Term, Universal, & Return of Premium Life Insurance — (877)44-EZ-INS

Recently, I’ve been quoting life insurance rates to several individuals who work in professions that could be considered high risk jobs.  Hazardous occupations are something we specialize in here at Huntley Wealth Insurance.  Here’s a summary of what rating class they could qualify for:

Linesman - I quoted an electricity power line repair man yesterday.  I called several carriers and they all said the best he could get was standard.  This guy has been doing power line maintenance for 27 years, and never once been injured on the job.  However, there is a risk of being electrocuted or falling from your lift if you do this job, so I can understand the concern as it relates to term life insurance.

Powerline Construction, Groundsman, and Pole Setters - All are standard.  Same story as the power line repair man above.

Fishing Crewman - What I’ve found here is most underwriters have a size requirement for the boat.  If you’re on a ship that’s longer than 85 feet, that seems to be the cutoff where you won’t be penalized on your life insurance rates.  The particular story I heard last week was a guy who works on a fishing ship in Alaska every summer.  It’s good money too.  He makes about 100K in 3 months.  Anyway, his ship was huge… three stories high, roughly the size of a battleship he said.

Law Enforcement - I just got a sheriff as a client who got the best rating.  This was a guy who was in the line of duty too, not sitting behind a desk.  He is a patrol officer.

There aren’t too many professions that are penalized anymore for life insurance rates.  If you are employed in a profession that could be deemed hazardous or a high risk job, be sure to go to an independent life insurance agent, who can search for the best deal for you, rather than just going to one carrier and limiting your chances of finding the lowest life insurance premium.

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Here’s my Rapid Rewriter Review and Backlink Blueprint video series after using the software for 3 weeks.  I love it!  I spent $77 on this product, and I can honestly say it’s one of the wisest investments I’ve ever made.

In just three weeks, here are my accomplishments using the Rapid Rewriter Article Spinner:

• Spent about 2 hours spinning an old return of premium life insurance article.  Rapid Rewriter created over 100 unique versions of my article for me.
• Got one of them approved on Ezine Articles
• Had 3 other articles approved at Goarticles, ArticleDashboard, and ArticlesBase
• All these article sites are now linking to my ROP article with dofollow links.
• Used one to submit my first press release
• Created two Web 2.0 sites at Squidoo and Zimbio, both with spun articles including dofollow links to my website in keyword rich anchor text.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE RAPID REWRITER PAGE

But the BEST THING about buying the Rapid Rewriter Article Spinning software was the Free Backlink Blueprint video series. Thank you, Matt Carter, SEO guru.  Thanks to you, I now have a clear plan for obtaining backlinks from various sources.  A Rapid Rewriter Review would be incomplete without describing what I learned in these videos.

Some people (myself included) want to know whenever a product is marketed on the internet if it’s a scam and do google searches on questions like, “Is Rapid Rewriter a scam?”  I say an emphatic NO.  I feel like I have a Ph.D in how to get backlinks and rank in google searches now.  Here are a few things I learned in Matt’s Backlink Blueprint series.

1. How to use Web 2.0 sites to get dofollow backlinks.  (okay, I’ll be honest… first he taught me what a web 2.0 site was, then I went and created 2 of them.)
2. To try to get backlinks from various types of websites.  Before watching his videos, I was the guy leaving comments on everyone’s blogs.  Now I know that I need to get links on other sites such as the ones I mentioned in my accomplishments above (article links, Web 2.0, Press releases, profile links, social bookmarking links, and rss feeds)
3. Three weeks ago, I didn’t honestly know how social bookmarking or rss feeds worked.  Now, thanks to Rapid Rewriter and the Backlink Blueprint, I have already gotten 71 backlinks from Social Adr, a site that helps you easily get social bookmark backlinks, (click here to check it out), and I’ve also submitted my website, my web 2.0 sites, and my published articles to over 20 RSS feeds using an RSS aggregator, RSSbot.
4. Learned secrets to easily find the blogs and forums with the highest Page Rank, how to submit comments that will be likely to be accepted, and how to submit comments that are almost certain to be accepted.  I’ve already gotten a half dozen dofollow links from blogs with PR’s of 3, 4, and 5.

