SGXcafe - A Good Investment Portfolio Tracker And More

Sometimes, keeping track of your investment portfolio performance is hard work. Most of us use excel sheets to record down our stock purchases manually. Then there are dividends too which we need to keep track. Just this year, I started using a platform called SGXcafe which to me is quite intelligently done. Many people including bloggers have started using this platform to track their portfolios. It even gives me an update of my portfolio performance every day through email.

This is not a paid advertisement for the platform. I'm reviewing this base on my own experience. Furthermore, it is completely free to use and I heard the person who started this paid quite a lot of money in order to keep it alive as it has some issues previously. To spend money on building a platform and still offer it free to use is really very rare nowadays.

So what features does it have? Firstly, it has the portfolio tracker which intelligently calculates your investment portfolio XIRR. You can input the stocks you've bought and it will calculate your investment returns base on historical values and even add in the dividends you received from the time you bought the stock until now.

It also has various stock screeners which is unique from other platforms. The owner of the website has included screeners profile which he is using himself. This includes screeners on growth and income stocks. He also has a screener on dividend strength which forecast how likely the company is able to give the same or more dividends next year. The model does this by learning from history how stocks with certain traits found in its financial statements would influence its dividends payout the following year statistically. Under the dividend strength, stocks which are 90%-100% more likely to give the same or more dividend next year includes Capitaland Mal Trust, Frasers Centrepoint Trust and also banking stocks like DBS and OCBC.

Another interesting part of this platform is the ability to share your portfolio with other people. There are many people who have already shared their portfolios and how it has performed. You can click here to see the shared portfolios. Overall, this is a simple and easy to use platform. Its free to use so no harm giving it a try if you're an investor also.

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Is Life Insurance Worth It? - Life Insurance Consideration

Life insurance plays an important in a lifetime. Life insurance can be used for financial security and financial future if there is something bad, such as premature death. You can use life insurance for paying education costs for your children. There are many types of life insurance. Choosing the one for your life insurance needs more consideration because life insurance may affect your finances. If you join the life insurance, you will ask yourself, is life insurance worth it? You have to consider one type for your life insurance, which is the best for you.

The Different Types of Life Insurance Worth Considering

Many different policies happen to every life insurance. There many websites which provide the life insurance service through online. Before you choose the life insurance, you have to be familiar with the different life insurance policies. You can know the different life insurance policies by seeing this explanation. Universal life insurance is a policy of life insurance, which is similar to term life insurance. This insurance can be paid off, and this insurance creates the cash values. Surrender value is created by this universal life insurance. The life insurance is advantageous.

Whole life insurance is the type of life insurance, which has the most expensive cost or policy. This insurance has a higher cost than the universal policy. This insurance includes in the prime of life security. Term life insurance is the type of insurance which has the affordable policy. This life insurance is used for the specific time or period. If the life insurance has out of date, you cannot get your money back. This insurance is used for a short period of time. You will be not losing out. The life insurance will be advantageous if you know the best type for you?

The author of life insurance is joint policies. This policy is not common to be used. In this policy, you can use the same policy with two people. This policy is not commonly present. The worth of life insurance will be good for your future because you can give the financial security for your family. From different policies, you can choose the best policy for you. The right life insurance, which is based on your ability will good for you. It will give the benefit in the future.

Is Signing Up for Life Insurance Worth It?

Some people may think that signing up for life insurance will not give benefits because by signing up, they will lose their money and make the insurance company richer. Some say that signing up life insurance has the complex and complicated way. They do not know which the insurance company that gives good service. They pick not to register with the insurance company. You will ask for yourself, is life insurance worth it? There is no something which is not advantageous. Although everything has a risk, you have to pass it.

If you sign in the life insurance, you may get the several advantages like in the following explanation. You will get rest in peace, although the time is not sure. You have to struggle to give the best to your family. By having life insurance, it may help in solving the financial crisis. The life insurance helps in paying the hospitalization and other things. Insurance and tax are the two different things. Insurance is not like tax, you can get your life insurance without sharing with the government. Is life insurance worth it, you can get many advantages of it.

The other thing that you will receive if you are signing up in the life insurance is the easy adjustment. When you are signing the life insurance, you can get the adjustment. You can change or skip your premium. Those are the advantages of life insurance which can be received when you are signed in the life insurance. You are not to be worried if you want to register in the life insurance because you will get many advantages. If you still want to know, is life insurance worth it, you can ask the insurance company directly.

