Best Easy Personal Loans Online

By Susheela Bhat, Life Quotes, Inc.

First the good news: if you’ve picked up a little weight over the winter, chances are your life insurance won’t be too badly affected. Any more than that, then you’ll have to cut the fat, or your insurers will charge you for it.

The bad news is, as a nation, we’re getting fatter. This is a huge problem for the life insurance companies, because obesity leads to a host of other serious health problems.
What’s the cost of being obese in insurance premiums?

“People who are obese are at a higher risk for serious conditions like heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis (a common joint disorder) and certain kinds of cancers,” said Dr. Don Behan, Senior Research Associate at Georgia State University’s Center for Risk Management and Insurance Research. “When insurers are evaluating a person, his or her length of life is often discussed in terms of life expectancy. Mortality depends on age, gender, health status, habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol and participation in dangerous activities. Mortality rates may be estimated on the basis of these characteristics.”

Obesity is determined by the amount of body fat a person has relative to their muscle, bone and organ tissue. The sum of body mass is a simple mathematical calculation determined on your height and weight, and compared to a standardized body mass index (BMI) chart. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list an overweight adult having a BMI between 25 and 29.9. An obese adult would have a BMI of 30 or higher.

Hypothetically speaking, if a male nonsmoker, age 55 wanted to get about $250,000 of life insurance and had a BMI of 38, he would be paying an estimated annual premium of $4,256. If a 55-year-old nonsmoker male with a BMI under 30 wanted the same amount of life insurance, he would pay $3,767 annually, according to Dave Redpath, Assistant Vice President of Underwriting at Hartford Life. While these are estimated numbers the fact remains; the higher the BMI, the harder your wallet will get hit—not just for life insurance, but paying for potential health problems down the line.
Women at risk

Now for the worse news: If you are an obese female, you are at higher risk for endometrial, breast and colon cancer.

“Adult females seem to be impacted more by obesity than males when it comes to certain cancers, because there hasn’t been a link between prostate cancer and obesity,” said Behan.

Although some experts believe BMI is not the best way to measure if a person is obese, “It is possible for a person to have an ‘unhealthy BMI’ because they are very muscular, but in a general population, this is an exception to the rule and BMI is a good standardized tool to gauge healthy weight,” said Behan, who also said life insurance companies would not use BMI as a sole measurement, but would also take into account things like family history and body fat percentage.

If you would like to know your BMI, you can check out the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute’s free Body Mass Index Calculator.

To get low cost life insurance and avoid potentially devastating medical bills in the future, the answer is fairly straightforward. A healthy diet, exercise and a healthy weight are the best way to go. Also, if you join a wellness program at work or hire a personal trainer to lose weight, document your progress and tell your insurer. This will help your agent evaluate a fair assessment of your current health status, and could land you in a lower rate category. Keep in mind, that folks who are underweight can also be charged higher rates for insurance, said Redpath. The key to getting good rates is obtaining a healthy bodyweight.

While nothing beats a well-made hamburger, you’re generally better off grilling out at home than heading to a restaurant to get your burger fix. Like many delectable items found on a restaurant menu, the hidden calories in restaurant burgers can have you eating twice as much than you would normally in one sitting. So before you sink your teeth into that juicy piece of meat read this list of the top 7 worst burgers in America and weigh your options.

*Note: The nutrition information was verified using the nutrition charts of each restaurant.

#1: Denny’s Smokin’ Q Three Pack With a combined 2,020 calories, 110 g fat (22 g saturated, 3 g transfats) and 3,570 mg sodium, this “little” snack stacks up to being the equivalent of three meals, with more than the daily requirements of fat and sodium in each bite.

#2: Cheesecake Factory Ranch House Burger This monster of sautéed onions and bacon weighs in at a staggering 1,941 calories, 48 g saturated fat, and 2,877 mg of sodium. Not as bad as the #1 contender, but when compared to the Cheesecake Factory’s alternative; The Factory Burger, with its 737 calories, 15 g saturated fat and 1,638 mg sodium it looks a little obscene.

#3: Chili’s Jalapeno Smokehouse Bacon Burger Although compared to its predecessors above, this burger’s 1,750 calories don’t seem too bad, it makes up for this with a whopping with 123 g fat (40 g saturated) and an salt mine’s 5,250 mg sodium, almost four times your recommended daily allowance of sodium.

#4: Ruby Tuesday Triple Prime Havarti Burger This “gourmet” burger may look skinny (relatively) with its 1,465 calories, but it’s got 116 g fat that are anything but, and 2,404 mg sodium.