It’s funny because three weeks ago I didn’t even know what have of these things meant, but that’s the beauty of Matt’s videos.  There are gems in there for experienced seo guys (I admit I know a bit.  After all, I didn’t get my site to a PR 3 by knowing nothing), but he also explains all the terms for beginners, so literally, anyone with a website could benefit by Rapid Rewriter and the free videos.  Anyone who says Rapid Rewriter is a scam, or not worth the money, or is anything but the real deal is sorely mistaken.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE RAPID REWRITER PAGE

I NEVER write about anything on my insurance blog that’s not related to insurance unless it is of tremendous importance to me.  What Matt Carter’s Rapid Rewriting Program has done for my business in just 3 weeks is so important, I have to share it with you.  Yesterday, I set a record for visits in one day! I normally get between 500-1000 visitors per month at this blog.  Yesterday, I had 65 visitors come to my site, and I got 5 quote requests from those visitors.

*Update - As of June 17th, 2010, my site’s visitor count is now at 1318 in the past 30 days, up 41.57% from the previous month!  I’ve been using what I learned in Rapid Rewriter and Backlink Blueprint for 4 or 5 weeks now.  On keyword I’m targeting, Return of Premium Life Insurance, has moved up from page 11 on google on 5/22/10 to page 6 as of today, 6/17/10. 

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At Huntley Wealth Insurance, we specialize in understanding and meeting the life insurance needs of individuals ages 60-69.  Whether you are coming to us as a healthy, non-smoker, or if you have medical conditions such as diabetes, previous bouts with cancer or heart troubles, overweight, or are a smoker, we are experts at helping you find the most affordable premiums from the highest rated insurance companies.

Monthly Premiums for Healthy Male, Ages 60-69 Years Old

Age                      $100,000   $200,000  $300,000   $400,000
60 Year Old Male   $28.62    $52.03    $72.30       $94.66
61 Year Old Male   $31.15    $55.57    $79.61       $104.40
62 Year Old Male   $35.32    $58.82    $84.92       $110.99
63 Year Old Male   $39.67    $67.04    $97.05       $127.07
64 Year Old Male   $43.24    $77.27    $112.24     $147.22
65 Year Old Male   $49.02    $87.14    $126.90     $166.65
66 Year Old Male   $54.03    $99.29    $145.11     $190.94
67 Year Old Male   $59.25    $111.13  $158.17     $208.71
68 Year Old Male   $63.34    $120.15  $170.69     $225.42
69 Year Old Male   $67.60    $128.67  $183.48     $242.47

(10 Year Level Term Life Insurance Quotes - Premiums based on healthy, male, non-smoker.  Rates valid as of 6/4/10, subject to change)

Reasons Life Insurance is Needed in Sixties

1. Income replacement - You’re still working and want to leave your spouse, partner, or children a death benefit.  Term Life Insurance is probably your best choice for income replacement.
2. Estate Planning - You may need to add liquidity to an estate filled with real estate or business holdings, or after 2010, you may need the insurance to pay for estate taxes.
3. An Inheritance - You don’t care how old you are when you pass.  You want to leave something to your family.
4. Business Insurance - For Key Man Insurance or Buy-Sell Agreement
5. Used in conjunction with a Trust - Common uses are to fund an AB or Bypass trust, or Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust.

INSTANT QUOTES FOR 10, 15, 20, 25, AND 30 YEAR TERM, RETURN OF PREMIUM AND UNIVERSAL LIFE AVAILABLE TO THE RIGHT.

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At Huntley Wealth Insurance, we specialize in understanding and meeting the life insurance needs of individuals ages 50-59.  Whether you are coming to us as a healthy, non-smoker, or if you have medical conditions such as diabetes, previous bouts with cancer or heart troubles, overweight, or are a smoker, we are experts at helping you find the most affordable premiums from the highest rated insurance companies.