The Fact that You Need to Know about Life Insurance

Before you choose the life insurance, you need to know the facts about life insurance. It can be used for your consideration. There are several facts that you have to know before you sign in the life insurance. First, if you sign in the life insurance, you have to pay the premium until your day. If you are paid off, you may lose your money. The life insurance policy is like paying the vehicle policy. You have to pay it until you die. If you do not transfer your money, you will lose your money which has been transferred previously. Is life insurance worth, it is the same question by question, does life insurance work?

What Policy Buyers Should Know About Cash Value Life Insurance?

There is a term which is called cash value. The cash value is mostly used in America. Many people who use the life insurance use the cash value, almost seventy percent. This cash value is more expensive than the Term Life Insurance. For cash value, people pay ninety to a hundred dollars to pay the life insurance cost. With this insurance, you can get, the more benefits. Is life insurance worth it, it will be run well.

By using the cash value you will pay more and get more benefits. You have to save your dollars for paying the life insurance cost. Life is cannot be predictable, so you have to be well-prepared about your life. You have to prepare anything before something bad happens to you and your family. For is life insurance worth it, the life insurance is recommended for solving the financial crisis. The life insurance worth can be used for solving the education cost, the hospitalization cost, and so forth. Choosing the right life insurance is the better solution.

You have to know more about the life insurance that you will choose. You can choose the right life insurance, which is suitable to your finances. Is life insurance worth it becomes the good question before you choose the life insurance, you know the several things which have the relation with life insurance such as cash value. The more you know about it, the more you will get the advantages.

Kreidler speaks to consumers in Shoreline about Medicare

Attendees to a Medicare birthday event on Saturday morning got to hear Insurance Commissioner Kreidler talk about why Medicare is important and what SHIBA does for Washington consumers. 

Commissioner Kreidler and Judy Ellis, SHIBA volunteer
with Sound Generations in Shoreline 

SHIBA stands for Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors. It’s a statewide network of nearly 400 highly trained volunteers who have been helping seniors and others understand their health insurance options for more than 35 years in Washington state. Washington was the first state in the nation to establish a SHIBA program, before the federal government offered assistance in reaching out the consumers who are or are about to be enrolled in Medicare.

Medicare provides health coverage for nearly 45 million Americans who are age 65 and older, and for 7 million younger adults with permanent disabilities. Medicare has been in existence for 51 years, which really isn’t that long ago. 

Attendees at the Medicare birthday event 

on June 18 in Shoreline 

Commissioner Kreidler recalled for the attendees a time before Medicare existed when his grandmother had to move in with his parents because she was ill and didn’t have health coverage. Her medical bills prohibited her from living on her own. If Medicare had existed, it would have provided a lifeline for her to have access to the health care she needed.

SHIBA offers free, unbiased assistance with health care choices, including Medicare, to more than 100,000 Washington residents each year. You can find more SHIBA events around the state at http://bit.ly/SHIBAevents.

7 Sports That Make Getting Life Insurance Hard

One of the questions I’ve received over the years is “Will my sport cause me problems inpurchasing new life insurance?” The answer in most cases is no, but there are some hobbies that may be a problem for the underwriters in the insurance company.

Here is a list of seven high-risk sports that are problematic when it comes to getting life insurance.

1. Ice climbing. Unlike their mountain-climbing counterparts, ice climbers are in constant danger of causing a self-inflicted stab wound from one of their razor-sharp crampons, which is their No. 1 source of injury. Not to mention the possibility that the ice they are climbing may crack and take them down with it.

2. Free running. Free running is jumping from roof to roof at maximum speed. No ropes, no parachute, no insurance. Free running is practiced in urban areas that feature lots of railings and concrete walls for participants to jump, flip and tumble over in an acrobatic fashion. I call it run, jump, bleed.

3. Base jumping. Talk about insane! I don’t like looking down from a tall building, and I certainly have no desire to jump into the unknown from any height. Yes, I can remember when I was a kid and wanted to fly like superman, but a base jumper? No way. By the way, base-jumping is illegal in the U.S., unless it’s being performed by a professional at an event, so not only will you not get insurance, but you may end up in jail.

4. Heli-skiing. A skier is dropped from a helicopter onto fresh white powder in a remote section of the mountains, a place where there is no other way to get there. There’s a possibility of starting an avalanche or falling through an ice patch, and if you do, it may be near impossible to get rescued.

5. Street luge. Loosely described, this is the equivalent of lying on your skateboard and having your friend push you down Lombard Street in San Francisco. Riders on street luge boards can reach 70 mph.

6. Big-wave surfing. Surfers dream of riding the “big” wave and are willing to travel around the world to catch one, and by big I mean the 50-foot monster. What are the risks? Broken bones, drowning, shark attacks. No thanks. I will watch this on TV.

