Insurance Experts

A life insurance policy not only provides financial security to the survivors, named in the insured?s policy, but also an emotional support. The affordability of such insurances may vary from person to person, according to their incomes and personal preferences. A number of options are available, from economic deals to adequate coverage.

One of the most common and popular low cost insurance policies includes the term life insurance policy. The premium of a term life Insurance is much lower than for a whole or universal life insurance policy. This is especially helpful if the investor is young and healthy. The investor can save the difference in the premium amount and invest it elsewhere. The invested money in turn would fetch an interest amount, as an additional income for the person.

The premium amount is decided, keeping in mind the assets, income level, debts and credits and child support expenses in mind. Some of the insurance companies provide life insurance calculators. This helps the clients to calculate and prepare a rough estimation of their investment expenditure. Life insurance policies come in different packages. The terms and conditions depend on the duration and coverage. The insurance agents of the various companies help in analyzing and selecting the appropriate plan, offering a combination cost-effectiveness and maximum coverage.

Various options of low cost policies offered by the different companies can be found online. These policies can be short-term policies or discount rates offered in case of a combination of more than one policy. Investors may choose according to their preference. It is advisable to do so only after checking and comparing the quotes offered by these companies. Alternatively, they can take the help of the company brokers to understand and decide on the policy. A little research goes a long way in making the right investment.

During the mid eighties, the “Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act” set up by the “Federal Laws’ designed coverage for workers that were dismissed from work as no fault of misconduct. The laws were issued to help citizens of American with medical expenses during layoff, strikes, decrease of work hours, and so forth. The policy is a temporary coverage that provides cash for medical expenses “up to 18 months.” The policy is helpful for workers that have been laid off from work, on strikes, dismissed for work, and so forth. Sometimes the policy will extend to “36 months’ but for the most part the policyholder will have “18 months” to figure out what type of health insurance is needed to protect his family.

During the mid eighties Cobra was setup to provide protection to various candidates. The Act was put in affect under the “Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code” and other sources that would provide additional room for Group Policies. If the group policy is, ‘terminated” then the candidates under the Cobra Law could request the Coverage.

Many employers may offer insurance to employees, and often the coverage is a group policy, since the employer is covering a number of individuals at the workplace. If you have not been dismissed from work as a result of inappropriate behaviors (misconduct, such as sexual harassment, incorrigible behaviors, et cetera) then you likely qualify for Cobra. If you have been terminated from your workplace and meet the guidelines laid out in the Cobra Laws then your employer is obligated to inform you of what Cobra offers and how you can apply for the policy. The coverage will include your family.

Cobra is also available to unemployed candidates that are enduring pending issues, such as death in a family, eligibility to “Medicare,” in the process of ‘divorce” and/or legal “separation.” If this is true then the spouse is optional for coverage also. If the employee is released from work, then the Cobra is activated. Once you qualify for Cobra your employer will notify you, letting you know what coverage is available to you and your family, since under law if the employer fails to uphold the laws he is under penalty. The employer will pay the additional premiums to cover the insurance plan.

Overall, Cobra is an extended policy to employees that offers family and unemployed at the time of policy coverage for medical costs. The policies are similar to few other types of health insurance and someone may be eligible to pay co-payments, usually the policyholder. The policy is validated in most instances if the employee is ‘between’ careers, recently graduated from college, pending group coverage, laid off, and strikes, dependents not currently covered under the parents’ policy, seasonal work, and temporary work candidates.

If you have recently been misplaced from work and fall under, the Cobra guidelines make sure you have the coverage you need. If your employer offers group policy coverage at your workplace and fails to notify you after your are dismissed from work, then contact the proper authorities immediately. You and your family deserve health insurance, and if you worked at an environment, you put in your hours to earn your coverage. If you have been dismissed from your workplace for misconduct and feel you were wronged, be advised that you have the option to request a hearing. During the hearing period, you may have coverage temporarily until evidence is found to convict your behaviors. Otherwise, if you are dismissed from misconduct you will still health insurance, thus checking the marketplace for bargains is the choice for many.

Health insurance policies are available to groups, single policyholders, joint policy plans, HMO, managed care plans and so forth. Few of the policies have steeper premiums, while others may not. However, few policies adhere to a network, thus if you learn more about this plan you will see that you must stay within the network to receive care. Thus, doctors and health insurance providers setup a strategy to offer lower medical costs to patients; however, the patient must stay within the restricted doctor network.

