Archive for July, 2010

Exotic Mortgage

July 31, 2010 at 4:29 pm

With real estate prices ever on the rise, first-time home buyers are facing more difficulties in buying a home. Who ever thought they’d buy a $500,000 starter home?

Mortgage lenders have acknowledged the problem by creating new and innovative mortgage products, mostly designed to lower the borrowers’ payments in the first few years of the mortgage. Many of these products allow borrowers to buy homes that they traditionally couldn’t afford, but they aren’t without risk.

The latest and most exotic mortgages out there include:

1. The 40-Year Mortgage
2. The Portable Mortgage
3. The Interest-Only Mortgage
4. The Negative Amortization Mortgage
5. The Flex-ARM Mortgage
6. The Piggy Back Mortgage
7. 103s and 107s
8. Home Equity Line of Credit
9. Loan Modification Mortgage
10. Short-Term Hybrids

1. The 40-Year Mortgage

This is similar to a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, except the payment is being stretched over an extra 10 years. The lender will charge a slightly higher interest rate, as much as half a percentage point.

A 40-year mortgage gives you lower monthly payments than a 30-year loan, while allowing you to lock in today’s interest rate. If you buy a $300,000 mortgage at a 6.25% interest rate, you could be saving $95 each month in payment.

But by extending the length of the mortgage, you are increasing the amount of interest paid on the loan. For a $300,000 mortgage, a home buyer will spend an additional $170,030 in interest with a 40-year mortgage.

These mortgages are best suited for first-time home owners who don’t plan to live in the home for more than a few years. If they can’t afford the higher payment of a 30-year mortgage, the 40-year may give a good start to home ownership.

2. The Portable Mortgage

E*Trade has a program called Mortgage on the Move. It allows a home buyer to lock in a low interest rate and then take the rate with them to their next home in a few years. A second mortgage can be used if the buyer needs to borrow more money for the new home.

When interest rates are low – and looking to rise – locking in a rate for the next 30 years is attractive.

But interest rates for portable and second mortgages are higher than for standard loans. You may be looking at paying to a percentage point more than on a typical 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

This product is good for those who know they will move in a few years, but still want to lock in a low rate.

3. The Interest-Only Mortgage

With an interest-only mortgage, the lender allows the borrower to pay only the interest for the first so many years of a mortgage. After the grace period, the loan essentially becomes a new mortgage with the interest and principal being stretched only the remaining years. For example, you may pay no principal for the first ten years, and then pay the principal and interest for 20 years.

This gives you a smaller monthly payment during the interest-only repayment period, and during this time, all the money being paid is tax deductible.

But if home prices don’t rise, your equity won’t build during the interest-only years. When your principal-payment period begins, the monthly payments will jump significantly. Most of these loans feature variable interest rate, which puts you at risk for even higher monthly obligations.

This type of mortgage is great if you know for sure that your income will rise significantly in the next few years. Interest-only loans are also a good fit for professionals who receive large bonuses as part of their pay. They can pay interest during most of the year and then put the bonus towards the principal.

4. The Negative Amortization Mortgage

This interest-only type of mortgage allows a buyer to pay less than the full amount of interest. The difference between the full interest payment and the amount actually paid is added to the balance of the loan.

This gives you the option of a much smaller monthly payment during the first years of a loan.

But, this is probably the most risky mortgage available. If the value of your home falls, you will easily be upside down in your load. You would owe more money on the house than it is worth.

These loans are great for those with large cash reserves who need to make lower payments during certain parts of the year, but can pay off the difference in large chunks at other times.

5. The Flex-ARM Mortgage

This is a cross between a hybrid ARM, which offers a low fixed interest rate for the first five to seven years and then adjusts annually, and a negative amortization loan. Each month you receive a coupon that gives you four possible payment options: negative amortization, interest-only payment, 30-year fixed and 20-year fixed. The homeowner decides how much he wants to pay.

The bank handles all of the calculations for you. But if not used wisely, you could owe more on your mortgage than your home is worth.

A Flex-ARM is good for those who prefer to have options. The borrower should have large cash reserves for when the mortgage payments enter the later part of the loan. Like interest-only loans, they are great for those who receive bonuses during the year.

6. The Piggy-back Mortgage

This is actually two mortgages, one on top of the other. The first mortgage covers 80% of the property’s value. The second covers the remaining balance at a slightly higher interest rate.

