Life's a Game; Wear a Helmet (and get a Life Insurance Quote)

I have written other articles on various types of insurance - I do this mostly as an aid to my chronic insomnia - and this article, Good Reader, is yet another one. Grab your blankie and pillow, and pull up a mattress. It's insurance time again.

Do I really need to get a life insurance quote? I was just enjoying my nap.

Wouldn't you like to know what the heartless computer-generated actuarial tables say your life is worth? Wouldn't you like that dot matrix, dollars and cents version of you? Yeah, okay, me too. Plus, you need to provide for the future, just in case.

You can get a life insurance quote through myriad sources, including the Internet. On the Internet, you can hide behind an anonymous keyboard and mouse, and avoid the high-pressure pitch from Trevor of Mutual Indemnity Life and Casualty Partners Limited, LLC of East Sausage, New Brunswick. But before you can get your life insurance quote, you have to decide what type of life insurance you want or need, as there are several.

Prior to getting a life insurance quote, understand the three most common types of life insurance: Term Life, Whole Life, and Universal Life.

Term Life Insurance This is a temporary insurance, often purchased in five- or ten-year terms. It tends to be the least expensive of the three, but as such, accrues no cash value. When you stop paying, you have nothing to show for it. It's like renting as opposed to buying - no equity buildup. Or to put it another way, it's like paying protection to money Vinnie "Knuckles" Falzone - when you stop paying, you gotta problem, capisce?

Whole Life Insurance This is a permanent insurance. It provides lifetime protection, but its fixed premium is generally paid for the life of the policy (meaning your life). This type of policy builds up a cash value and can therefore be used like any other asset - as loan collateral, for example. There are however, two types of whole life: participating, and non-participating. Without going into too much detail, participating earns dividends, which ideally, eventually pay the premium for you, and make the policy self-supporting. Non-participating does not pay a dividend, but premium payments may only be due for a fixed number of years. Sticking with the previous analogy, here Vinnie invests your money in a couple of Laundromats, pizzerias, and pawn shops, and gives you a "piece of da pie."

Universal Life Insurance This is also a permanent insurance, but it has a flexible premium as well as a flexible death-benefit amount. The amounts depend on how the underlying investments did the previous year. If you buy this type of insurance, you have to be prepared to possibly pay a higher premium on occasion, or have your beneficiary receive less (or more) than was expected. As investments go, it's relatively low risk. You can look at it as a combination life insurance policy and savings account. In this situation, Vinnie invests your protection money in higher risk deals, like a casino or offshore oil drilling, and requires you to maintain flexibility in your payments. "We need'a extra c-note dis week on account'a dem lowlife inspectors needin' a little extra palm greasin'."

Okay, I get how "Vinnie" works. Now am I ready for a life insurance quote?

Why, yes! And as I stated earlier, you can get a life insurance quote from many places. You can Google "life insurance quote" and be shown plenty of options. If you have an insurance agent, or have worked with one in the past that you trust, set up a meeting. He can give you the benefit of his experience with the market, knowledge of specific insurance companies, and understanding of your particular financial situation, to get the best life insurance quote for your needs. Despite what I said earlier about the Internet, working with a financial expert is probably the most sensible approach. Even if his name actually turns out to be Vinnie.