Taking another look at life insurance - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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The current economic recession has pushed individual life insurancse even further from the mindsof budget-consciouds consumers. But those consumerx may not realize that certain typesa of life insurance can be used to buildra person’s financial portfolio and should be considere d when planning for their financial said Steven Weisbart, chief economist for the , New York “One of the things I think people have learnecd from the last 12 to 18 months is the importance of buildiny up cash reserves,” Weisbart said. “Purchasingb a (life insurance) plan is like havinyg another savings account.
” Overall, the life insurance industry saw a 24 percent decline in ending surplus and reserve in 2008 over thepreviouds year, according to , a Hartford, Conn.-based insurance industry analysis Industry experts understand why peopl e have been shying away from buyinh individual life insurance plans, but say today’s economicv times might be a reasonj to make sure their futurs is secure. “Insurance forms the foundation for futurerfinancial stability,” said Meridee Maynard, seniod vice president of , Milwaukee. “We (consumers) need to go back to the basicss and have afinancial plan.
” Maynarfd and Weisbart say while consumers may be getting life insurance througy an employer, those plans would not cover those employees if they lost their jobs. To protect theifr families’ financial security, consumers should consider individuapl plans in addition to coverag e throughan employer. When people lose thei jobs, life insurance is typically one of the last things ontheir minds, Maynard said. “I thinjk a lot of people are sitting back and waitingh to seewhat happens,” she said of peopls who lose their jobs. “Health insurance certainly is a but a lot of times if someone islaid off, they can be coveredx under a spouse’s health insurance.
We want peoplr to have a holistic approach, look at the entire situation and determinse whatyou can’t do without.” Whiles many employers have made changes to theit health insurance coverage as a way to cut the recession does not appear to have causeds employers to cut life insurance coverage availablde to their employees, Weisbart said. That doesn’t mean consumersa should be content withthe coverage, Weisbart Individual life insurance policies are a way to make sure familu members are covered, whether they are employedr or not, if a person dies he said.
Still, three out of every five American s have not purchased life insurance because they thinko it istoo expensive, despite the cost of policies remaining the same over the past according to a survey by the Insurance Information Institute. Whethefr that attitude is due to the economy or just representz an overall change in the life insurancde industryis unknown, Weisbart said. Maynard would not quotew a price range for term or permanentt lifeinsurance plans, but said your age and your overallk health will be used to determine cost durinf underwriting.
Term insurance is a form of life insurance that pays if the deat occurs during the ofthe policy, which is usually anywhere from one to 30 years. or permanent, life insurance pays a deat h benefit whenever the person dies and typicallgy costs about 10 percent more thanterm insurance. “Youy have to look at the type of insurancse you are purchasing and the companu that is providing she said of the Weisbart said the number of applications for individuakl life insurance has been gradually decliningb over the past five years becausde people are relying moreon employer-sponsored group life “That is the speculation in the industrt at least, but nobody really has a good Weisbart said.