In most cases, borrowers choose a piggy-back mortgage because it allows them to put less than 20% down and still avoid paying private mortgage insurance. The money that would be used towards private mortgage insurance is now tax deductible as interest paid.

Homeowners should expect to pay a higher interest rate on a second mortgage. The rates you pay vary greatly depending on your credit score. Since the borrower has very little equity in the home, there is the fear of the home losing value and the borrower owing more than they can sell it for.

Piggy-back mortgages are a good fit for young professionals with reasonably high salaries, but no savings.

7. 103s and 107s

You may not need to save for a down payment at all. You could borrow 3% or 7% more than your home is even worth.

These loans give you the option of borrowing money needed for closing costs and moving costs. You can include it all in the mortgage.

The interest rates for these mortgages are high. You run the risk of negative equity if your home loses value.

If you have large cash reserves that work better for you in the stock market than in investing in your home, you may want to look at this type of mortgage.

8. Home Equity Line of Credit

These aren’t just for those who own a home! They are commonly known as HELOCs, and they can finance an original home purchase using a credit line instead of a traditional mortgage. HELOCs are variable-rate mortgages tied to the prime rate. If you use this mortgage as your first mortgage, all of the interest is tax deductible. You simply make a down payment, and the HELOC pays the remainder. You can usually use one for up to 90% of the home’s appraisal value. For a higher interest rate, you may qualify for 100%.

HELOCs can offer more attractive interest rates. You can also use the equity you build in your home at any time.

HELOCs are usually structured for 10 to 20 years, instead of 30. The interest rate is variable, which means that your payment can rise at any time.

If you want to pay off your home quickly, but need the ability to access your equity at any time, you might consider a HELOC as your primary mortgage.

9. Loan Modification Mortgage

This mortgage allows you to change your terms whenever you want, all you have to pay is a $1,000 closing cost for every million dollars borrowed. No paperwork is necessary; all you have to do is make a phone call.

You can expect to pay about 3/8th of a percentage point higher interest rate.

People who like to follow interest rates can call and have their rate changed when interest rates are down. But borrower’s must take into consideration the closing fees charged each time they modify their mortgage. Many customers with this type of mortgage have financial planners who manage the mortgage.

10. Short-Term Hybrids

These mortgages are much like traditional hybrid ARMs with fixed-rate periods and then interest rate that floats. But the fixed portion on a short-term hybrid is for a very limited time, for example, six months to a year. Lenders offer very competitive rates on these mortgages.

The interest rates are very low for the fixed portion of the loan, making the initial monthly payments relatively small.

But six months or a year is not a very long period of time, but rates can change dramatically in just that amount of time.

People who plan to flip a house or move in a very short period of time are good candidates for a short-term hybrid ARM.

Guidance for Retirees on Managing Investments

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July 29, 2010 at 1:45 am

Financial media have put so much focus in recent years on how investors can accumulate wealth for retirement that they often have overlooked what investors should do once they actually retire.

But with the first wave of baby boomers turning 60 next year, retirees’ abilities to manage their assets will become a much bigger issue.

As financial planning becomes more complex – and as workers become increasingly responsible for funding their own retirements – investors would be wise to seek advice about navigating the retirement waters.

American Century Investments has developed an award-winning, 21-page booklet, “Manage Your Investments During Retirement,” that helps guide investors through various issues as they approach and enter retirement, including:

* building a retirement portfolio;

* managing income sources, from retirement savings to Social Security benefits;

* forecasting expenses for health care and long-term care;

* determining annuity payments and withdrawal strategies for all accounts, including taxable and tax-deferred accounts;

* calculating a withdrawal rate.

American Century also is launching additional retirement planning and investing tools for investors in all stages of retirement.

These new services will help investors develop retirement plans, invest their retirement portfolios and manage their retirement incomes. Investors can work with an experienced investment consultant or work on their own online to take advantage of these new services.

These retirement services are part of American Century’s On Plan Investing approach – providing guidance tailored to investors’ needs to help them meet their most important financial goals – available at no additional cost.

Understanding How Interest Rates Work

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July 28, 2010 at 9:00 am

Interest rates are a complex subject. In some cases you will want them to be high, in others you’ll want them to be as low as possible. But, what they are is not something that you or I can change. It is determined on many things especially on the way the economy is moving. So, how much you will pay for that car or the home you wanted and how much you will make on your savings accounts is determined by interest rates and factors that you can not control.