7. Cliff diving. Have you thought about jumping off a 90-foot cliff? Into water that will feel like concrete when you hit it? The biggest issue is not hitting the water, because you may hit the side of the cliff on the way down; or slam against the rocks in the ocean below you. You could also break a hip or incur a spinal cord injury by landing feet first in the water. If it was me, I would die of a heart attack on the way down.

So yes, there are sports for which only the very brave or foolish should participate in, but if you do, don’t expect to buy preferred-rated life insurance or perhaps any life insurance.

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6 Things You Didn’t Know About Long-Term Care Insurance

Unfortunately, some people hold certain misconceptions or have an unfavorable opinion of long-term care insurance, largely stemming from issues related to its early days. But that was then. Today, there are more options focusing on straightforward and flexible long-term care solutions. Let’s take a look.

1. You decide where care is received. One of the most common myths is that long-term care insurance only provides nursing home care, and nothing is further from the truth. It provides home care for those who prefer to “age in place,” as well as care at adult day care, assisted living facilities and hospice centers. In fact, most newly opened long-term care insurance claims are for home care, according to the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance (AALTCI).

2. Benefits can be tremendously flexible. In addition to options for where care is received, most long-term care insurance policies offer greater flexibility in the types of services available, such as home modifications like installing grab bars or a wheelchair ramp to help you stay at home longer and safer; or other care-related products and personal supplies, like a lift chair or hospital bed.

3. It supports family caregivers. Long-term care insurance recognizes the important role family caregivers play in long-term care situations by offering options that can make it easier for families to care for the ones who cared for them. Most policies provide caregiver training for family members, which helps ensure care recipients are getting the best care possible. Other policies go the extra mile by recognizing family caregivers, and even family friends who provide care, as informal caregivers, making their time and services reimbursable under the policy.

4. It offers shareability for couples. Many long-term care insurance policies offer an optional benefit commonly known as “shared care,” which allows couples to share their coverage and maximize their benefits. Here’s how it works: if one spouse exhausts his or her benefits, he or she can begin using the other spouse’s benefits. This provides couples with peace of mind knowing that their coverage will be there if care is needed for longer than expected. It typically also includes a built-in protection to ensure a surviving spouse can still receive long-term care insurance benefits.

5. It’s not “just for older people.” While it’s a critical part of retirement planning and important protection for your later years, the younger you are when you apply for long-term care insurance, the better. Age and health are two of the most important factors when applying, so applying at a younger age will help make it more affordable, and you are likely more insurable from a health perspective. Additionally, accidents and illnesses can happen at any age and include the need for extended personal care. Planning ahead can really pay off.

6. Long-term care insurance carriers paid $7.8 billion in benefits last year.According to AALTCI, carriers paid a record $7.8 billion in claim benefits to 250,000 individuals in 2014, up from $7.5 billion the previous year. You can interpret this number a couple of ways: People are living longer and more care is needed, or the cost of care is increasing, which are both true. But it also shows that long-term care insurance is working. It’s helping families provide care for their loved ones in a setting that they prefer and protecting their finances.

I encourage you to learn more about long-term care insurance and why it’s a critical piece of retirement planning. Ask your financial advisor about these and other features and how it has helped their clients like it helped 250,000 families last year.

You can also check out this Real Life Stories video about the Mollicone family, which does a great job of showing how long-term care insurance can protect a family’s finances, provide peace of mind, and lessen the impact of long-term care when it is needed.

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4 Financial Tips to Keep Your Family Safe

It’s tough to get our financial house in order, not because it’s especially hard, but because it’s … boring? Tedious? The last thing we want to spend time on? To remedy that, here are four tips that you can take on and accomplish:

1. Make sure you have life insurance—or enough of it. Do you really need life insurance? Well, answer this question to find out: Would your loved ones suffer financial if something happened to you? If the answer is yes, you need life insurance. Then comes the question, how much? There are a number of factors that go into calculating how much life insurance you might need. But it doesn’t have to be difficult. Instead, use thisonline Life Insurance Needs Calculator, and in just a couple of minutes you can have a working idea of the amount you need. If you already have life insurance, why not use this calculator to make sure you have enough!

And don’t let cost—or actually perceived cost—stop you from getting coverage. Did you know that 80% of people overestimate how much life insurance costs? And those under 25 think it’s four times more expensive than it actually is. Let’s frame it this way, say you’re 30 and in good health, a 20-year level term life insurance policy with $250,000 of coverage may cost around $13 a month. That’s the equivalent of a few Starbucks drive-through lattes. Here are a number of ways you can get coverage or search for an agent if you don’t have one.

Would you like to your ex-spouse to get your life insurance if something were to happen to you because you forgot to change the beneficiary on your policy?

