When you’re shopping for term life insurance you’ll need to do more than just compare rates to find the best policy for you. You need rates plus information.

The more useful information that is included in your term life insurance comparison, the easier it will be to select the insurance company and term life insurance policy that will best meet your needs.

At a minimum we believe a useful term life insurance comparison should include:

• You need to see and compare pricing (monthly, quarterly, semiannual, and annual) from a variety of term life insurance companies. In most cases, annual and automatic monthly bank draft premiums will save you money.
• You need to see and compare how long each company guarantees its rates/premiums and that the death benefit will remain level throughout the life of the policy.
• You need to see and compare the major financial ratings for each company listed in your comparison. At a minimum you need to see the A. M. Best rating and also Standard & Poors - with Moody’s, Fitch and others whenever possible.
• You need to see and compare information regarding the insurance company’s history, assets under management, location, telephone etc.
• You need to see and compare a statement of each company’s basic policy provisions, issue ages, conversion rights, maturity dates and any other extra cost riders and other contractual information.

Armed with this information you can make an informed decision as to which policy best meets your particular needs and circumstances. If you have questions, the quote service should have 800 number help available throughout the business day.

In most cases the answer is YES! Let’s say that 4 years ago you purchased a $1,500,000 term life insurance policy with a 20 year guaranteed level premium term period. In reviewing your assets and liabilities today, you realize that you no longer need the full $1,500,000 of coverage to meet your original income replacement, education and liability needs.

Calculating that you only need to maintain $800,000 of life insurance coverage, what do you do? Calculate the cost of reducing the face amount of your existing policy. In the example above, the existing policy costs $1,630 per year (including a $60.00 annual policy fee).

To calculate your current cost per $1,000 of coverage Take the existing outlay of $1,630 and subtract the $60 policy fee for a actual insurance cost of $1,570.00 per year. Then divide the $1,570 by 1,500 (number of $1000’s of insurance) and you get an annual cost per $1,000 of insurance of $1.05.

That means that reducing your $1,500,000 to $800,000 would result in a new cost of $900.00 per year. This is calculated by taking the cost per $1,000 - $1.05 then multiplying it by 800 ($800,000) and then adding the annual policy fee of $60.00 ($1.05 X 800 = $840 + $60 = $900.)

If this revised number works for you, you’ll need to complete and sign a policy change form from your life insurance company - no medical evidence is needed. Once the company processes your change they will notify you of the change and advise you of the effective date of the new coverage amount and reduced premium.

However, based on the dramatic decline in term life insurance rates over the past decade, and assuming your health status has not changed for the worst -before reducing your existing policy go online and get some current term life insurance quotes. Compare prices and find your best buy for the amount of life insurance you need.

There is one caveat: Most term life insurance policies are priced based a minimum policy face amount (i.e. 100,000, 250,000, 1,000,000 etc.) Generally, you will not be allowed to reduce your coverage amount below your particular policy’s minimum face amount.

With lots of recent headlines about the mortgage meltdown, stock market woes, job losses and the impending recession, any number of financial sites have been recommending a life insurance review and update as a source of possible budgetary savings.

With term life insurance costs having steadily declined over the last decade, reviewing your current life insurance needs and costs is an excellent idea. However, when you think about it, a life insurance review should be undertaken every year no matter what the economic climate.

Life insurance needs change regularly. Your income, assets, liabilities, mortgage, education funding, family size, company benefits, number of dependants, etc. all change over time. Take a few minutes with an income replacement estimator and a calculator to see where you are today. You may not have enough life insurance. However, you may also discover you are paying for more life insurance than you need or that you will not need coverage nearly as long as you originally estimated.

Term life insurance prices have fallen and today you can, in most cases, buy term life insurance for the exact number of years you will need the coverage. Both these factors can mean real savings. Take your updated life insurance needs calculations, find a site that offers anonymous term life insurance quotes and spend some time looking at the variety of life insurance companies, policies, costs and funding periods options available for meeting your life insurance needs at the lowest cost available..