Whether you’re looking for new agents or new clients, the key to finding them is effective prospecting. There are numerous ways to go about prospecting. Some of them are active methods, while others are passive. Active prospecting methods are things like Personal Observation, Public Speaking, Agent and Client Referrals, Networking, and Centers of Influence, while passive methods include using the internet, newspaper advertising and direct mail campaigns. Both passive and active prospecting will produce results, however they differ in efficiency and effectiveness – and understanding those differences will make all the difference to you and your results.

Passive methods are easy to implement, but are actually pretty inefficient. They attract 1) “tire kickers”, 2) people looking for a job, 3) price shoppers, and 4) people simply looking for a way to make money. Please understand, these methods do produce results and can uncover fantastic people who become great agents or clients, but generally the quality of results is poor. When these methods are implemented, plenty of activity is generated, but few prospects become agents or clients. The passive methods appear to be very efficient, but they produce so much worthless activity that they become extremely inefficient.

Active methods, on the other hand, take more time on the front end, but because they are so much more effective end up being much more efficient. They are so much more effective because interviews/meetings are only generated with people who have an interest in working with you, and share your purpose and passion. Agents often coming on board because they identify with you and what you stand for, they see it as a good opportunity to build a future, and they see the opportunity as one that offers unlimited financial growth. Clients decide to work with you because they see who you are, and identify and respect you and what you believe in. Not only are active methods more effective, but agents who are recruited through active methods historically are better producers and clients created this way are more loyal.

Why Active Prospecting Is More Effective

For Recruiting:

• A key to a successful recruiting program is to effectively identify candidates with an “owner” mindset. Candidates with an owner mindset are better at taking initiative while candidates with an employee mindset are better at taking instruction. Candidates with an owner mindset are self-starters who recognize the correlation between their success and the amount of effort they put forth — in fact, they thrive on this. They take initiative, they think independently and they tend to succeed when they’re given the freedom to do things their own way. These are the kind of candidates that make up the foundation of any winning sales force. Active recruiting allows you to better identify candidates right from the start who are inclined to be owners rather than employees.

• People who respond to recruitment advertising are generally looking for something better than what they have. Either they’re unhappy with their current situation or they have no job at all. Now… think about whether you’d rather have a prospective agent who is happy and productive where they are or someone who is unhappy and maybe even unproductive where they are? Most territory builders would always prefer a candidate who is already productive and happy. They want someone who has a positive attitude and good work habits. By seeking out candidates who are closer to your ideal with respect to productivity, attitude and drive, you end up with agents who are productive, positive and successful

• Ever get frustrated with the production of your agents and wonder how to motivate them? This is a prevalent challenge within the industry. The cause for this issue comes from how the agents were recruited. Not only are many agents recruited through advertising, but, often what the manager is passionate about isn’t communicated. Without a worthwhile purpose, it’s pretty difficult to attract and keep the right kind of people – people who are happy, energetic and highly productive. In case you doubt the validity of this observation about the power of personal attraction, look over your agents and see who the highest producers are and/or the ones who are most responsive. Typically they’re the agents you personally recruited rather than the agents you “inherited”. When you actively recruit, you create the opportunity to let a candidate see what you’re about - what matters to you. You end up attracting like-minded people.

For Prospecting:

• People do business with people they like. The only way for others to get to know you is by getting out and meeting people. When you do your prospecting passively, they don’t get to know you at all. They are simply responding to something they read.

• People are attracted to someone who stands for something and has a purpose. When you spend time clarifying what sets you apart from everyone else and spend time clarifying your purpose, and then communicate them effectively, you will attract like-minded clients who identify with you and become loyal to you.

• The best way to keep clients is to build a relationship with them. Without a relationship, they simply become price-shopping customers. With a relationship, they become clients who will stay with you and become clients who refer others to you. It perpetuates success.

Active prospecting allows you to attract the kind of people you want, allows you to meet with only those people who are likely to succeed and stay with you, and allows you to build a team of loyal, professional, hard-working, responsive and successful agents or a solid book of loyal clients.

Break out of the internet and advertising routine. Start powering up your prospecting and boosting your success!

Copyright 2006 Exceptional Leadership, Inc.