2. Review your life insurance beneficiaries. Would you like your ex-spouse to get your life insurance if something were to happen to you because you forgot to change the beneficiary on your policy? Would you like the money to get tied up in court because you named your minor children as the beneficiaries? These are missteps that happen more than you think. Add to that the fact that people may have more than one policy—for example one through the workplace (a group policy) and one that they bought individually.

This is exactly the type of thing that a life insurance agent or advisor can help you with. And it won’t cost you anything to talk to them about it. Plus, if you’ve gone through tip #1, they can double check that the amount of coverage you came up with meets you needs. Also, it’s honestly a lot less hassle to have someone who knows what they’re doing help you out, and isn’t that what we’re trying to achieve here—get it done?

3. Don’t skip disability insurance. Many people aren’t really familiar with what disability insurance is and what it does. Basically, it replaces a portion of your income if you’re unable to work due to a disabling illness or injury. Why is that important? Think about how long you could make ends meet—pay rent or the mortgage and all your monthly bills if your paycheck suddenly disappeared. A Life Happens survey found that a majority of those who work wouldn’t make it more than a month before they’d have to make some serious financial sacrifices. Again, an online calculator can help; get started with this Disability Insurance Needs Calculator.

So, how do you get it? Your employer may offer disability insurance coverage through a group plan. If you’re not sure, contact your HR department or benefits manager to find out what kind of coverage you have (if any). If you don’t have coverage or need more than is offered through work, buying your own disability insurance policy is worth considering. Unlike group coverage, privately owned insurance stays with you even when you change jobs.

Also keep in mind that most people overestimate what the government will pay or cover if something were to happen. According to the National Safety Council, 73% of long-term disabilities are a result of an injury or illness that is not work-related and therefore wouldn’t qualify for Workers’ Compensation. And if you were hoping for Social Security disability benefits, know that about 45% of those who apply are initially denied, and those who are approved receive an average monthly benefit of around $1,100, which would leave you living at about the poverty level.

4. Automate your emergency fund. While not as fundamentally critical as the above tips, this will probably have the most impact on your day-to-day life. Everyone one of us runs into unexpected events that are costly—a major car repair, a leak in the roof, a job loss … the list, as you know, can seem endless. To give yourself peace of mind and bit of cushion, set aside a certain amount each month—it could be $50 or $500, depending on your financial situation—and have it automatically deposited into your savings account. If it’s easier to track, you could even keep it in a separate account. Then it becomes a no-brainer, because that money isn’t there for you to spend. In a year, if you chose one of the above amounts, you could have $600 or $6,000 stashed away!

These tips will set you on the path of ensuring that if the unforeseen happens, you and your family will be OK financially. And what’s worth more than your peace of mind?

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5 Steps to Make Sure Your Family Is Protected Financially

Have you ever thought about what would happen to your family if something happened to you? All of us have at one point or another, even if it was in the form a frantic mental love note sent to family members during bad airplane turbulence. But concern for protecting your family financially doesn’t have to turn to worry if you follow these steps.

1. Take a look at what financial security means for you. Just as “rich” means different things to different people, so does financial security. Start by asking yourself what would happen if the primary breadwinner died prematurely (that could be you or your spouse or partner). You’d want your loved ones to be OK financially, but does that mean having enough income … for a lifetime? … so they wouldn’t need to move out of your home and neighborhood? … enough money for your spouse or partner to transition to a job if they are a stay-at-home parent? … to provide for your kids through college or maybe just a portion and have them pay the rest? Once you’ve established that, you can move on to making sure a plan is in place.

2. Determine needs versus wants. They are not the same thing. You may want 100% financial security—to provide for your spouse for their lifetime and your kids through college, but can you afford it? Most of us don’t have savings to achieve this, which is where life insurance comes in. You’ll want enough money or death benefit that if invested at the current market rates (2%-4%) that you can generate your (or your spouse’s) missing income. That means you may need more life insurance than in the past. Before, the invested proceeds of $500,000 life insurance benefit could have replaced, a $50,000/year salary. Now you might need $1 million of coverage to achieve the same goal.

3. Look at the full picture. This isn’t just about life insurance—that’s just one piece of the formula. You need to look at all your assets such as money in retirement plans, your benefits packages, investments you might have, what money your family would be getting from Social Security, the life insurance you already have in place, etc.

In addition, people often have multiple families to care for with economic requirements that may be laid out in a divorce decree. Or they may have special needs children who will never be able to work. In that situation, a trust should be set up—funded with assets or death benefits—to create an income stream for as long as they live. Plus, many of us will have either adult children or our aging parents living with us now or in the future who we may be responsible for financially.