In the next several days you’ll be able to buy term life insurance with guaranteed level term periods ranging up to 35 years. Top Rated American General Life Insurance Company’s Select-A-Term products (minimum $250,000) are offering new coverage periods of 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35 years.

These additional term life insurance coverage periods will allow low cost life insurance shoppers to target guaranteed level term periods of 10 years, 12 years and year-by-year from 15 to 35 years (depending on your age at them time your policy is issued). This additional flexibility makes it even easier to select the exact term period for your protection needs and pay for a policy that is properly priced for your precise funding needs.

To learn more about saving money with targeted funding, type the word “target” in the search box above and you will find several posts with examples describing how targeted funding has worked for others. For targeted term life insurance quotes, please go to 1stQuote.com.

In a number of recent blogs and financial sites there have been an abundance of articles and comments regarding life insurance for people age 50 and over. Unfortunately, a lot of the information and opinions provided are just plain wrong! For example, a major financial portal, in an article entitled “Term or Whole Life” states:

“……… people who need coverage starting in their 60s and beyond may have no alternative but to buy whole life. Most companies simply won’t sell policies to people over about age 65.”

What a bunch of baloney! Right now, I’m looking at term life insurance quotes for a male born January 1, 1938, making him age 70. The quotes I’m seeing show the availability of both 10 year and 15 year guaranteed term insurance from numerous companies.

Not only is life insurance readily available, all underwriting classes (Standard, Preferred and Preferred Plus) are also open to applicants. There is no penalty for being over 50 or 60 or 65.

These quotes are not from marginal or specialized life insurance companies. The companies offering these term life insurance products are all rated at least A+ and even A++ by A M Best and offer the most competitive rates available in the marketplace. Don’t you know that AIG’s American General Life Insurance Company, ING, Transamerica Occidental and other top tier insurers would be shocked to hear that they won’t sell you a policy if you’re “over about age 65?”

There is no penalty for being over age 50 when you are shopping for whole life insurance or term insurance. Don’t be led astray by financial columnists, insurance agents, financial planners or your friends. Do your own research.

Go online and run your own permanent life insurance quotes and term life insurance quotes. Review the underwriting guidelines, company ratings and the wealth of life insurance information available for your consideration. If you need life insurance, do a little digging and find the policy and price that work for you.

No one likes taking a medical exam for life insurance. However, taking a few simple steps before the examiner arrives could make a real difference in your ultimate rate classification and what you’ll pay for your new coverage.

When you schedule your exam, arrange to have the examiner arrive as early as possible in the morning. You’ll get your very best lab results after fasting at least 8 hours, and if possible 12 hours before your exam.

Having your exam first thing in the morning means you won’t be tempted to eat or drink and also that you’ll probably be more rested and relaxed after a good night’s sleep.

If possible, you should also consider taking the following simple steps in getting ready for your life insurance medical exam:

• Do not engage in strenuous exercise for 24 hours prior to your exam.
• Avoid alcoholic beverages for 24 hours prior to your exam
• Get a good night’s rest before your exam.
• Avoid coffee, soda, tea or other products with caffiene for several hours before your exam.
• Avoid smoking or chewing tobacco for at least one hour prior to your scheduled appointment.
• Avoid nasal decongestants for several hours prior to your exam.
• Drink a glass of water and hour or so before the exam to facilitate providing a urine specimen.

For more information and details about your life insurance medical exam please see 1stQuote.com’s summary What type of Medical Exam is Required to Buy Life Insurance.

ING has introduced return of premium term life insurance in New York state. The policies, to be issued by ReliaStar Life Insurance Company of New York, will be known as ING ROP Term NY, with fixed term periods of 15, 20 and 30 years.

Return of Premium term life insurance policies are designed to return the sum all premiums paid to the term life insurance policy owner at the end of the original term period. Over the past several years, return of premium life insurance policies have grown in popularity. “This type of term insurance appeals to people who are concerned about buying a product they think they may never need,” said Dan Mulheran, president of ING’s life distribution.