One of the biggest concerns of any self-employed person, including freelance writers, is health insurance. Many people avoid freelancing exclusively because they are afraid of ending up without health care benefits. Some self-employed individuals go without coverage because they assume they can’t afford insurance, or because they don’t know how to go about obtaining a policy. However, getting insured isn’t as difficult or as costly as many people anticipate. Plus, under current U.S. law, freelancers may be eligible to deduct the full cost of their monthly insurance premiums on their taxes.

Ask your employer about COBRA before you quit your day job. Before you quit your job, make sure to talk to your human resources department about continuing your current insurance coverage under COBRA. You should be allowed the option to pay out of pocket to keep your existing coverage for up to 18 months after you quit your job, or until the time you are able to obtain other insurance (under the 18 month limit). The amount you will have to pay varies greatly and will depend on your current plan and coverage. COBRA may not end up being the most affordable option for you, but until you are able to find other insurance, it may be the most practical option.

Consider your coverage needs. Taking into account how healthy you are is a good start, but you will also want to think about the future. If you are planning to have children, for example, you will want to look for a plan that will cover those related expenses. A big consideration for everyone, even healthy people, is emergencies. Being completely uninsured can cause a real financial burden if you happen to need emergency surgery or get in an accident. If you only plan to freelance for a short time, you might want to investigate short-term insurance, which is available for terms of six months or less at a lower cost than long-term plans.

Weigh premium costs and deductibles. If you rarely need medical attention and only go to the doctor once or twice each year, you may want to consider a plan with a higher deductible but lower monthly payments. This way, you will only have to pay the deductible if you need emergency care or other care that is not covered until you pay the deductible. Often, plans cover one or two doctor visits plus prescription costs without your having to pay the deductible. If you need a lot of medical attention, see many specialists, and want to keep your old doctors, a plan with a moderate deductibles and average premiums might be best for you.

Research individual plans and group plans. Individual plans, or plans purchased by you directly through an insurance company, are more costly than group plans. You can get insured through a group plan by joining a self-employment group or a writers association. Or, check with your local chamber of commerce. Many freelancers don’t know that these groups exist, but they are definitely worth checking into.

Learn about tax deductions. If you are a self-employed/freelance writer, your own health insurance premiums may be tax-deductible. To be eligible for this deduction, you must have reported a net profit for the year that exceeds the cost of your health insurance, and you can’t have been eligible to receive health insurance benefits under your spouse’s policy or your employer’s policy (if you still have an employer for that year).

If you are fortunate enough to be self employed it can be extremely difficult to find affordable health insurance – research indicates that many people don’t go self employed for this very reason. Generally speaking, if you are employed by a large company, you have more options for affordable health insurance through your company’s group plan.

If you are self employed and married, one easy option is to take out health insurance through your spouse. You may pay a little bit more to add yourself on to their insurance and you may also have to wait to do this until benefits enrollment is offered, usually in the fall for the following year. This is usually the cheapest option for insuring not only yourself, but your children as well.

One thing you should consider if it’s relevant to your situation is taking advantage of what is commonly known as COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) health coverage. By law, if you leave your job, you are entitled to continuing health coverage provided by your employer for a certain amount of time.

COBRA coverage can be invaluable in bridging the gap between the health insurance provided by your old company and the insurance you take out for yourself when starting up a new business.

The type of insurance you need will vary as to your situation. If you employ between 2 and 50 people you would probably save money by enrolling in a group health insurance plan. If your business is just literally yourself, you may want to take out a temporary policy. These can be changed easily if your situation changes and are relatively inexpensive.

Finally, if you self employed and are in a financial position to do it – pay your premiums annually, rather than spreading the payments out over a year and paying every month. This may save you a significant amount of money.

And one piece of good news is that health insurance costs for the self employed have been tax-deductible for the last few years - a trend only likely to improve.

Homeowner insurance has a lot of different benefits and features but the actual coverage is divided into two policy sections. These sections protect you from the perils defined in the policy.

Section I

A – The Dwelling – The dwelling and attached structures

B – Other Structures – structures un-attached

C – Personal Property – contents of the dwelling

D – Loss of Use – additional living expense

The list of perils that a homeowner policy insures against are fire and lightning, windstorm or hail, explosion, riot and civil commotion, aircraft, vehicles, smoke, vandalism and malicious mischief, theft, falling objects, accidental discharge of water and steam, sudden and accidental tearing apart, freezing, and volcanic eruption.

Section II

E - Liability Coverage - Personal Liability provides coverage in the event a claim or lawsuit is brought against the insured because of bodily injury or property damage caused by an occurrence.