Once you have these numbers, you can figure out what the shortfall is—which can be funded with life insurance or more life insurance that you currently have. This doesn’t have to be a particularly difficult task to start. Use this online Life Insurance Needs Calculator, which has inputs for this type of information and can help you get a working idea of how much life insurance you might need to cover any shortfall.

4. Get help if you need it. Sometimes our need for life insurance is straightforward. Often, though, when we need to factor in special circumstances it can become more complicated. Insurance agents are there to help. That’s their job. They will sit down with you, at no cost or obligation, and go through these steps with you and then help you come up with a solution you can afford. You may “want” a permanent life insurance policy to secure your family’s financial future, but an agent may show you that what you “need” is really a term life insurance policy that you can afford without straining your budget or perhaps it is a combination of the two. If you don’t currently have an agent to work with, you can start with tips on finding one and our Agent Locator.

5. Don’t forget about disability insurance. If you and your family depend on your income, then you need to make sure you have disability insurance. Ask yourself honestly if you were sick or injured and unable to work, how long could you survive financially without your paycheck? In a survey that Life Happens did we found that most Americans would feel the pinch in a month or less. Keep in mind that Social Security pays disability benefits that average around $1,100 a month, and it can take a year—often much longer—to even get that payment.

Disability insurance pays you a portion of your income if you become sick or injured and unable to work. It may be offered as part of your benefits package through work, but be sure to double check with your HR department, and find out what percentage of your income is replaced (often 60% or less). You can also purchase an individual policy, which you own, and so isn’t dependent on your benefits package being reduced or even eliminated. To get a working idea of how much you might need, you can use thisDisability Insurance Needs Calculator. Again, this is something that an insurance agent can help you figure out as well.

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6 Reasons Single People May Need Life Insurance

Many people make the assumption that life insurance is for married couples and those with kids. While it is true that not all single people need life insurance, there are a number of reasons when it can make (really) good sense.

1. You have student loan debt. Many people assume that your debt dies with you, but that’s not always the case. While the loans through the federal government are discharged (aka forgiven) if you were to die, personal loans that have a cosigner are generally not. That means if your parents, for example, co-signed your student loan through a bank, they would be responsible for paying the rest of the loan if something happened to you. There are instances when the bank has called for the loan to be paid in full immediately following a death. You don’t want to leave your parents dealing with grief and loan payments.

2. You’re living with your significant other. When you’re living together, a lot becomes shared financial responsibility. Consider this example: You need both your incomes to meet the mortgage or rent where you’re living. Have you thought about what happens if one of you dies prematurely? Would the other partner have to sell up? Find a new place to live immediately? And this is just one example of many shared financial responsibilities couple have. Adequate life insurance is an easy answer to those questions.

If your parents co-signed your student loan through a bank, they’d be responsible for paying the rest of the loan if something happened to you.

3. You plan on having kids … someday. It may not be now, but when kids do come, so do the expenses and bills. According the USDA, it costs $245,340 to raise a child to age 18, and that’s without factoring in the cost of college. Getting life insurance in place now means you have coverage in place for when you do have a child. Plus, you protect your insurability for the future. … and that leads us to the next reason.

4. You’re young and healthy. Age and health are two major drivers of how much you’ll be paying for life insurance. Why not lock in a low price if you have both of those working for you? Did you know that a health 30-year-old can get a 20-year $250,000 term life insurance policy for about $13 a month? Doable, right? Don’t wait until a health issue or age puts life insurance out of your reach.

5. You know you’ll be taking care of family members in the future. This may mean aging parents or perhaps you have a special-needs sibling that you help care for and support financially. What would happen to them if something happened to you and your support disappeared? Life insurance can ensure that there is money in place to fund those needs into the future. This is where it might be wise to consider a permanent life insurance policy (one that’s there for your lifetime, as long as you pay your premiums).

6. It will pay for your funeral. No one likes to think about such things, but the truth is if you die, someone will have to pay for your funeral. You wouldn’t want to leave your parents, partner or other family members struggling with grief as well as paying for a funeral and burial, which can cost an average of $7,100.

Getting life insurance doesn’t have to be a daunting task. A life insurance agent can walk you through your options—free of charge. If you don’t have an agent to work with, click here for information on finding the right fit and one in your area.

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6 Money Mistakes 20-Somethings Make—and What to Do About Them

When we asked Helaine Olen, personal finance columnist at Slate.com and author ofThe Index Card, what she sees as one of the biggest stumbling blocks to financial well-being for 20-Somethings, student loans came to the fore.

