Keep your Insurance Policies organized in case of an emergency

Be sure to organize your insurance information yearly. Organizing it yearly will keep you fresh on coverages and most important it reminds you what you have and where you have it. The last thing you want to do after a car accident, a health issue or a death in the family is to search for any information regarding insurance coverage.

Ideas for keeping Insurance information organized.
Write down or type out the contact information for each type of insurance you own. So for your Auto Insurance write down the contact person's name and phone number. Do the same for your Health Insurance, Life Insurance and any other Insurance policies you own. Give a copy of the contact information to several friends or family members in case of an emergency. Build a folder for each type of Insurance you own and save policy information in the folder. Consider keeping the folders in a fireproof safe or in a safe deposit box at your local bank.

Consider consolidating all your insurance needs with one insurance company. One point of contact can make getting the information you need significanly less stressful. In addition to having one point of contact most Insurance companies provide rate discounts for those that carry multiple lines of insurance with the company.

Return of Premium Term Life Insurance

Likely if you are shopping for a term life insurance policy you have seen ROP or Return of Premium. A return of premium policy is a term life insurance policy usually 20 or 30 years in length that once completed will return your cumulative premiums. If your premium is $225 per year your cumulative payments for a 30 year term policy is $6750. You will receive a check for the full amount paid of $6750 once the policy is up.

Unlike a whole or universal life insurance policy a return of premium's cash value does not increase or fluctuate, it acts a simple return on money.

What's the catch? How can life insurance companies offer return of premium policies? The return of premium policies often have higher premiums than standard term life insurance policies. A return of premium policy is a good option for young healthy individuals who will outlive a 20 or 30 year policy.

As with some term life insurance policies a return of premium policy has the option to be converted into a permanent life insurance policy such as a whole or universal insurance policy. Restrictions may apply depending on age of the insured and the type of policy but it does seem to be a good option for young individuals looking to get back what they put into their life insurance policy.

Whole Life Insurance is Still a Preferred Choice

or a long time in America, whole life insurance was what most people bought. Lately, insurance companies have been offering other insurance at lower rates, but in most cases, whole life insurance is still the most beneficial of all plans.
Good For Life Policy
While term life insurance is for a specified period, whole life insurance is designed for life time coverage. This makes it ideal for someone with a steady income who wants to plan for the future.
Whole Life Insurance Premiums and Death Benefits
Whole life insurance rates have the steady quality that drives long-term policy holders to this option. While term life insurance premiums generally go up each time the holder renews the policy, whole life insurance rates usually stay the same until time of death or cancellation of the policy. Some policies do have increasing rates, but the increases are defined in the contract when the policy is purchased. So there?s no reevaluation and no surprises.The benefits paid at the time of death stay the same with whole life insurance, so the holders can rest assured that their families are taken care of.

Cash Value Turns Whole Life Insurance Into an Investment
A term policy begins and ends (with the policy holder loosing all the money he or she paid into it). A whole life insurance policy builds cash value. How? A portion of the premium is put towards investment in the company, so the policy holder also becomes a share holder. Over time, this builds into an amount of money that can be used. That amount is called the ?cash value?. The policy holder can cancel the whole life insurance policy and take the cash or re-invest it in a new policy to better suit his or her needs. Or the holder can take the cash value, and stop payments, but still retain a portion of the death benefits (this is called ?Paid Up Insurance?).
Loan Values
As the cash value of a whole life insurance policy grows, policy holders can borrow money using the cash value as collateral. This allows whole life insurance policy holders to keep the insurance policy, but still use the money. If the debt is unpaid when the policy holder passes away, the benefits paid might be smaller.

Flexible Payment Methods for Whole Life Insurance

• Single Premium: This whole life insurance quote is usually the most beneficial. It involves one single payment, and produces an instant cash value. The death benefits are defined and never change. It’s ideal for anyone who has a portion of money they want to put away for their family.
• Limited Payments: This is when the premiums are only paid for a specified number of years. The amount for the premiums is specified in the whole life insurance quote and never changes. The cash value of the whole life insurance policy rises steadily.
• Modified Premiums: The premium amounts increase over time, and then level after a specified number of years. All of the specifics are clearly defined in the whole life insurance quotes. The benefits amount stays the same, so it allows someone to purchase a larger policy than they can afford at that time.
• Continuous Premiums: Continuous premiums never change and are due for the life of the policy holder. The cash value rises steadily. This is the most popular whole life insurance policy.

Other Whole Life Insurance Options

Whole life insurance companies often offer other options like ‘term riders’, where holders can add temporary policies for short terms. Whole life insurance policies also sometimes offer child and spousal riders, so holders can add someone to the same policy.