F – Medical Payments – medical payments provide coverage to others in the event an individual is injured on the premises and requires medical treatment.

These are the basic coverage benefits on a homeowner policy. The next step in the process is to know how much insurance you should purchase. The actual face amount is usually determined by an insurance replacement cost calculator. The calculator needs several kinds of data in order to give you a quote. It will often require the square footage of your home along with info about items that increase the value of your home like air conditioning and fireplaces. There will probably be a question about the percentage of your basement that is finished.

Homeowner insurance policies have two ways to settle a claim. It will either be settled on an actual cash value basis or a replacement cost basis. The actual cash value settlement will assess the replacement cost and subtract any depreciation because of age or use. The actual cash value policies are usually purchased on older homes. Replacement cost settlements replace the loss with like kind and quality of material without depreciation.

You’ve heard of life insurance, where you get a payout if you die, but what is this ‘Whole Life Insurance’ term that gets bandied about? Put simply, whole life insurance is insurance that stays in place for the entire duration of your life. The only thing you have to do to guarantee that it stays current is to keep up with the premiums scheduled by your company.

A whole life policy will pay out the agreed amount no matter when you die, and it will also increase in value over time. Sounds pretty simple thus far, and indeed it is. Whole life policies have a little extra built in when compared to other policies however, in the form of dividends.

Dividends become payable if insurance business is good, and if the policies are being drawn on as expected or at a lower rate than expected. Basically, if not too many people are dying, and the company is making plenty of money, then the company will pay some of the premiums back to the policy holder.

You don’t usually get to spend this money as cash however, it can normally be used only to pay for term insurance, in the purchase of more insurance, or to cover your premiums. However, unlike other insurance policies, it can often be borrowed against as the investment grows.

These policies tend to be more expensive than other forms of life insurance, like term insurance which covers you only for a specific period of time. In fact, whole life insurance will tend to cost you more than it will pay out in the first few years, so it is worth taking a realistic look at your own likelihood of mortality before investing in these types of policy.

Whole life policies offer a superior level of cover and security, but it is security that you will definitely be paying for. Whether or not this type of policy is for you will depend very much on your personal situation, and your willingness to invest early for maximum benefit.

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Medical insurance can be complicated enough – for seniors, it seems the picture is often more confusing. Most seniors don’t work and many are in ill health or have special medical needs. And many seniors rely on government funded assistant living facilities – an estimated 1 million seniors live in around 30,000 assisted living facilities throughout the country.

Most seniors qualify for either Medicare or Medicaid, depending on their income and situation. Medicare is available to those who are at least 65 years old, and have legally lived in the US for at least 5 years before applying. Medigap insurance is supplemental health insurance taken out by some seniors as a way of supplementing their Medicare insurance.

Medicaid is funded by the government and administered by individual states under their department of insurance. Qualification for Medicaid also depends on an individual’s assets, income and type of residence. Medicaid will usually cover most or all of the costs of nursing home admission and the accompanying care that is necessary.

Some seniors, because of a particularly low income or a specific disability, may also qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) a program administered by the Social Security Administration. This program offers several benefits including providing monthly supplemental payments, food stamps and assistance with hospital visits and drug costs.

If you don’t qualify for Medicaid, what is known as long term care insurance can be purchased for long term stays in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. If you are shopping for long term insurance, you should consider what other benefits are covered under the plan, the costs of premiums and whether the policy covers pre-existing conditions.

Seniors may also find themselves using the services of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) HMOs generally accept Medicare payment and offer lower cost deductibles or co-payments. They also put an emphasis on preventative medicine as well as the actual treatment, and many provide eye care, dental services and emergency care when necessary.

A discount health care plan is more important today than ever before, because of life’s unpredictability. Who knows what the future holds for us when it comes to our health and ability to work. We all have responsibilities in life and the bills do not stop if we become injured or ill, to the point of affecting our ability to work. For many of us, after paying the bills, we have little left over to survive in between pay periods. This is where discount health plans, health and dental discount plans, and a discount family health plan come in extremely handy.

With these plans, policyholders have the ability to save a great deal of money on different services such as health and dental procedures. Some of these savings can be upwards towards around 50% less than the cost of employer offered health care plans. The savings and costs you experience will be determined by a multitude of aspects in your life that includes, the area in which you live, your income, and your age. The help ease the burden of ever rising health care cost many companies are creating discount health care plans. This provides a peace of mind if you were ever to become injured or ill, this means that you will still be able to afford the daily necessities and bills if the event ever occurs.