#5: Red Robin A.1. Peppercorn Burger Like the Ruby Tuesday burger, Red Robin’s has a measly 1,433 calories, and 97 g fat. The catch to this burger is its 5,618 mg sodium, making it the most sodium-laden burger in this list!

#6: Applebee’s Quesadilla Burger You guessed it, they replaced the bun with a tortilla. At 1,420 calories, 104 g fat (43 g saturated, 3 g trans) and 3,740 mg sodium, this thing is a huge plate of fatty disaster. Not to mention…burger purists might not classify it as a burger if it’s not on a bun.

#7: Wendy’s Triple Baconator Considering how “little” a fast food burger is, this one’s 1,350 calories, 90 g fat (40 g saturated, 3.5 g trans) and 2,780 mg sodium are a huge shock. Especially considering Wendy’s has a healthier alternative in the Wendy’s Double Stack with 3 strips of bacon at 400 calories, 21 g fat (9 g saturated, 1 g trans) and 990 mg sodium that won’t have you scheduled for coronary bypass surgery after eating it.

This article was originally published at Life Quotes, Inc.

Senior life insurance is more expensive than life insurance for younger individuals because seniors are more of a risk to insure. That may sound unfair, but the biggest factor that determines life insurance rates is life expectancy.

Life insurance companies go through a process they call underwriting. This process involves taking a good look at the applicant’s life, including hobbies, health, health history, family health history, age, sex, height, weight, and even DMV records.

This may seem like a lot (and even an intrusive look into your life), but the point behind it is that the life insurance company has to make sure you are not too much of a risk for them to insure. If they insure too many people that are too great of a risk, they put themselves in a bad situation where too many death benefits are being paid out and the company loses financial stability.

Because life insurance companies have to pay death benefits to the beneficiaries of policy owners that have died, people who are more likely to die will always end up paying more for life insurance—if they are able to get a policy at all. (Yes, there are many people that get turned down because they are too much of a risk to insure).

In short, because seniors are older and closer to passing on, life insurance will be more expensive for them.

Now, just because life insurance will be more expensive does not mean that you should just apply with anyone.

There are many life insurance companies. Each company has favorable rates for different cross-sections of the population.

To make sure you apply with one of these companies, you need to apply with a life insurance agent or agency that understands which companies are the best for people like you.

Term life insurance is so called because it is for a specified ‘term’ – this could be for 2, 4, 12, 16 or 20 years. It also sometimes referred to as ‘temporary’ insurance. If the issuer passes away during the time of the term, then a cash payment is made to beneficiary. If the policy holder passes away after the specified term period, then no cash payments are made out to the beneficiary. Also, once the term is over and the policy is not renewed or availed, the coverage ceases.

Term life insurance covers you for a certain amount of time – the term. The term that is suitable for each individual depends on different factors such as how many years of schooling the children have left and how many years until you retire. Sometimes people will make sure they’re insured until they retire. Others will want insurance until their children finish and graduate school so that they can cover those tuitions fees.

There are different types of term life insurance policies and they have different courses of action for when the term is over. They are:

Annual renewable term insurance – this policy is renewed after every year up to a specified age say 60 for example. Chances of you dying also increase as you get older. Because of this reason, it is easy to understand why the premium on your policy also increases as you renew. However, if you purchase your policy when you’re young and in good health, you can take advantage of a comparatively cheaper premium than you would have to pay when you grow older.

Renewable term insurance – ensures that insurance company allows you to renew your coverage at the end of your term – even if you haven’t been doing well health wise and are ill. This is similar to annual renewable term in principle but it has the added advantage of extended, extra time on your policy. However, this policy is more expensive than annual renewable because it has more risk to the insurance company for extending the policy. Premiums will also increase when renewed.

Level premium term insurance – this type of insurance policy makes sure that your premium stays the same “level” for the duration of the term –usually for 6 to 20 years. Companies calculate the average of what they would charge you for annual renewal and this is what they charge you on level premium. The big plus of this policy is that your premium remains the same throughout the tenure of your policy.

Decreasing term insurance – this is usually used when purchasing entities whose price reduces over time. With this kind of policy, the cash payments reduce over time while the premium remains level.

Convertible term insurance – these allow you to convert your current policy into any other policies offered by the insurance company. The advantage is that it gives you an option of switching according to your policy needs – which do change or need to be altered according to needs over time. However, this comes with comparatively more cost.

How does the process of getting life insurance work?