The fact that many students today are forced to finance their higher education through debt means they begin adulthood waaaay in the red. But Olen says that 20-Somethings can take heart in one thing: “People in their 20s don’t make any mistakes that aren’t routinely made by people older than them!”

The thing to remember is that time is on your side. This means you’re young enough to recover from even the most spectacular financial failures. On the flip side, making good, informed choices now can have a huge impact on your lifestyle in the decades ahead.

Be smart and avoid these six common missteps:

1. Not taking the bull by the horns. “When you’re just getting started, you have to make a lot of decisions,” says financial advisor Woody Derricks of Partnership Wealth Management in Baltimore. “My grandmother told me, ‘Life can be frustrating when you’re young, because you make the least amount of money and need the most amount of things.” Keep these two principles in mind as you embrace the challenge:

• Protect your cash flow. Don’t run up new debt, advises Derricks, and that includes zero-interest loans on home furnishings.
• Understand the balancing act. It may be tight, but make sure you’re saving for short-term goals—such as an emergency fund—and long-term needs such as retirement, as well as maintaining adequate insurance protection.

2. Focusing too much on paying down student loans. No one likes debt, but many financial advisors say there are actually other things more important at this stage—see “Understand the balancing act” above.

“The worst thing people can do is pay off their student loans and then get in a situation where they have to run up their credit cards at 20% interest,” says Derricks. In contrast, student loan debt is typically low interest and often tax deductible.

Suffering a disability that keeps you out of work … can be financially catastrophic.

3. Not having disability insurance. Suffering a disability that keeps you out of work is far more likely than premature death, and it can be financially catastrophic, contributing to 62% of all personal bankruptcies, according to a study by the American Journal of Medicine. Yet only a third of Americans have any disability insurance, according to the 2016 Insurance Barometer Study by Life Happens and LIMRA. This type of insurance pays you a portion of your paycheck if you are sick or injured and unable to work.

If you think Social Security will step in to help, think again. Claims take at least a year to be processed, most applications are denied and the average payout if you qualify? Just $990 a month for those under 40, according to the Social Security Administration.

Fortunately, “young people can often get the majority of disability coverage they need through work at pretty reasonable rates,” says Derricks. Additionally, private disability insurance coverage can fill in any gaps, and follow you from job to job.

He cites the example of a younger client whose job involved manual labor. “She got pregnant, and it provided coverage throughout her pregnancy and the period initially thereafter. For her, it was really perfect for short-term coverage.”

4. Not having enough life insurance. When it comes to group life insurance, most people need more than what they can get through work, and they often qualify for better rates on their own. In fact, individual coverage costs far less than most people imagine, and it stays with you regardless of a job change.

Even if you don’t own a home or have dependents yet, consider anyone who would be financially impacted by your death—especially any co-signer on a loan, who would become responsible for paying it off. (Here are five more reasons you may want to consider it if you’re single.)

Second, consider that life insurance will probably never be cheaper for you than it is today, and that insurability is never a given. Lock in protection now, and your future self may thank you someday.

5. Not taking advantage of your employer benefits. If your employer matches 401(k) contributions, don’t leave their money on the table: Contribute up to at least the matching limit.

And those boring-sounding payroll deduction accounts? Use them to set aside thousands of dollars tax-free every year for uncovered health expenses, child care, commuter parking and mass transit. Will 2017 be your Year of LASIK?

6. Succumbing to wedding mania. “You want your wedding to be memorable,” says Derricks, “but I’ve been to a lot that were memorable and pretty incredible and the couple didn’t overspend.” Instead, think of your wedding day as your and your beloved’s first chance to avoid a major money mistake together.

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How Much Life Insurance Do You Really Need?

Some people equate life insurance with tragedy and death. In truth, life insurance is for the living. Without it, the sudden demise of a key breadwinner could leave a family stranded without the resources to maintain their lifestyle—or even retain their home.

Not so long ago, professionals recommended that families carry a life insurance policy with a death benefit of 10 times their annual household income. Today, however, in light of rising house prices in many parts of the country, spiraling college costs and low interest rates most advisors now recommend up to 20 times your household income.

Unfortunately, most American families are underinsured. The gap between what households have and what they need is nearly $320,000, according to LIMRA’s study Closing the Life Insurance Gap, 2015.

If you’d like to get a working idea of how much life insurance you may need (or how much more you may need), you can use our quick Life Insurance Needs Calculator.

A Cornerstone of Your Financial Plan
Life insurance is a cornerstone of your financial plan, for these reasons.

1. It provides income replacement. For most people, their most valuable economic asset is their ability to earn a living. If you have dependents, then you need to consider what would happen to them if they could no longer rely on your income. A life insurance policy can also help supplement retirement income, which can be especially useful if the benefits of your surviving spouse or domestic partner will be reduced after your death.