Monthly Premiums for Healthy Male, Ages 50-59 Years Old

Age                       $100,000  $200,000  $300,000  $400,000
50 Year Old Male    $14.44    $21.15    $28.14    $35.84
51 Year Old Male    $14.70    $22.87    $31.26    $39.66
52 Year Old Male    $15.66    $24.57    $33.82    $43.07
53 Year Old Male    $17.11    $27.47    $38.17    $48.87
54 Year Old Male    $18.40    $30.36    $42.31    $54.27
55 Year Old Male    $19.69    $32.94    $46.18    $59.43
56 Year Old Male    $21.16    $35.86    $50.57    $65.27
57 Year Old Male    $22.88    $39.30    $55.73    $72.15
58 Year Old Male    $24.94    $43.49    $61.60    $80.39
59 Year Old Male    $26.80    $48.07    $66.56    $87.00

(10 Year Level Term Life Insurance Quotes - Premiums based on healthy, male, non-smoker.  Rates valid as of 5/28/10, subject to change)

Reasons Life Insurance is Needed in Fifties

1. Income replacement - You’re still working and want to leave your spouse, partner, or children a death benefit.
2. Estate Planning - You may need to add liquidity to an estate filled with real estate or business holdings, or after 2010, you may need the insurance to pay for estate taxes.
3. An Inheritance - You don’t care how old you are when you pass.  You want to leave something to your family.
4. Business Insurance
5. Used in conjunction with a Trust - Common uses are to fund an AB or Bypass trust, or Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust.

INSTANT QUOTES FOR 10, 15, 20, 25, AND 30 YEAR TERM, ALONG WITH RETURN OF PREMIUM AND UNIVERSAL LIFE AVAILABLE TO THE RIGHT.

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Here I’m going to tell you about how an overweight, pre-diabetic came to me looking for life insurance after being declined by his Auto Club Insurance company, and how I found him affordable life insurance.  My client is a 39 year old male, a police officer in Arkansas, who needs life insurance to cover an SBA Loan.  He needed exactly $287,000 of coverage for the loan at only a 10 year term.

His health details:  He’s 6′0, 290 lbs, taking one medication for blood pressure, currently well controlled, on Lexapro to help with concentration, no history of depression or anxiety, on two meds for cholesterol, smokes about 10 cigarettes per day, and is pre-diabetic.  The indicators of diabetes were his fasting blood sugar of 105, and an a1c result of 7.0, both of which are high. 

First I thought he’d be a good candidate for a simple issue or jet issue term policy, since he hadn’t actually been diagnosed by his doctor of having diabetes.  In fact, I was the first one to ever apply the words “pre-diabetic” to him after seeing his lab results from the Auto Club Insurance.  The reason we couldn’t go simple issue, though, was because all of them ask on their applications if you’ve been declined coverage in the last X amount of years, and he had, so that took him out of the running.

So I shopped his case around for a traditional offer and got a variety of trial offers for him, with a few declines as well.  Most of his offers were at standard tobacco tables 5 through 7, but we ended up applying to West Coast Life who had the most aggressive trial offer at table 4 or D.  We just heard back today that they are sticking to his trial offer of Table D, which means he’ll be paying the exact premium I quoted him.  Needless to say, my client was thrilled to hear the news.

The case above is a good example of why it’s important to use an independent life insurance agent, someone who won’t give up after hearing the word decline.  In this case, I thoroughly questioned my client, achieving an understanding of all his medical issues, so that I could present his case accurately to the underwriters.  Then I sent out my emails and made my calls to more than a dozen insurance companies.  West Coast Life just happened to be the second to last call I made.  I didn’t just stop when I heard the first underwriter tell me they could offer him table 7; I continued to call all my most lenient carriers on build until I found the best rate I could possibly get my client.  Would your agent (or any other) take such good care of you?

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Most life insurance agents try to push their clients into adding return of premium onto any term policies they purchase.  I don’t see Return of Premium Life Insurance as a one size fits all option, however.  Let’s examine if adding the ROP rider is right for you, beginning with how return of premium life insurance works.

Let’s say John is 40 years old and gets a quote for a 30 year term life policy without return of premium, with a half million of coverage.  He’s in good shape and is a non-smoker, so it costs him around $633 annually.  If he pays his premiums for 30 years, doesn’t die, and lets the policy lapse, he’ll have paid $18,990, which he cannot recapture.