Choosing the right insurance policy isn’t always the simplest decision. Ask for the advice of an insurance agent who has the benefit of experience and can help you find decide if whole life insurance is right for you.

How much Life Insurance do I need?

Life Insurance Policies amounts are different for everyone. There are essentially two factors that come into play when purchasing life insurance. The two factors are how much money would it take for your family to maintain the same standard of living and how much can you afford to pay per month for your premium.

Try our Life Insurance Calculator

How much would it take for my family to maintain the same standard of living?
Your Life Insurance Policy should greatly depend on how much money your family will need to maintain the same standard of living. This means that there is a certain monthly or yearly income needed to pay for minor and major expenses such a mortgage, cars and Education. Depending on your situation your life insurance needs will differ. If you have children that are young and have not attended College assume they will need funding. Calculate the approximate costs of College and add this into your overall expenses. In addition to College or Education costs calculate your mortgage and car payments into your expense report. Finally, calculate any additional expenses needed to maintain the same standard of life. Depending on your investment knowledge and death benefit received one can usually shop around and find a financial advisor they are comfortable with. A financial advisor should be able to place your money in the market and receive at least 5% returns per year. More often, returns can total 8%+ depending on investment amount. Approximate your taxes on the returns at 35% and you will have your yearly income. Divide the yearly income by 12 and this is your montly income to pay expenses.

For example, your family has $8,000 in expenses per month. You will need approximately $3,000,000 in coverage. This is likely a conservative amount of life insurance as $3,000,000 earning 5% interest yearly equates to $150,000 in yearly income. With taxes taken out your yearly income would be approximately $97,000 or $8,000 per month.

How much can I afford to spend on Life Insurance?
One should only consider an amount of Life Insurance where the yearly premium is easily attainable and not reallocated from another major expense. Be smart when purchasing your life insurance policy. Know your limits, as if you purchase a policy and cancel it due to the fact that you cannot afford the payments then you will receive $0 back from that purchase and you will not receive any for your death benefit.

Find that happy medium where you are comfortable with the cost of the premium and the amount of coverage it provides to sustain the same standard of living for your family.

When should I update my Life Insurance Policy?

There are many reasons to update an existing Life Insurance Policy. Your life may have changed dramatically since you first purchased your life insurance policy. Contact your life insurance agent if your life has changed in any of the ways we listed below.

Major Purchase: If you make a major purchase you should contact your life insurance agent to set up a review and possibly update your life insurance policy. There are a couple items we consider major purchases. An automobile, swimming pool or boat is not considered a major purchase and should not be reflected within your life insurance review. A major purchase is a new home, refinancing your home, and a College Education. Purchasing a home or a College Education is a substantial investment and should be covered in your death benefit to ensure your family isn't burdened with the expenses.

Relating to a College Education when you have children you should consider a Life Insurance Policy review to ensure their College Tuitions are covered with your death benefit.

Marriage or Divorce: If you get married or divorced you should contact your life insurance agent to possibly change the policy figures but more likely to change beneficiaries. Your life will change when you get married or divorced so in any case of a life changing event you should contact your life insurance agent.

Other life changing events: Any event that will significantly alter your life like an ill family member, changes to you or your families health or coming into a decent amount of money be it professionally or by inheritance. A rule of thumb could be to consider a life insurance policy review when your life has seen a major change.

If you forsee the change in the near future it is better to act now than to wait so be sure you to contact your agent in a timely manner.

Reasons why you shouldn't cancel your life insurance policy

Maybe your very fortunate and no longer require life insurance. This can happen for many reasons but a common scenario is when an individual receives or earns a large amount of cash. Enough cash to easily cover all expenses your family may receive when you pass away. If you have millions of dollars in an interest baring account, a home thats paid for and very little other expenses perhaps you don't need life insurance. You should consult with your life insurance agent to see if this is feasible scenario but in certain instances it is.

So you no longer need your life insurance policy. Should you call your life insurance company and tell them to cancel your life insurance policy? Remember, this is the same life insurance policy you've paid $X in premiums every year for however many years. Essentially, it's as good as flushing money down the toilet at this point if you decide to just cancel the policy. Sure it protected you when you needed it but now that you don't need it why keep it?

There are a couple good reasons to keep your life insurance policy. As I mentioned above, you've already invested some money into it. Your family is already covered in the event you pass so why not make the beneficiary someone else? Perhaps leave your death benefit to your brother in law (the struggling actor) or someone else that could really use it. Another good option is to leave your life insurance benefit to a Charity. Personally, I love the Animal Shelters so I would consider leaving the death benefit to a local Animal Shelter. You may want to consult with your Accountant but I believe when the beneficiary is a Charity then your premium payments are tax deductible.

