In your search for the right type of life insurance to buy, you may have also been faced with what is the best way to buy it. And anyone you may have talked to about this might have said that their method of buying life insurance is the best. However, at the end of the day, the choice about how to purchase your life insurance coverage is yours and yours alone.
There are typically four ways to purchase the coverage you need.
Online
Many people are simply eliminating the time-consuming practice of visiting a life insurance office by going online to purchase their coverage. Not only does going online allow you to get instant quotes, but many sites will also allow you to speak with an insurance professional before you purchase.
But there are different types of online life insurance sites. Some will attempt to transpose the traditional method of getting insurance to the online world, complete with the ability to communicate with insurance brokers. Others will offer more of a marketplace setting, where individuals can enter data into a search engine, and receive a list of those insurance companies most suited to their needs.
While the convenience of buying life insurance online is a definite draw, on many occasions you are on your own as to deciding which policy is right for you. Also, you may find that you don’t have many options for the type of life insurance you purchase online, as many sites only offer term coverage.
Via Your Employer
Your employer may offer life insurance coverage, which can be a great convenience. Some employers will offer free coverage if they offer group benefits to their employees. This type of coverage is certainly convenient, as not much effort or time is required to obtain it. But while your coverage will usually be twice the rate of your base pay, you will have to pay taxes on anything over $50,000.
You may also be able to purchase additional coverage from your employer’s group benefit plan. While this option may also offer a lot of convenience, it may not really benefit you unless you have health issues. This is because this type of coverage isn’t medically underwritten, also called ‘guaranteed issue’ coverage.
With An Agent or Broker
Of course, a list like this wouldn’t be complete if purchasing life insurance coverage via an agent wasn’t listed. This remains one of the most popular ways to get coverage. Perhaps it’s because people feel most comfortable when they can communicate with an insurance professional face to face. Of course, the purchase of life insurance coverage is a not only a major, but complicated financial decision. Communicating physically with an agent can mean that analyses can be conducted for your individual needs and there is someone there to help you through the questions you will need to answer to find the right coverage.
Fee-Based Consultant
Another method to getting adequate life insurance coverage is via something called a fee-only consultant. According to experts, the fee-based consultant is more likely to offer advice that is unbiased. This is because they are being paid directly by the individual seeking coverage. Agents and brokers are not legally obligated to have your best interests at heart when recommending coverage. As well, these individuals may be rewarded financially when they sell higher-priced policies.
Fee-based consultants are the freelancers of the insurance world. Often, these individuals already have experience under their belts as former insurance agents, actuaries or financial planners. And because they receive no commissions or other payments from a parent company, these individuals can set their rates on a hourly basis. Consumers can expect to pay anywhere from $250 to $350 for fee-based life insurance consultations.
Guest author Adam Foley writes on a variety of topics related to the insurance. He recommends http://www.lifeinsurancecompaniesbystate.com/, a site dedicated to educating consumers about the life insurance industry.