1. Compare various life insurance quotes and make a decision by cost, insurance carrier rating, customer service, and who best meets your specific goals.

2. Select an insurance company and apply. An insurance agent will assist you in completing and processing the insurance application you chose. (Effective date of policies can be when initial payment to carrier is made during application process as long as you insurance application are approved by the insurance carrier and accept by you, the consumer, at the end of the process.)

3. Complete a brief medical exam. An insurance representative will schedule a medical exam by a mobile medical assistant at your home or office.

4. Application processed and underwritten. Your application is processed by your agent and then underwritten by the insurance company you chose to verify policy and rating classification. Determination is made whether to issue policy.

5. Policy issued. If approved by insurance carrier and accepted by consumer a life policy is issued and then payment is made by your option either monthly, quarterly, semi annually, or annually to the insurance carrier. Policies can be returned and refund of any premiums paid for up to 30 days (depending on state law)

6. Review the policy binder with your insurance agent. Your agents job is not only to find you the best insurance carrier for your health/age. He/she is also responsible to make sure any questions your may have on the policy may be answered, so you are clear on your coverage and its limitations.

If you’ve ever read a policy for term life insurance, you probably became confused with some terminologies and had to get a translation into plain English. Aside from questions on terminology, there may also be many questions regarding the policy inclusions and exclusions.

Here are some pointers on understanding life insurance quotes:

Online Quotes for Term Life Insurance

When you seek a quote online, you must provide accurate information about yourself to get a response. The process takes very general pricing structures and applies them for a quick assessment of your current age and health. A quote may end up varying somewhat once more extensive information is made available that effects the true cost of a policy, such as information from a medical exam.

You may be shocked to get a price that is higher than a quote you first received, and you may possibly get a quote that is lower that originally estimated. This is not because an insurance provider is attempting to give an erroneous number just to get your commitment; it’s just that a more in depth assessment of your health and living habits has an influence on premium amounts.

Why Rates Increase for Term Life Insurance

Most of what causes rates to increase are caused by the person insured. The insurance company prefers to insure healthy people who will usually live long lives, unless they are involved in an accident or diagnosed with a health problem, because they are a lower risk. Some of the causes for higher premiums include:

* High cholesterol – There is no industry standard on cholesterol, but above average levels will increase premiums.
* Height to weight ratio – The more variation from the recommended height to weight ratio, the higher the term life insurance rates because of the health problems associated with being overweight.
* High blood pressure – There are a number of health problems attributed to blood pressure, and each points to a shortened life cycle.
* History of family health – This is why your questionnaire asks about the history of disease and health problems in your family.
* Lifestyle activities – If you regularly participate in a dangerous sport or activity, it will increase your premiums, if you can get insured at all.
* Driving history – No one wants to insure someone with tickets for reckless driving or speeding.

Life Insurance Provider Choices

Price and performance are the two top reasons people give when asked what they want from a life insurance company. It is possible to get many varying prices for term life insurance based on the companies that quote coverage. Pricing comes from factors like the rating of the company and who underwrites the policies. A rating of A or A+ identifies high financial stability for an insurance company.

Term life insurance has seen a spike in policies sold in 2009 due to the crippling effect of the economy for many.Term life insurance is the a necessary step for virtually all young families. While I understand that nobody wants to think about death at 25 or 30 years of age, the reality is that death is an inevitable fact of life. Based on the current statistics, senior citizens are the majority of the buying population in today’s market. This is disconcerting to many Life insurance agents. Seniors are the largest buying segment simply because of procrastination. If you have children it is simply irresponsible to not have life insurance. Many people wait until they have discovered they have a critical illness, or had to pay for an uninsured family members funeral out of pocket. The truth is there should always be life insurance in place even as a child. Many parents ask why would I insure my child’s life? Its a valid question and needs to be addressed.The question you have to pose is:” God forbid my child dies unexpectedly, how are we going to pay the bill to bury them, or the hospital bills in attempt to save them? Not only would any parent be emotionally devastated, complicating the finances of burying your child is the last problem you want to deal with in an already difficult time. A juvenile policy or a rider(burial/final expense) to your term life insurance policy would remedy this calamity. The primary reason to buy insurance in any situation is to indemnify your loved ones of bills related to funeral cost,income replacement,college education etc.. The younger you are the less expensive the policy will be. Insurance is not to profit off of one death, its to be prepared god forbid something happens to a loved one, including children. The average final expense bill is roughly $10,000. Many middle income families could be bankrupt in paying for a loved ones final expenses out of pocket.