So even if you don't need the death benefit consider keeping your life insurance policy.

Should you buy a life insurance policy to pay off your home?

A mortgage loan is a huge expense. Mortgages, Cars and Education are likely the largest expenses one has through out their lifetime. It's important that you take repsonsibility for your expenses and not burden your family members with expensive Mortgagte loans.

So how much life insurance should you buy to cover your mortgage payment? It's a good idea to purchase a life insurance policy with enough benefit to cover the payoff of your home. Be sure to add all your outstanding debts or expenses plus your Mortgage loan to get the full amount of your life insurance policy. Here is a Life Insurance Calculator.

The Life Insurance Calculator assumes you have passed and have immediate family to support. In this instance, you will want to calculate your monthly Mortgage loan into the equation. If you pass away and you don't have immediate family living with you then you can assume the home will be sold. In this instance, it is important to have enough life insurance to cove your Mortgage payoff. This way your loved ones can take care of all your other expenses and not worry about your largest expense. They can work on selling your property at a later date.

Life Insurance

Your Life Insurance benefits are designed to provide financial security for your survivors in the event of your death.

For more information, see the links under Life Insurance in the left-hand navigation bar or use the links below.

Highlights

Your Benefits...

...Provide Security for Your Family Through Basic Life Coverage

Your basic life insurance coverage pays a benefit of two times your pay before age 65 to your beneficiary in case of your death from any cause. If you elect to continue basic life insurance during retirement prior to age 65, you and the Company share the cost for coverage. At age 65, your coverage is reduced and provided to you at no cost.

...Offer the Opportunity for Added Protection Through Supplemental Life Coverage

Supplemental life insurance coverage provides greater security for your beneficiary in case of your death from any cause.

Basics of Life Insurance

While you were actively employed, basic life insurance coverage of at least two times your pay was available on an optional contributory basis. If you continue this coverage at retirement, it pays benefits to your beneficiary in the event of your death from any cause while you are insured.

If You Retired Before Age 65
If you retired before age 65, you were eligible for an immediate pension benefit, and you had basic life insurance coverage for at least one year immediately preceding retirement, you had these options:

• to continue your full basic life insurance amount until age 65 by continuing to make your regular premium payments
  or
  
• to take the reduced basic life insurance amount (as described below under If You Retired At Age 65 or After) immediately at no cost to you.

When you reach age 65, your life insurance will be reduced.

If You Retired At Age 65 or After
A reduced amount of basic life insurance coverage will continue for the rest of your life provided you had basic life insurance coverage for at least one year immediately preceding retirement. This reduced coverage is currently provided at no cost to you. Any difference between what was covered during active service and the basic life insurance reduced amount can be converted to an individual policy within 30 days from the date benefits were reduced by contacting any MetLife representative or by calling 1-877-275-6387 for the office nearest to you.

The amount of coverage is based on your years of service as follows:

Years of Service Prior to Retirement	Insurance Amount
Less than one year	$0
One year but less than five years	$625 basic life insurance
Five or more years	The greater of (a) or (b): (a) 1% of your basic life insurance amount just before retirement* times your years of service (including any fraction of a year) plus $500 (minimum: $2,500 ) or 25% of your life insurance just before retirement;* (up to a maximum of $10,000) or (b) 20% of your basic life insurance just before retirement.*
*If you retired after age 65, the amount of your reduced life insurance will be calculated using the amount of your basic life insurance at age 65.

Payment of Benefits

Death proceeds are deposited into a Total Control Account (TCA) Money Market Option. Interest is paid on the fund from the date of death.

The beneficiary can choose among other long term settlement options at any time including:

	guaranteed interest certificates; (6 months - 7 years)
	annuity options, which provide a guaranteed income for life.

Supplemental Life Insurance

While you were an active employee, supplemental life insurance coverage of at least one times your pay was available on an optional contributory basis. Salaried employees who retired prior to 2-1-2001 and hourly employees who retired prior to 8-1-2001 were eligible to continue coverage as described below.

Payment of Benefits

Supplemental life insurance benefits are paid to your beneficiary in a money market account.

f you retired before age 65 prior to 2-1-2001 for salaried employees, or prior to 8-1-2001 for hourly employees and:

• you were eligible for an immediate pension benefit
  and
  
• you had supplemental life insurance coverage for at least one year immediately preceding retirement.