But, there are many ways in which you can do well with interest rates. One of the most important things that the average consumer can do to lower interest rates that will effect them is to simply shop around. There are many deals to be had when it comes to these rates. You should consider looking not only at your bank and those in your area but also (and especially) at the banks and lending institutions on the web. You can truly save money by shopping around.

It also helps considerably to get a low interest rate if you have good credit. While this is not something that you can instantly fix, it is something worth working for. Improving credit by lowering debt and making payments on time helps to increase your credit worthiness. This is very important when it comes to banks and lending institutions in determining whether or not you are a good risk to take.

But, how are interest rates set? For the most part, the determination of what the rates are has a lot to do with what the Federal Reserve says it should be. This determination is based on many things but one of the largest is the economy. Should the economy be doing well, interest rates tend to go up to help increase profitability and allow your savings dollar to do more. Likewise, when the economy is doing poorly, it is necessary for the interest rates to fall slightly to help encourage people to open new businesses and purchase more homes. This will then strengthen the economy in the long run.

Being smart about interest rates is essential to living a profitable life.

Online Accounting

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July 26, 2010 at 8:08 am

Accounting in USA has seen lots of change. There was a time when the accounting was more of book keeping done in huge ledgers and was the purview of select few. Its not so anymore. Accounting is much more widely accepted as a business function and general people also look for the accounting details of the firms they are associated with. Also lot more transparency is required now. Keeping in line with the development of IT and other technologies, the accounting is also now based on internet and has taken wide strides. Online accounting services, viewed as merely experimental only a few years ago are now becoming the run away business.

As such accounting industry as been little slow to adopt the newer technology and has not left fully its love for the pen and pencil work.

The SU accounting industry has seen new trend of outsourcing its work now. All these have forced the industry to adopt the Online Accounting. The internets as well as other technologies are used now to build more efficient book keeping systems. Also its becoming more cost efficient for larger firms to outsource the work. Outsourcing is very much easier with work being delivered online. Its much more cost effective as well as fast also.

The shift from the practice where clients paid the accounting firms as per the billable hours to a fixed fee based system is forcing the accounting firms to deliver efficient work in cost effective manner. This means that they can not any longer cover their inefficient work by merely putting in more time into the projects. This has favored the Online accounting practices much. Value billing has forced accounting professionals to become more efficient.

Online accounting very effectively cuts short the time taken to transfer the time taken by information exchange between the clients and accounting firm. The seamless transfer is far more efficient and much faster. The accounting firm has dynamic access to the sourcing documents of the clients firms and can access anytime any information it requires from its clients side. The online accounting system also allows the accounting firm access to client data from far away locations at the a few clicks on the internet. The time sensitive financial data is readily available to the accounting firm.

Other then the speed and cost of services, online accounting enables better customer service and more reliability and trust. Accounting firms recently have been exposed as in cahoots with some very big clients, committing serious financial crimes. In this scenario the new practice builds more transparency also.

The online accounting practice also provide for more timely communication between the firm and clients. Since the client has more immediate access to information and to time sensitive documents with Online Accounting practices, questions and problems can be more easily identified and resolved. This translates into increased profits as well as happier clients!!

Since the clients get better service, they get more value for the money they spend. It is generally quite cheaper for the business owner to outsource the bookkeeping and accounting than to hire and supervise it in-house. Savings for the business owner can be as much as 30% for some clients! Online Accounting is great for such services.

The accounting firms also charge now a fee (fixed on a monthly basis) almost five times the average monthly fee (based on billable hours) they charged earlier.

Generally the various online accounting processes available are customized for their users where they can choose the menu of features they like.

Online Accounting is an excellent tool for accounting and book keeping, one that is help full for both the accounting firms as well as the clients.

Get in Control of Your Credit Card Debt

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July 24, 2010 at 7:51 am

Few people would deny that using credit cards can make day to day life more simple, reducing the need to carry cash and making it easy to shop online and by telephone.

However, spending with plastic can sometimes be a little too easy, as it doesn’t always feel like you’re actually parting with any cash. This means the temptation is to spend without thinking about the consequences too carefully, until you hear the ominous thud of a huge credit card bill hitting the doormat.

If you’ve been caught out like this, the size of your card debt may seem overwhelming, but don’t panic – there are a few simple steps you can take to start getting your debt back under control.