2. It covers outstanding debts and long-term obligations. Without life insurance, your loved ones must shoulder burial costs, credit card debts, and medical expenses not covered by health insurance using out-of-pocket funds. The policy’s death benefit might also be used to pay off a mortgage, supplement retirement savings, or fund college tuition.

3. It can be used for estate planning. The proceeds of a life insurance policy can be earmarked to pay estate taxes so that your heirs will not have to liquidate other assets to do so.

4. You can use it to support a charity of your choice. If you have a favorite charity, you can designate some or all of the proceeds from your life insurance to go to this organization.

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5 Ways Critical Illness Insurance Can Be a Financial Life Saver

It was a world-famous heart surgeon, Dr. Marius Barnard, who created critical illness insurance, as he saw how the financial stress that accompanied cancer, heart attack and stroke was killing his patients. This type of insurance typically gives you a lump-sum cash payment if you are diagnosed with one of the illnesses specified in your critical illness policy.

No matter how you’d use the money, critical illness insurance always does one thing: It reduces financial stress.

But one of the challenges of critical illness insurance is understanding the many ways you can use the benefit—the money paid out—if you ever need it. Here are some of the ways I have seen:

1. To pay for deductibles, copays and other out-of-pocket expenses related to health care. This is the most obvious use, especially as deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses for health insurance plans continue to increase.

2. Expenses not covered by health insurance like travel, hotels, babysitting, etc. I know a person who had a great health insurance plan. He was diagnosed with colon cancer. His doctor told him, “You need to go to MD Anderson.” Complicating the whole issue, he and his wife had just had a child. So, they took his father-in-law along to watch his son. He had to charge airfare, meals and the hotel costs to his credit card. Several years later, he was still paying off that credit card.

3. Income protection, especially for the self-employed. If a self-employed person has an income-protection plan, including disability insurance, it most likely will have a 90-day elimination period before benefits are paid. One self-employed person I know was diagnosed with cancer. She would take her chemo treatments on Fridays. Then she would use the weekend to recover and try to be back at work on Monday or Tuesday. She did not miss enough days from work to meet her elimination period. Did the cancer impact her income? Significantly!

4. Mortgage protection. Many people purchase life insurance so that if anything happens to them, the family’s home will be paid off and the family will be able to stay in the home. But what’s more likely to happen while paying on a mortgage—death or a critical illness? Depending on age, you could be as much as four times more likely to suffer a critical illness while paying a mortgage than to die.

Typically, insurance that covers from two to five years of mortgage payments will help significantly through the transition. A great thought-provoking question is, “Would it reduce your financial stress if you are diagnosed with cancer to know your mortgage will be paid for two years?”

5. Retrofit a home or car. I had a woman tell me that her husband had had a stroke. The couple had to take out a second mortgage to make modifications to their home, including a wheelchair ramp, significant changes to their bathroom, and the widening of doorways to accommodate the wheelchair.

No matter how you’d use the money, critical illness insurance always does one thing: It reduces financial stress. There is always emotional stress for a family with a family member who has a critical illness. Emotional stress increases directly with financial stress. A critical illness plan reduces the financial stress, which then reduces emotional stress. If you’d like to learn more about this important coverage, contact your insurance agent or advisor.

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How Does the Process of Buying Life Insurance Online Work?

Raise your hand if you believe life insurance is an important tool for most families’ financial planning portfolios.  While most of the population agrees that owning life insurance is essential, 18.7 million people are “stuck shoppers.”  These shoppers are those who know they should have life insurance, but don’t.  Many say they haven’t bought yet because life insurance is too difficult to understand.  Quotacy’s goal is to help those stuck shoppers get life insurance so they no longer have to fear that their loved ones will face financial devastation should they die prematurely.  We’re going to walk through the process of buying life insurance online through Quotacy and hopefully make it less

confusing.

1. Getting Quotes

At Quotacy, it’s easy to get a term life insurance quote.  Not only is it free to run as many quotes as you please, but you don’t even need to give us your contact information to do so.  Many online term life insurance websites advertise free quotes, but they make you pay by handing over your name, phone number, and email address upfront.  We don’t like forcing you to give up your private information just to see costs, so we don’t.

We designed our quoting tool to allow you to play with the numbers (insurance coverage amount and term length) until you find the perfect policy for you.  As you adjust the coverage amount and term, your quoted price adjusts accordingly so you know what you are paying for.

