News & Insights
Life Insurance
Answers on life insurance: how much coverage a household needs, what term and permanent policies cost, and how underwriting decides the rate you are offered.
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What a fact-finder actually asks, and why it matters
Minnesota law lists fifteen things a producer must know before recommending an annuity. A fact-finder is where those answers get written down, and the gaps only become visible once they are.
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Your beneficiary form outranks your will
The Supreme Court has twice held that a named ex-spouse keeps the money. “Congress has spoken with force and clarity in directing that the proceeds belong to the named beneficiary and no other.”
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Life insurance for a stay-at-home parent
Insure.com priced the work a stay-at-home parent does at $145,235 a year against Bureau of Labor Statistics wages. Four line items alone came to $63,449.
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How long does a life insurance claim take to pay out?
Most straightforward claims settle in weeks, not months. What slows a claim down is almost always paperwork, and most of it can be prepared before it is needed.
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How much does life insurance cost, and what actually moves the price
LIMRA found adults under 30 overestimate the price of a $250,000 term policy by ten to twelve times. The real figures, and the four variables that do most of the work.
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What does life insurance not cover?
New York requires that a policy “shall be incontestable after being in force during the life of the insured for a period of two years from its date of issue.” Almost everything a family worries about sits inside that clause.
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What final expense insurance actually covers
Social Security pays a one-time death benefit of $255. The median funeral with viewing and burial ran close to $10,000 in the last national price study. Final expense insurance covers the gap.
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Can you borrow against life insurance? How cash value actually works
A policy loan is not taxable while the policy stays in force. The Tax Court has held that a lapse with a loan outstanding produces income even when no money changes hands.
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What indexed universal life actually is, and what the regulators changed
An IUL credits interest based on an index without being invested in it. Actuarial Guideline 49-A capped how optimistically the illustration may be run, and it took effect in 2021.
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Can you get life insurance with high blood pressure or diabetes?
Yes, and usually at better terms than people expect. What underwriters actually read is control over time, and the thresholds are published.
Talk it through with an agent.
If something here raised a question about your own coverage, an agent will answer it without turning it into an appointment.