NO ROP - $633 Annually X 30 years = $18,990
Never to be seen again

WITH ROP - $1,285 Annually X 30 years = $49,536
100% Returned to John

If John decides to purchase return of premium life insurance, however, he’ll be adding and paying for a rider (an additional benefit) on his policy, so that in the event he lives the entire 30 years, he’ll get back 100% of his premium.  So rather than paying $633 annually, his premium will be $1,285 annually.  The difference between term life insurance with the return of premium rider and your ordinary 30 year level term policy, however, is that 30 years down the line, if there’s been no death, John gets back $49,536!!

Some features about return of premium policies you have to understand are:

Loans and Cash Value: While a level term product has no cash values, some ROP policies do.  That means if you let the policy lapse, you may have a bit of cash surrender value (you get money back), depending on how long the policy has been in force.  On a typical 30 year policy, cash values don’t begin accumulating until year 5, but they start off very low (like less than 1% of the premium you’ve paid).  Every year, the percentage goes up, so in year 10, for example, if you were to let the policy lapse, you might get back 10% of the premiums you’ve paid… 20% in year 15, 35% in year 20, and so on, until you get to 100% in year 30.  It’s also possible to take out loans from your cash value, essentially paying you back for the premiums you pay.  On a typical 30 year policy, you could essentially have your premiums reimbursed to you for the remainder of the 30 years starting in year 17.  It’s important to understand that your loan will accrue interest, however, and that at the end of the 30 year term, you’ll receive substantially less than 100% of the premium you paid.

Return on Investment: Some people look at their Return of premium life insurance as an investment.  It’s actually not, but you could look at it like this:  In our example above, John would have to pay an extra $652 per year for 30 years to get back $49,536.  In the investment world, you’d have to earn a 5.7% annual yield to match that “return on investment”.  One very nice feature is that currently, the IRS views John’s return of premium of 49k as simply getting back his premium, so it’s 100% tax free!  If you tried to earn 5.7% guaranteed in a taxable investment vehicle, you’d have to get more like 7 1/2 to 9%.  So if you followed that, you can see why some people see adding the ROP rider as an investment, and a good one.

The Long Haul:  Whenever I sell return of premium term insurance, I always remind people that to get back 100% of your premiums, it will require some perseverance.  Your premiums will only be reimbursed if the insured is still alive at the end of the term AND you’ve paid your scheduled premiums every year.

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I currently get just over a thousand hits on my life insurance website per month.  In Google Analytics, I can see where my visitors come from, and I consitently get around 10% of my visitors coming from countries outside of the United States.  I see a lot of visitors from India, and Australia, England, and other countries in Europe primarily, I suppose because these are the English speaking countries.

A lot of these Non-U.S. residents sign up for life insurance quotes at my site as well.  The question I am asked most frequently is, “Can you sell life insurance to me if I’m not a U.S. citizen and don’t live in the United States?”  YES, I can, in just about any country too.  There are some obvious countries that life insurance companies would be leary of in the Middle East, but even there, you can get insurance depending on where you live.  I recently got a request for insurance from a woman in Israel.  The key here is that she didn’t live in a hot zone for dangerous activity, and I was able to find a couple carriers who would make offers to her.

The only requirement to buy life insurance or funeral insurance in the U.S. is that the applicant must be in the U.S. to take the application and medical exam.  It’s okay if you’re just here on vacation, but these things must be done here in the states.

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I got a call from a 33 year old man looking for a half million of term life insurance coverage last week.  Healthy as an ox.  Non smoker, no hazardous activities, good build, no history of family diseases or deaths due to cancer or heart problems.  So he’s easy to insure, right?  Nope.  One problem.  Every life insurance application these days asks if your driver’s license has been suspended or revoked in the past 5 years, or if you’ve been charged with driving under the influence (DUI) or DWI.