ING ROP Term NY is now available to New York residents and you can review the rates through the 1stQuote.com term life insurance quote system.

Once you have gotten life insurance quotes, selected a new life insurance policy, completed your application, taken your medical exam and they have been submitted to your chosen life insurance company you need to allow from 4 to 8 weeks for your new life insurance policy to be approved and issued.

If you have an unexceptional medical history and are not currently under a doctor’s care, approval and issue is most often quite prompt. However, if there have been recent medical visits, treatments or ongoing health issues, the life insurance company underwriters will need additional information from your physician(s) and health care providers.

If additional medical information or test results are needed from your doctor(s), a request is sent and a fee is paid in advance by the life insurance company. Unfortunately, the longest delays most often occur in waiting for this information to be provided to the life insurance company.

In some cases, a personal call to the health provider helps. However, even with regular follow-ups, getting these “attending physicians statements” is often a slow process and the insurer must simply wait until the required records have been received.

As you might imagine, we get a wide variety of questions about types of life insurance and when to buy life insurance. Recently some of the hot topics have been:

• Should I buy return of premium life insurance?
• Should I consider whole life?
• Should I buy universal life to 100 for a lifetime premium guarantee?
• Is variable universal life a good investment?
• Should I buy a 20 or 30 year term life insurance policy?
• I’ve just quit smoking. Should I wait until a year has passed and I can get non-smoker rates before applying for life insurance?

These are all important questions and there are detailed personal answers (based on an individuals health, facts and financial details) available for each questions. However, in most situations the first and most critical question that needs to be asked is Do You Have Enough Life Insurance?

The importance of getting your premium returned, lifetime rate guarantees, lower non-smoker premium rates, using life insurance as an investment or locking in term insurance for 30 years is secondary to providing the amount of life insurance needed to meet your family’s needs.

Our recommendation: Calculate your long-term earnings potential , determine the actual amount of life insurance you need , look at the minimum basic costs and then find the type of life insurance that makes sense for you.

You see the ad’s online — “Get Up To $300,000 of life insurance with no medical exam”, “…..Quick and Easy”, “…..Automatically Issued”, and so on. It’s an appealing idea. No one likes medical exams and long delays while waiting for an insurance company decision on their eligibility for life insurance.

The idea of answering a few questions, getting approved, paying your initial premium and printing your policy online in only minutes has lots of appeal. So what are the drawbacks?

No one will object to the speed and efficiency of this approach. Some might argue that the maximum life insurance available ($250,000 to $300,000) is too low or that the ages at which coverage is available are too restrictive. However, my biggest concern is the pricing of the coverage that available for no medical exam, instant issue coverage.

Let’s assume a 40 year old male is considering $250,000 of coverage with the premium guaranteed for 20 years. If he searches online, finds a company he likes and answers the medical questions successfully he can purchase a no medical exam, instant issue life insurance policy for $900.00 per year.

If, on the other hand, he completes an application, undergoes a medical exam and detailed underwriting he can buy $250,000 of 20 year guaranteed coverage as follows.

• If he qualifies for standard rates his annual outlay would be $388.00
• If he qualifies for preferred rates his annual outlay would be $252.00
• and, if he qualifies for super preferred rates his annual outlay would be $205.00

Yikes! Even if this individual was issued traditional term life insurance at standard rates, his annual savings would be $512.00 per year and $10,024.00 over the full 20 year period (We won’t even talk about investing the difference).

When there is no medical exam and no underwriting — life insurance companies assume greater potential claims risk. Consequently, the companies must price their policies so that expenses, commissions and future claims can be paid and the company can make a reasonable profit.

1stQuote.com has this no exam life insurance available — but we do not recommend it! If you are considering no medical exam life insurance, please get some fully underwritten term life insurance quotes and make an informed decision about the real price of not taking a medical exam.