Try and make a little more than the minimum payments:

The minimum payments required by credit card companies have steadily fallen over the years. Where once it was typical to have to repay a minimum of 5% of your balance every month, it’s now common to only have to pay 2.5% or 3%. With repayments this small in proportion to your debt, a large chunk of each payment gets swallowed up in interest charges. Depending on the APR rate of your card, up to 75% of each payment could be ‘lost’ in this way, meaning that it takes a very long time for your balance to reduce to any great extent.

By trying to repay more than the minimum, even if only by a little, you can speed this process up, and in the long term you’ll end up paying much less in interest charges.

Prioritize your card debts:

If you have more than one card with different rates of interest, it makes sense concentrate on the one with the highest interest charges. This means not just the one with the highest interest rate, but the one which actually charges you most each month, which could have a lower rate but a higher balance.

Check your statements to see which card is costing you most in interest each month, and try to focus on repaying this card first by putting any spare cash you have into extra payments while keeping to the minimums on your other cards.

Change your card:

The credit card market is very competitive, and rates have fallen over the last few years. You may be stuck with an old card charging an old rate that is much higher than newer cards. If you can get a new card with a lower rate and transfer your account balance on to it, you could save a lot in interest charges, helping you to bring down your debt. If you can get a card with an introductory rate on balance transfers then all the better – you’ll get a few months of interest free credit which you can use to really drive down your balance as 100% of each repayment will be helping to clear your debt.

Debt consolidation:

If getting a cheaper card isn’t an option or isn’t something you feel happy about, then maybe a consolidation loan would be worth considering. If you take out a loan and use the money to pay off all your card debts, you could benefit from a lower rate as loans are normally quite a bit cheaper than credit cards.

The downside to these loans is that the repayment period might be quite long, and so even though your monthly repayments will hopefully be lower, you’ll stay in debt for longer and so end up paying more in interest. Done carefully, however, consolidation can be a sound move if there’s little chance of clearing your debt in any other way.

Watch your spending!

All the above strategies for getting your debt under control will only work if you stop getting deeper into debt – and this means stopping spending on your cards. Ideally, you’d cut them up so that you can’t use them again, but this might not be realistic as you may need to keep them as a credit option in an emergency. In any case, cutting your spending to an absolute minimum will keeping your repayments as high as possible is the only sure strategy to clearing your debt in the long term.

UK Finance and Auditing Regulatory bodies

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July 23, 2010 at 3:56 pm

The role of the regulatory bodies in the UK Financial dealings is very important. We cannot neglect their role in UK Finance. There are many regulatory bodies for UK Finance and Auditing. Some of them are mentioned here.

A non-governmental independent organization called the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is available in the UK. This UK Finance company is funded by the financial services industry. The policies, plans, and rules of the UK Finance company are transparent and open. It is funded by the companies that it regulates. The website of this organization has information for consumers on their rights and regulation. It also gives information on the financial products available. The financial services industry in the UK is regulated by FSA. They have enforcement powers and investigative powers. They have the power to regulate deposit taking, Insurance investments, and Mortgage lending and general insurance advice.

Financial Ombudsman Service is another organization the helps the customers to solve any UK Finance disputes with the financial firms in UK. Complaints about Banking services, credits cards, endowment policies, health and private medical insurance, mortgages, motor insurance, and National Savings & Investments can be done with the assistance of Financial Ombudsman Service. They also help you on complaints about savings plan and accounts, stocks and shares, and travel insurance. For more details on the types of coverage that is done by them you can visit their website. Before you approach them for resolving the issues it is better you complaint to the concerned organization first. If the problem is not solved by the organization then you can approach the Financial Ombudsman Service for assistance.

The public trust office is another regulatory body related to UK Finance that helps people to control their money and property. The audit commission is another independent regulatory body that is responsible for monitoring whether the public money is spent economically and efficiently. Effective spending is monitored in government services, housing and health services. Fire and rescue services and criminal justice services are also monitored for spending of the UK Finance. The audit commission works closely with the Deputy Prime Ministers office, Department of Health and the National Assembly for Wales. They aim is to achieve excellence in their work. They support local democracy and public accountability. You can reach this office in Millbank tower, Millbank, London. Visit their website for the latest news and events.

Bona Vacantia is an organization that is responsible for administering the estates of person who die without any heirs. The assets of companies and trusts that have failed are also collected by the Bona Vacantia. They also provide assistance to companies and estates. This division does these works with cost effective casework. This work is done within the legislative and legal constraints. They work in business like manner. The dealing is mostly open and informative all through the case.