Delaying putting life insurance in place does not save the consumer money. It costs the consumer more by delaying putting a life insurance policy in place. Not having insurance or choosing the wrong policy would result in a lapse in coverage when needed most or even worse, becoming uninsurable due to a health condition that you didn’t have in your younger years. Life insurance should not be viewed as a commodity but as a nessacary investment to protect your wife,kids,parents,or siblings. If you love your family, you owe it to them to put life insurance in place to protect them.

Because life insurance is for those who depend on the insured, their needs must be considered at the time coverage is put in place. As we go through life, needs change, which is why insurance agents suggest people stay current with all their insurance needs.

When a couple gets married, their prime concerns are one another. If they both work, they generally have a lifestyle that depends on two incomes, so if either were to die, there would be a financial burden, making it best if both have a life insurance policy. When children come along, it is even more important to keep adequate life insurance policies in force.

Investing and Income

Successful business people generally talk with investment professionals to determine how best to preserve and grow income, but at the same time, it is still important to be prepared to maintain life insurance for unexpected events.

Term life insurance is often more attractive because it allows for more monies to be placed in safe investments and applied toward retirement than paid out for insurance premiums.

Later in life, investments might cover the financial hardship should death claim the major wage earner, lessening the need for a life insurance policy. A term policy that is set for 30 years might be all that is needed for an individual, but if profits and investments don’t go as well as expected, the term policy can be converted to whole life should that prove the better way to proceed.

When is Life Insurance Unnecessary?

There is no clear answer about when a person doesn’t need life insurance coverage. A person who has invested wisely and owns their own home is less in need of life insurance than other people are.

If the children have their own lives and supportive incomes, they are less likely to depend on the parents for ongoing financial help. Under the right circumstances, a life insurance policy might not be as important to some as it is to others.

On the other hand, a policy that takes little to maintain and offers to pay handsomely upon the death of the insured is nothing to be considered lightly. Few people ever reach a status where money is of no consequence, and beneficiaries may find economic problems down the road that can be averted because of policy benefits.

There are few times in people’s lives when a life insurance policy doesn’t help out their loved ones in the event of their death. Weighing value versus the expense is the best way to look at life insurance policies and who needs them.

Not all people need life insurance. Life insurance policies are there to protect your family or loved ones who depend on you and your financial support. Generally you only need to have life insurance if you have dependents as this will help to ensure that they are covered and supported in the event of your death. There can also be circumstances where life insurance can still be beneficial to people who don’t have dependents for example, to cover funeral and other expenses.

The most common dependent that will benefit from life insurance policies are children that still live at home with their parents or students that have not graduated from college or university. Dependants can also be other family members like spouses, aging parents or siblings who are financially dependent on the insured.

The main purpose of life insurance is to replace and cover the value of the deceased after they have gone, which is why life insurance is mainly designed for younger, working families. For families the working parent’s salary is the most important part of their financial stability, so if that is taken away the family can suffer devastating effects. Life insurance policies aim to help replace the value of the insured person’s salary for a number of years so the family of the deceased does not have to suffer from financial instability and emotional worry.

Sometimes when people get married they also take out life insurance, especially if one member of the couple earns a considerably larger amount of income that the other spouse. Also the insured or the spouse may have other dependants like siblings or parents that are often taken into consideration.

Another time when life insurance is secured is when people get pregnant for the first time. This is normally when people have the first dependant to consider and they want to ensure that their young children will also be financially looked after.

It may seem that stay at home parents are not likely to need life insurance but this is not correct in all cases. Although they may not be bringing in a regular income each week or month they still have financial value to the family. If they were to die then someone will still need to care for the children but the other spouse will still need to work to bring in the income the family need to support themselves, which means the children will need day care or a nanny which has to be paid for. You may not need a big policy but life insurance policies can be purchased to suit each individual’s needs of the insured and their family.

For older people and people of retirement age the need for life insurance is less. By this time most dependants will be financially stable and independent. Older people do still take out life insurance though to provide their spouse with extra money or to cover medical or long term care expenses, as well as the basic costs of a funeral and burial.

Having a cancer history or even going through present treatment can be difficult enough. When dealing with the financial issues associated with the illness (medical bills, inability to work normal hours…) one may feel even more overwhelmed and alone. Although, many non-profit associations have made resources available for individuals with cancer, the subject of life insurance, we feel, is often poorly covered. Individuals with this illness may not have thought of securing enough life insurance or may not have had the time to. Now that they are ill, many feel that no insurance plans may be available or rates may be too high or no one cares to simply
What Happens Under My Term Life Insurance, Income Protection and Trauma Insurance Policies if I am diagnosed with Cancer?