You had the following options:

• continue your supplemental life insurance amount until age 65 by continuing to make your regular premium payments. After age 65, any difference between what was covered during active service and the reduced amount can be converted to an individual policy within 30 days from the date benefits were reduced by contacting any MetLife representative or by calling 1-877-275-6387 for the office nearest to you
  or
• take the reduced supplemental life insurance amount immediately at no cost to you.

If you retired at age 65 or later prior to 2-1-2001 for salaried employees, or prior to 8-1-2001 for hourly employees
A reduced amount of supplemental life insurance coverage will continue for the rest of your life at no cost to you. The amount of coverage is based on your years of service as follows:

Years of Service Prior to Retirement	Insurance Amount
Less than one year	$0
One year but less than five years	$312 supplemental life insurance
Five or more years	The greater of (a) or (b): (a) 1% of your supplemental life insurance amount just before retirement* times your years of service (including any fraction of a year) plus $250 supplemental (minimum: $1,250) or 12.5% of your supplemental life insurance just before retirement;* (up to a maximum of $5,000) or (b) 10% of your supplemental life insurance just before retirement.*
*If you retired after age 65, the amount of your reduced life insurance will be calculated using the amount of your supplemental life insurance at age 65.

Any difference between what was covered during active service and the reduced amount can be converted to an individual policy within 30 days from the date benefits were reduced by contacting any MetLife representative or by calling 1-877-275-6387 for the office nearest to you.

Living Benefit If you are diagnosed with a terminal illness, with six months or less to live, and have at least $10,000 of life insurance (basic and supplemental coverage combined), you may make a one-time request to receive a portion of your life insurance benefit before you die. You must furnish satisfactory proof of your illness to the insurance company before any benefits can be paid. You may receive up to 50% of the amount of your basic and supplemental life insurance coverage, with a maximum living benefit of $250,000 of your basic life insurance coverage and $250,000 of your supplemental life insurance coverage. Benefits will be paid in a lump sum. Living benefit payments may be taxable and may affect your eligibility for certain government benefits, such as Medicaid. In addition, the amount of benefits payable to your beneficiary upon your death will be reduced by the amount of the living benefit that you receive. If you wish to apply for a living benefit, please contact the Benefit Plans Office for forms and instructions.

Benefit Amounts During Retirement — At Any Age For salaried employees who retired after 2-1-2001 and hourly employees who retired after 8-1-2001, supplemental life insurance coverage terminates unless you convert it to an individual policy.

Other Important Information

The following information applies to your life insurance benefits.

Naming Your Beneficiary

You may name anyone as your beneficiary and you may change your beneficiary designation at any time by completing the appropriate form available from the Benefit Plans Office. The beneficiary you name for basic life insurance benefits will automatically be your beneficiary for supplemental life insurance, unless you elect otherwise in writing.

If you do not designate a beneficiary, basic and supplemental life insurance benefits will be paid to your estate.

Costs for Coverage

As described in the About Your Benefits section, you and the Company share the cost of unreduced basic life insurance coverage. You pay the cost of unreduced supplemental life insurance coverage. The Company pays the full cost of reduced basic life insurance and reduced supplemental life insurance based on eligibility.

Tax Consequences

Under current tax law, employer-paid insurance coverage in excess of $50,000 may result in additional taxable income for federal income and FICA tax purposes. This additional taxable income, called imputed income, is reported on your W-2 earnings statement as "other income."

Claiming Benefits

You or your beneficiary must file a claim with the Benefit Plans Office in order to receive any life insurance benefits. By contacting the Benefit Plans Office, you or your beneficiary will receive the necessary forms, as well as instructions and assistance in filing forms.

When Coverage Ends

Basic life insurance and supplemental life insurance coverage end on the earliest of the following dates:

• the last day of the month for which your last contribution was made if you fail to make any required contribution
• when you are no longer eligible
• when you die
• the date the plan is terminated.

If you should die within the 30-day period after your coverage terminates, basic life insurance and supplemental life insurance benefits will be paid.

Conversion Privileges

Within 30 days after your basic life insurance and supplemental life insurance terminate, you may convert all or part of these coverages to individual insurance policies without taking a medical examination. The cost for individual coverage will be based on the insurance company's regular premium rates for the type and amount of insurance available to you through the conversion privilege.

If your basic life insurance coverage is reduced at retirement, you will also have an opportunity to convert the amount of discontinued insurance to an individual policy within 30 days after the reduction without taking a medical examination.

If your life insurance coverages terminate, you may contact the Benefit Plans Office to request a conversion form.