2. Choosing a Policy

After you have adjusted the quote to fit your needs, you’ll be given policy options from the top insurance carriers.  The prices of each policy are displayed so you know what you are applying for.  Quotacy’s licensed agents are salaried employees, not commission-based, so if it works best in your budget to pick the cheapest policy, then you go right ahead.  We will not try to convince you to spend more.

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When Should You Purchase Life Insurance?

No one wants to admit that they could die prematurely. But the last thing you want is to not have the proper life insurance policy in place should disaster strike.

Danny Kofke, a special education teacher in Jackson County, Ga., knew he needed life insuranceshortly after getting married 12 years ago. He and his wife, Tracy, were planning to have children, and they wanted Tracy to be able to stay home for at least a year to raise the child. "Since we would be depending on my teacher's salary alone to get by, we took out an insurance policy for each of us," Danny Kofke says.

The couple's 10-year term life insurance policy covered them for $250,000 each, which equated to a $24.50 monthly fee per person. "It gave us both peace of mind," Danny Kofke says. "We treated it like having automobile insurance. I never want to have to use it, but it's comforting to have it there." The Kofkes, however, had to take out another 10-year term life insurance policy this year since the old one expired.

Although the length of the original policy wasn't right for their needs, the Kofkes wisely opted for a term life insurance policy over whole life insurance. The difference between whole and term—the two basic types of life insurance—is that whole is a lifelong policy with an added investment component to it, wherein you can build up cash tax-free. However, the built-in fees, commissions, and surrender charges (in the event you cancel the policy) take such a significant chunk out of your investment that most personal-finance experts agree there are better places to invest your money. Whole life insurance plans also typically carry premiums that are up to 10 times that of term insurance. Meanwhile, with term life insurance, in exchange for fixed premiums that you pay monthly, quarterly, or annually, you are covered for a set number of years and only receive death benefits.

While some life insurance agents aim to guide you toward whole life insurance over term life insurance (whole means more commission for them), term makes more sense for most people, says Tony Steuer, a life insurance consultant and author of Questions and Answers on Life Insurance: The Life Insurance Toolbox. "Term coverage is the appropriate coverage for most individuals, as their needs are for a certain term of years while their other assets accumulate, such as retirement savings," he says.

Robert Miller, president of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, agrees with Steuer that term insurance is usually the best route. "I've always believed in insuring up to the point that you need insurance," he says. "You can do that with term insurance and it comes out to be far cheaper."

Steuer recommends guaranteed level premium term insurance, where the premium is set at a fixed rate for a specific period of time. "I match the length of the term period to the anticipated period of need," he says. "For example, with a 2-year-old child and a client purchasing a 20-year guaranteed-level premium term to take care of the child, that would provide coverage until the child is 22."

There are a few select circumstances where you might be better off with whole life insurance. For example, if you have children who are handicapped and will be financially dependent on you their whole lives, you may want to consider the permanent coverage.

Americans struggling with their finances in today's downtrodden economy may think they can save money by skimping on life insurance. Approximately 30 percent of U.S. households have no life insurance coverage, according to a 2010 study conducted by LIMRA, an insurance industry research outfit. And among households with children under 18, 11 million have no coverage.

But for parents who still have children living at home, not having a life insurance policy could put their kids at risk if something were to happen to them. In the event the parents die, a life insurance policy can provide a safety net for the children to live off of.

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What is a beneficiary?

Your life insurance policy should have both “primary” and “contingent” beneficiaries. The primary beneficiary gets the death benefits if he or she can be found after your death. Contingent beneficiaries get the death benefits if the primary beneficiary can’t be found. If no primary or contingent beneficiaries can be found, the death benefit will be paid to your estate.

As part of naming beneficiaries, you should identify them as clearly as possible and include their social security numbers. This will make it easier for the life insurance company to find them, and it will make it less likely that disputes will arise regarding the death benefits. For example, if you write "wife [or husband] of the insured" without using a specific name, an ex-spouse could claim the death benefit. On the other hand, if you have named specific children, any later-born or adopted children will not receive the death benefit—unless you change the beneficiary designation to include them.

Besides naming beneficiaries, you should specify how the benefits are to be handled if one or more beneficiaries can’t be found. For example, suppose you have two children and you name each one to receive half of the death benefit. If one of the children dies before you do, do you want the other child to get the entire death benefit, or the deceased child’s heirs to get his or her share?

If the death benefit goes to your estate, probate proceedings could delay distributing the money, and the cost of probate could diminish the amount available to your heirs.

Choosing beneficiaries, and keeping those choices up-to-date, is an important part of owning life insurance. The birth or adoption of a child, marriage or divorce can affect your initial choice. Review your beneficiary designation as new situations arise in order to make sure your choice is still appropriate.

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