The National Audit Office is another regulatory body that monitors the public spending on behalf of the Parliament. This office is lead by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The taxpayer is saved by their work.

Does Paying Points on a Mortgage Make Sense?

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July 22, 2010 at 9:30 pm

You’ve found your dream home and are now ready to start shopping for a mortgage. Several lenders have talked about points. You’ve heard that paying points is the only way to get a low interest rate. But is increasing your initial costs worth getting a lower rate?

For most people, paying points doesn’t make sense. Points, also called discount points or origination fees, are each worth one percent of the loan amount. They are paid to the lender at closing.

Paying points basically allows the borrower to buy down the interest rate.

Points became popular in the early 1980s when mortgage rates were in excess of 15%. Most people could not afford the monthly payments that come with such high interest rates. Lenders began offering discounted rates at a certain fee. Sellers often paid the points in order to sell their properties. This gave buyers affordable mortgages and owners were able to sell their homes.

Times are different now. Interest rates are reasonable. There isn’t a large need to pay a lot of money up front in order to get a lower rate.

Let’s look at the numbers. You have contracted to purchase a home for $240,000. You have the 20% down, which leaves you with a mortgage of $192,000.

You find a 30-year fixed rate mortgage at 6.5% with two points. For closing, you will need to pay $3,840 ($192,000 x 2%) for the points.

The lender can also offer you a rate of 7% with no points.

What do you choose? The lower rate or the lower closing?

At 6.5% you will have a monthly principal and interest payment of $1,207. At 7% your payment increases to $1,270 each month. That’s a difference of $63 per month. If you are looking for a monthly payment reduction, it’s not really a significant one.

It will take you 61 months ($3,840 divided by $63) to recoup your points payment in the form of a lower payment. This is your payback period. But if you had the $3,840 still, it could be earning interest in the bank. If it gets 3% interest in the bank, it would earn about $10 per month. If you pay points, this is interest lost, so subtract $10 from your $63 per month savings. Now divide $53 into $3,840, and your payback period increases to 72 months — six years.

So you have to live in your home for at least six years in order to take advantage of the savings that paying points gives you. Most people don’t keep a mortgage for six years. Unless you are absolutely sure you will live in the home for the time period necessary to recoup your points, you should probably invest your money instead of putting towards points.

If you are looking at paying points in order to reduce your monthly housing payment, you may want to look at a less expensive property. Sixty dollars worth of savings isn’t a lot if you have a tight budget. Chances are that if you have a tight budget to start with, finding extra money for closing would be difficult. And don’t forget, taking out a side loan to get the money to pay points with is defeating the purpose.

Finance Your Childs Education Stress Free

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July 17, 2010 at 8:00 am

In 2002, the average annual cost for a public university was $9,338. It is estimated that by 2017, the average annual cost will be $19,413. And thats just for tuition and credit fees. Lets not forget about room and board, books, food, clothes and extra activities.

With those figures it mind, it would be wise to start planning for your childs education today.

You already know about loans and scholarships but those arent the only options. You dont have to go into debt! There are several choices to help you prepare for your childs future.

529 Plans

A 529 or qualified tuition program is a (federal) tax-free investment plan that allows families to save for their childrens college educations.

Each state has its own 529 plan and you do not have to be a resident of a particular state to invest in that state’s plan.

The 2 types of plans include:

Prepaid Tuition Plans These plans allow you to pay for your childs in-state tuition at todays prices. These accounts are low-risk and they are guaranteed to match or exceed in-state inflation. However, these plans are often limited to state residents and the cost may not be covered if your child decides to attend an in-state private university.

Education Savings Accounts- Or college savings plans are investment accounts whose value fluctuates with the market. They can be used at eligible public and private universities- there are no residency requirements. Additionally, some plans have high contribution limits per beneficiary and you can contribute up to $11,000 per year without paying a gift tax.

Savings Accounts

Even if your child only has a few years until its time to go to college, its never too late to begin saving. Determine where you can cut costs and put that money into a high-interest savings account.

For example, instead of buying 2 video games as a birthday present, buy one and put the extra money into a savings account. What about Christmas and Hanukkah? Sure, its fun to open presents but I guarantee that the novelty of those gifts will soon be forgotten and later on your child will thank you for making sure that their education was financed in a stress-free way.

