Life Insurance
Life insurance is a contract between the policy holder and the insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money (the “benefits”) upon the death of the insured person. In return, the policy holder agrees to pay a stipulated amount (the “premium”) at regular intervals or in lump sums. This is the basic definition.
Life insurance is simply a way to create an estate or leverage an estate for “death tax” purposes.
A good site that has calculators to determine life insurance and other needs is Life Foundation. Feel free to go to their site to run calculations to determine your needs. Once your need is determined, you can begin to research companies and products that suite your needs. Every insurance company has a different underwriting parameters. Do not assume the premium rates given by your agent will be the actual rate you receive! Factors such as health and lifestyle play a critical role in the pricing. A good agent will get to know you in advance of submitting an application to a company. This way the agent can research which company is offering the best underwriting, and therefore pricing, for you.