Now, what can you do to find an affordable discount health care plan?

1. These are available for the entire family or just for yourself. You must remember however, this is not health insurance. This is a discount family health plan, providing you services and products at a steep discount from regular price. Find health and dental discount plans that works best for you, your family situation, and your household income.

2. Many discount health plans are available to you for a fee. These fees are on a monthly to yearly basis depending upon the company you choose. It is important that you understand the charges and you have the ability to pay this fee, as it comes around. The fee entitles you to a discount health care plan that gives you steep discounts at participating providers and prescriptions from pharmacies. This includes any hospital visits as well, if it is included. Again, you should choose based on what the discount health plans offer and make your decision accordingly.

3. Choose a discount health care plan that gives you the greatest options when it comes to service providers such as doctors, pharmacists, hospitals, and other facilities. Having choices is your best bet, meaning you have a wide variety of options and can choose the facilities you use.

4. Make sure the health and dental discount plans you choose has providers within your area, or very close to it. If the providers fall an hour or more away from where you live, the discount is not going to do you much good. You will need to pay for gas to get there and perhaps it is just not convenient for you to drive that distance. This means the discount family health plan is a waste of money for you and your family.

5. Do your homework. This is important to finding the best plans, services, and price. Compare different discount health plans with each other and find the most suitable for you needs.

6. As stated earlier, you can get a discount health care plan for yourself or for your entire family. The more people you add the more costly it is likely to be. Therefore, ensure that you find something affordable, but still provides your entire family with the discounts on health and dental services that will prove beneficial. Many companies will offer you a discount family health plan, to serve your whole family.

With prices for daily living items escalating and expenses running rampant the opportunity to find low cost health insurance would be welcomed by many of today’s cost watching consumers. Let’s be honest, without health insurance it would be near impossible to pay for medical treatments based on their rather steep prices.

Low cost health insurance isn’t a bonus that someone earns, in reality it should be a right granted to everyone for the simple reason that you never know when you may need it. You could be fine one day and the very next suffering from a myriad of injuries or sickness that seem to effect so many healthy people everyday. Even if it turns out that you are suffering from a mild ailment, if you end up riding in an ambulance to the hospital the cost associated with that simple procedure can be quite large for folks without a low cost health insurance plan to cover such an event. You don’t want to be in a position to find this out the hard way so affordable health insurance is a must need for everyone.

So how exactly does low cost health insurance work? For starters, health insurance is like any other monthly bill that you have. However, don’t treat this like it’s a phone bill or an electricity bill. Failing or forgetting to pay this one could be disasterous to your medical health. The monthly payment or premium entitles you to medical treatment that is covered by your health insurance as opposed to your having to pay the amount out of your pocket yourself. Normally, when you sign up for low cost health insurance you will be required to pick what’s known as a primary care provider or physician which basically means you choose a doctor from a list that is provided. This doctor will then determine the types of treatment you will require. Unfortunately, there are many political and internal issues that seem to plague our health care industry between the doctors and the health insurance companies with the consumer caught in the middle. Issues like these are better discussed in their own article or in the daily newspapers and on the TV news.

At one point in time health insurance was a standard benefit for the employees of many companies unfortunately, the rising costs that were mentioned earlier in this article have also hit the health insurance benefit packages that most folks should be entitled to but are seemingly disappearing overnight. Low cost health insurance would be welcomed by many companies wanting to provide better benefits to their valuable workers.

Low cost health insurance may be possible with larger companies based on the fact that many health insurance organizations offer discounted rates to organizations that are large in stature and size. The opportunity for a employee to receive a nice health insurance benefit at a reduced cost still exist in companies that receive this favorable treatment from the health insurance providers.

Sadly, many companies, especially smaller or brand new ventures are unable to afford the necessary premiums needed in order to provide health insurance for their employees. As a result the workers for these companies must then find their own individual health insurance plan, usually through a health insurance broker or by surfing the Internet and visiting all of the health insurance websites currently located online. For those consumers finding low cost health insurance may be slightly more difficult and any health insurance that is truly affordable may not cover many of the ailments that strike many folks on an everyday basis.

Low cost health insurance can be obtained in today’s high price society. It just takes a little more effort on the part of the consumer but in the long run it’s well worth it. after all this is your health we’re talking about.