If you answer yes, your ability to get insured with most carriers vanishes.  He’s had three DUI’s!  You can see how life insurance carriers would tread lightly here, since someone’s chance of dying in a car wreck is higher if they might be drinking and driving, so that’s why a lot of insurance companies decline you with a recent DUI.  There are a few carriers who will consider you if you’ve had a DUI inside of 5 years, even if your license has been revoked.  Recently, I even got an offer on a guy who had just gotten a DUI within the past two weeks.  It was expensive, but still an offer for life insurance.

The problem with my prospect who called me last week is that he’s had three DUI’s in the past 11 years, with his last DUI in 2004.  His driver’s license was suspended in 2006 after an appeals process, and in Nebraska, he loses it for 15 YEARS!!  One good thing he has going for him is he completely stopped drinking alcohol 5 years ago, after his last DUI.  In addition, he’s been going to AA meetings for the past 5 months, not because he was falling off the wagon, but because he wanted it to appear like he was going through all the right steps, so he can appeal to get his driver’s license back in a couple years.

So, what’s the chances of getting this guy insured?  Well, I put the details of the case out to lots of underwriters and got the following feedback:  First of all, even though he’s in AA just for looks, that doesn’t bode well for him in the eyes of the insurance underwriters, since they see it as he’s still in treatment for alcoholism.  One company’s underwriter told me they wouldn’t even consider him until two years after he completes his AA program.  Secondly, a lot of carriers won’t offer insurance to him because he doesn’t have a valid driver’s license.

What he has in his favor is his complete cessation of drinking alcoholic beverages.  One carrier said they would offer standard, table D since he has completely quit for so long, as long as it is documented in his medical records.  So that’s where we stand today.  If he can prove through his medical records he stopped drinking years ago (and not 5 months ago when he went into AA), then we have a case.  How does one get that into their medical records?  Simple.  My advice is to go in for an annual physical and get your bloodwork done, and tell your doctor that you’ve quit drinking and that add that to your file.

“Can’t he avoid all this by applying to a life insurance carrier that doesn’t ask about the DUI or license suspension/revocation on the application?” you might ask.  He already tried getting whole life insurance quotes.  That won’t work.  There may an application that doesn’t ask about it, (perhaps a simplified issue, non med application).  Even the simplified issue apps I’ve seen ask about that, though, and even if you find one that doesn’t ask, the insurance company would still pull a MVR (motor vehicle report) and see that your license is suspended.

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I recently had a case where my prospect didn’t understand the importance of my needing details about his health.  You see, when you’re looking for the best rates on life insurance, it’s all about the details.  Some carriers will allow treatment for high cholesterol or high blood pressure and still give their best rating.  Some don’t.  Some have a maximum blood pressure of 135/80 for their best rating, while a few will allow up to 140/85.  Some allow the occasional cigar.  Some charge you tobacco ratings even if you admit to smoking 1 a month. 

In my recent case, a workers compensation insurance agent from New Jersey inquired on my insurance blog about life insurance.  We covered my Pre-App Plus questionnaire, where I ask about medications, medical conditions, surgeries & hospitalizations, height/weight, tobacco use, and a few other things.  I found the two issues in his case would be his blood pressure, which was recently taken at 149/104, and a total cholesterol of 229, (not incredibly high), but with a very low hdl of 27 (your good cholesterol), giving him a cholesterol/hdl ratio of 8.48… very high.   

So with that information I went to work for him, calling underwriters and getting their feedback.  As I expected, cholesterol and blood pressure were their primary concerns as well, especially his diastolic pressure of 104.  They asked me if I could get a hold of any past lab results to see if these numbers were consistent.  After all, we all know blood pressure readings can fluctuate if the cuff is too small, or if you’re nervous when it’s being taken.  So I emailed him asking if he had had any other lab work done in the past couple years, to which he responded:

Now, at this point, I know I have a problem.  I’ve already spent a couple hours on the phone with underwriters, and I really understand his medical history, but yet I can see he’s price shopping and he may have gone to some other agent and asked “what a $250,000 term policy would cost for a healthy 48 year old non smoker”, and the problem is they may have given him a preferred plus quote.  So if I quote him based on what I know, I know I’m going to be higher than the teaser quote he was given, even though he can’t get that rate.  So I emailed him a couple prices, to which he responds:

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