).
-The new ROP Term, where you get your money back if you don't die !
Return of Premium term life insurance is a product that allows you
to recover up to 100% of all premiums paid on the policy. If the policy
reaches the end of the policy term and there has been no death benefit
claim, the insurance company will return all premiums paid on the policy
to the policy owner. If the policy is cancelled (lapsed or surrendered)
at a point prior to the end of the term, a designated percentage of the
premiums paid will be returned to the policy owner. Only a few insurance companies offer these types of policies.
-How much is enough coverage?
There are a few ways to calculate the amount of insurance needed. This is more or less the financial obligation or responsibility amount needed minus the current financial resources you have. One can use the total of Debt, Income, Mortgage, Education estimate cost or approximate 6 times current income as a quick estimate. There are many calculators that can be searched online for this also.
-How do I know if the insurance company is strong and in good standing?
Insurance companies are usually rated through a few rating agencies such as A.M. Best, Fitch, Moody's, Standard&Poor, etc...
Basically, ratings such as Superior, A++, AAA, or Aaa is the best ratings a company can received respectively from these rating agencies. Anything such as Below Average, B,C, etc... should be avoided.
-Term vs. Permanent, which is right for me?
The two main types of life insurance policies are term life insurance and permanent life insurance. What is term life insurance? Term life insurance is the most basic form of life insurance. It provides coverage for a specified period of time (e.g. 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years) in exchange for a specified premium. If the death of the insured individual occurs within this period of time or term period, the insurance company will pay the death benefit. If the term period expires while the insured individual is still living, the policy terminates and no death benefit will be paid.
Permanent life insurance provides coverage for the life of the insured individual(s). These policies are more complex and expensive than term life insurance. They often accumulate tax deferred cash values from which future premiums can be paid or policy loans can be made. These policies typically stay in force as long as the premiums continue to be paid. Some of the main types of permanent life insurance policies are whole life insurance, universal life insurance and variable life insurance.
Which is right for you?
Most term life insurance policies are convertible to permanent life insurance policies. Convertible policies can generally be converted to permanent policies within a specified period of time from policy issue, without providing new evidence of insurability (unless you increase your benefits).
-The new ROP Term, where you get your money back if you don't die !
Return of Premium term life insurance is a product that allows you
to recover up to 100% of all premiums paid on the policy. If the policy
reaches the end of the policy term and there has been no death benefit
claim, the insurance company will return all premiums paid on the policy
to the policy owner. If the policy is cancelled (lapsed or surrendered)
at a point prior to the end of the term, a designated percentage of the
premiums paid will be returned to the policy owner. Only a few insurance companies offer these types of policies. -How much is enough coverage?
There are a few ways to calculate the amount of insurance needed. This is more or less the financial obligation or responsibility amount needed minus the current financial resources you have. One can use the total of Debt, Income, Mortgage, Education estimate cost or approximate 6 times current income as a quick estimate. There are many calculators that can be searched online for this also.
-How do I know if the insurance company is strong and in good standing?
Insurance companies are usually rated through a few rating agencies such as A.M. Best, Fitch, Moody's, Standard&Poor, etc...Basically, ratings such as Superior, A++, AAA, or Aaa is the best ratings a company can received respectively from these rating agencies. Anything such as Below Average, B,C, etc... should be avoided.