Here are some simple steps to follow to improve your chances of securing a life insurance policy.

Get your medical information together

As much possible, it is important that you share your health history with the insurance company or broker. This should include not only your cancer history but also your other health history. Your height and weight and your tobacco use should also be shared. Note that this information should be shared with a broker or agent before you even apply to any company. The purpose of this step is to eliminate companies that would not even consider an approval. Although none can guarantee an approval based on the information you will save much time weeding out the ones that are most likely to deny coverage just on the medical information you furnish them. Be precise when sharing information. For example, some insurance companies may consider “presently undergoing cancer treatment” as a treatment such as chemotherapy but not maintenance drugs such as Arimidex. Cancer maintenance drugs are not always ground for automatic decline.

Select the top three choices

How can one decide which companies are the top three choices for life insurance? Two factors will influence that, price and coverage type (assuming you have already selected only highly rated companies). Most insurance companies will give you a possible approval price range. Some, as with simplified whole life, may give you a fixed rate which will either be approved with a simplified underwriting process or be declined. Plan types are also a factor. If you need long term coverage, select the plans that offer you the longest term possible. If all you need is a short term plan such as a 10 year term life insurance policy, then only apply to these plans. Note that, at times, you may find that long term plans are better priced than 10 year term polices. In that case, of course, select the better plan.

Stay in touch with your broker

Once you have applied, it is imperative that you stay in touch with your broker. A good broker will update you regularly but not all will. You must stay in touch and make sure that medical records are being processed by your doctor, exam is set and any information needed is supplied. Don’t be afraid to ask questions throughout the process or even suggest other possible insurance companies. No matter how great your broker is, he or she does not know everything and if you work closely with him or her, a good broker will appreciate your input and the information you share about other options and insurance companies.

Errors people may make

Look at the application and decide that they cannot get approved – insurance companies often have different interpretation of terms used.
Select a short term plan to cover a long term need – Thinking that you may always re-apply later at a lower rate once your cancer is far behind, we feel, is too big of a gamble.
Give up too early because of a decline or high rating
Not selecting a broker with access to multiple insurance companies
Lying on the insurance application
Automatically not accepting an offer because it is graded life insurance (coverage is delayed for two to three years)
Thinking that having an insurance exam will be worse than doing a no exam life insurance
Not asking enough questions and share vital information before, during and after the underwriting process

We hope that these simple steps and tips will greatly help you secure the life insurance coverage you need. Always feel free to ask us questions. Be well.

If you’ve ever read a policy for term life insurance, you probably became confused with some terminologies and had to get a translation into plain English. Aside from questions on terminology, there may also be many questions regarding the policy inclusions and exclusions.

Here are some pointers on understanding life insurance quotes:

Online Quotes for Term Life Insurance

When you seek a quote online, you must provide accurate information about yourself to get a response. The process takes very general pricing structures and applies them for a quick assessment of your current age and health. A quote may end up varying somewhat once more extensive information is made available that effects the true cost of a policy, such as information from a medical exam.

You may be shocked to get a price that is higher than a quote you first received, and you may possibly get a quote that is lower that originally estimated. This is not because an insurance provider is attempting to give an erroneous number just to get your commitment; it’s just that a more in depth assessment of your health and living habits has an influence on premium amounts.

Why Rates Increase for Term Life Insurance

Most of what causes rates to increase are caused by the person insured. The insurance company prefers to insure healthy people who will usually live long lives, unless they are involved in an accident or diagnosed with a health problem, because they are a lower risk. Some of the causes for higher premiums include:

* High cholesterol – There is no industry standard on cholesterol, but above average levels will increase premiums.
* Height to weight ratio – The more variation from the recommended height to weight ratio, the higher the term life insurance rates because of the health problems associated with being overweight.
* High blood pressure – There are a number of health problems attributed to blood pressure, and each points to a shortened life cycle.
* History of family health – This is why your questionnaire asks about the history of disease and health problems in your family.
* Lifestyle activities – If you regularly participate in a dangerous sport or activity, it will increase your premiums, if you can get insured at all.
* Driving history – No one wants to insure someone with tickets for reckless driving or speeding.

Life Insurance Provider Choices

Price and performance are the two top reasons people give when asked what they want from a life insurance company. It is possible to get many varying prices for term life insurance based on the companies that quote coverage. Pricing comes from factors like the rating of the company and who underwrites the policies. A rating of A or A+ identifies high financial stability for an insurance company.