Here is a tip: look for a FDIC insured bank that is based online. These banks offer higher interest rates because they dont have the operating overhead of having branches. The work the same way as a regular bank except that there is no physical branch. You deposit money through your current checking account and receive monthly statements either via email or through the mail.

Mortgage rates are lower than last year and may help

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July 15, 2010 at 8:53 pm

Mortgage rates are lower than last year and may help you

Mortgage rates are expected to keep dropping in anticipation of the Federal Reserve meeting in the last week of April, as a result of extremely low builder and buyer confidence in the market, and extremely weak housing starts. Everyone is betting that rates will be cut- yet again. This could be good news for people being squeezed by large mortgage payments looking to refinance, or for families who want to reduce their long term interest burden by moving into a shorter term mortgage. However, financial professionals need to be contacted to determine if the benefits of refinancing will override the costs. Often times, lenders require that points, which translate into dollars, be paid, before a loan can be refinanced. Sometimes, this may make any subsequent interest savings negligible, depending on the length of time required to pay off the loan entirely.

Fifteen year fixed rate mortgages may begin to move below 5.4% , almost 50 basis points lower than where they were a year ago. Thirty year fixed rate mortgages are also lower than last year by just over 30 basis points. People looking to get into, or refinance, fixed rate obligations may benefit from more favorable interest rates depending on their lending institution and loan terms. Even though rates are more favorable than last year, individuals may not necessarily be able to benefit from them if their credit history has deteriorated since owning a home.

Often times, moving into a home creates an increase in credit card bills, due to the furnishing of the new home with credit. People put everything from new sofa sets to wallpaper on credit cards, after getting a home, and often don’t think about whether or not they will actually be able to service the debt. If this sounds like something you may have done, it is a good idea to examine your credit reports from all of the credit reporting agencies before you go into refinance a loan. Financial institutions are able to collect every ounce of data relating to your ability to pay of debts, and they will use everything legally possible to measure you as a borrowing risk. Make sure that you are able to offer them a low risk client with promising payback potential.

If you are interested in just getting your first home loan, some credit moves that you have made in anticipation of getting a new house may not have been a good idea. If you recently got new credit cards, to pay for new home supplies, that may hurt your credit score. Your credit score takes into account credit inquiries, and credit outstanding relative to credit limits. Depending on your debt load, taking out that new credit card, or maybe two new ones, may have been the worst thing you could have done when it comes to trying to obtain the most competitive mortgage rates.

To Watch Over When Im Gone

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July 12, 2010 at 11:03 am

Life insurance is a way to provide financial security to your family after you pass away. For many, life insurance is a necessity, as costs of funerals or even medical treatments during life can drain funds that might otherwise have been used to provide security to the surviving family members. Deciding on life insurance is very important and should not be taken lightly. That being said, deciphering all the technicalities of a policy can be difficult, particularly to the many of us who dont have any type of legal training.

Anyone who provides for a family should look at life insurance. You simply never know when an accident, a freak occurrence, or just plain health will cause you to die, possibly much younger than anyone would have expected. If you provide for a family, or even just a spouse, you should look at life insurance, since it may not only help cover funeral costs (which shock many people who have never had to deal with them) but also provide money to your family after you die. The amount of money they receive is dependant on how large a life insurance policy you choose to purchase. The money that your policy leaves them can help to pay the mortgage (or rent), run the household, and ensure that your dependents are not burdened with debt from the funeral. Another thing to seriously consider: there is no federal income tax on life insurance benefits.

The best place to start is to figure out what exactly your familys needs would be if you were to suddenly pass away. Make sure to include expenses for the funeral, estate taxes (if you own property), and any medical bills, as well as any ongoing expense like utility, retirement savings, food, car, etc. This will give show you why a policy might be in order for far more than you would otherwise originally consider. Many people do not realize what their actual expenses over several years would be. There is no true way of deciphering a tried and true method of figuring out how large a policy you should take out. Several insurance companies recommend aiming for an amount that is roughly equivalent to six or seven times your annual income.

One real thing to watch out for is what type of life insurance you receive. Almost all life insurance is either considered permanent insurance or there is also term insurance. Term insurance provides protection for only a certain period of time, while permanent insurance provides life time protectionbut there are benefits and drawbacks to both. Do your research to figure out which one would work best from you and go from there.

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