EDAS consult

5 Essential Tips for Buying Life Insurance

Tips for first time life insurance shoppers
When it comes to buying life insurance to protect your family, you have a lot of choices to make. Everything from selecting the right amount of coverage to choosing a reputable life insurance company to buy your policy from can make the process feel overwhelming. The good news is that once you get started, you may discover that the process of buying life insurance really isn't that complicated.

If you're a first time life insurance shopper, a good place to start is by getting a rough estimate of how much life insurance you should be purchasing to protect your family. For a quick and easy way to calculate your needs, try using Protective Life's Needs Calculator. Next, get an understanding of the difference between term and permanent* life insurance so you'll have a good sense of what direction you should take when it comes to these two basic policy types. You can read more about term and permanent life insurance in our article, Term vs Permanent Life: What to Consider.

Finally, before you go shopping for your first life insurance policy, here are a few “good to know” tips for finding the right policy at an affordable price:

If necessary, take advantage of the “free look” period.
Even after your policy issues, you'll typically have what is called a free look period. During this time, you'll have a certain number of days in which to make changes to your policy, or even reject it altogether. Be sure to ask your company representative how long your free look period is and when it begins. If for some reason you don't feel the policy is right for you, this is the time when you can change your mind with no financial obligation. Read more about the free look period.
Compare apples to apples.
When getting price quotes on life insurance, be sure that you are comparing similar products. Because term life generally has lower premiums than a permanent life policy, there can be a big price difference for a Ghc50,000 term policy compared to a GHc50,000 permanent policy. Depending on your coverage needs, it's important to look at every angle, not just the monthly premium.
Understand that life insurance is designed for protection.
Your main purpose for getting life insurance should be to protect your beneficiaries financially in the event of your death. While permanent life insurance policies have the potential to earn cash value over time, they are not meant as investment vehicles.
Enhance your coverage with policy riders if necessary.
When you select a policy, ask your company representative about the types of policy riders that may be available to you. Riders or endorsements are ways in which you can customize your policy to meet your needs and budget.
Buy from a reputable life insurance company.
Your life insurance policy is meant to financially protect the people you love when you are no longer here to do so yourself. Do some homework on the life insurance company that you are considering buying from and learn more about how to select a reliable life insurance company.

FREE TIPS BY OUR SNR CONSULTANCY

If your parents have been managing your credit all along, suddenly having to deal with credit balances, credit scores, and credit reports might prove to be a bit of a shocker. And then there are the payments to consider. Credit management takes a sharp turn toward the serious when you become an adult and it can all be quite overwhelming. Here are some tips on how you can manage your credit more effectively, and keep credit problems from getting the better of you. Read on.

Obtain a copy of your credit report
You will likely want to review your credit standing when you are planning to make a major purchase, but you should obtain a copy of your credit reportk at least once a year. This will clearly show how you stand with regard to your credit and how much you owe. Ideally, you will want to obtain credit reports from more than one credit reporting firm.

Find out your credit score
Based on your credit reports, you will be given a credit score or rating. This will reflect your viability to receive further credit. Higher scores generally indicate lower risk, but keep in mind that there a number of different ways by which credit scores are assessed and assigned. Your credit card company should be able to provide you a credit score along with your credit report.

Maintain consistency in identification
From the start, make sure you provide complete and accurate identification information. This establishes a proper credit history, with much less risk of your account being linked to a wrong report. Maintaining consistency with regard to your identification will also ensure the completeness of your file.

Draw up a budget and stick to it
Credit isn’t free money; it is the privilege to use money that you will later have to pay for, with interest. To make sure you don’t go overboard, set up a budget and stick to it. It can be tempting to use your credit to get a bunch of cool stuff or to do some fun things, but always keep the function and the rationale for credit in mind.

Use just enough credit to establish your viability
Not using your credit can be just as detrimental as overusing it. You should place at least a few purchases a month on credit in order to establish a history of activities using your credit cards. This will give creditors a good idea of how you can manage payments and your account in general.

Avoid missing payments
You should avoid missing payments as much as possible. Furthermore, when you do make your payments, make sure to hand them in on or before the required date. Consistently late payments are a red flag for creditors, as they often indicate frequent late payments in the future, and perhaps even an inability to pay.

Maintain a variety of credit types
Maintaining a number of different types will prove your ability to handle most credit card scenarios. This can help improve your financial ‘image’ with both existing and potential creditors.