Senior life insurance has guaranteed premiums that make it a low investment risk. Because it’s a form of whole life insurance, it also has cash value that builds over time, but the low face value of the policy means its cash value is minimal.
It’s one of the life insurance industry’s best-kept secrets – a great number of life insurance policies in the U.S. tend to lapse, meaning the coverage runs out and is not available if you die. Some studies claim as many as 80 percent of policies will lapse before a payout is due. However, the reasons behind this phenomenon are far more complicated and avoidable than you may realize. Typically, life insurance policies have a 30-day grace period for paying your premium. If you forget to pay your premium within that time, your policy will be canceled. That can be disastrous for an older person who has health problems that he didn’t have when he initially bought the policy. Another major reason for lapsing policies is that people buy more coverage than they…
Maybe you’ve heard (or experienced) the tragic story of someone becoming ill, forgetting or being unable to pay their life insurance premium, only to see the policy lapse at the time it is needed most. It’s more common than you may realize, and at our law firm we see it quite often. It is terribly unfortunate. What most people don’t realize, however, is that there is law in California that may come to the rescue. That law is known as the “notice prejudice” rule. The rule emanates from a judicially created doctrine dating back to at least 1963, when the California Supreme Court decided Campbell v. Allstate Ins. Co. (1963) 60 Cal.2d 303, 305. The rule is simple: it prohibits insurers from denying insurance benefits on the ground that the insured presented…
Life insurance is a fundamental part of one’s financial safety net. But having life insurance and having enough of it are two different issues. In fact, the Life Insurance and Market Research Association (LIMRA) estimates that only about a third of life insurance shoppers believe they have enough coverage.1 “It’s smart to periodically review whether your existing coverage is adequate, and open enrollment period is a good time to do it,” said Lee McGowan, managing director at Monument Group Wealth Advisors, in Concord, Massachusetts, in an interview. (How much do you need? Life insurance calculator) Employer-provided life insurance If offered without cost, you should always take part in your employer’s group plan. “Take it, no questions asked,” said Sean Flynn, a financial advisor at Essex Financial Services in Southport, Connecticut, in…
MEDICARE PART D HELPS retirees pay for their prescription drugs. But these prescription drug plans have a variety of out-of-pocket costs that vary based on the policy you select. Here are some of the medication costs you can expect in retirement. Premiums. The average Medicare Part D premium was $41 per month in 2018, up 11 percent since 2015, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data. However, premiums vary significantly based on the plan you select. Among widely available Part D plans, premiums ranged from $20 to $84 per month. Some Part D plans increased their premiums by more than $10 per month in 2018, and a few plans had slight decreases in premiums. Deductibles. The majority of Medicare Part D plans (55 percent) have a deductible…
The high costs of new drugs, as well as the dramatic price increases of some older and traditionally less expensive generic drugs, have thrust drug prices into the headlines. But what’s the full story? Today, we’re shedding some light on the cost of new drug coming to market, generic drug prices, and why drug coupons the picture. Cost of new drugs New drugs can cost a lot—both to Medicare and to the people who need these drugs. We found that Medicare and its beneficiaries spent about $5.9 billion for 75 new Medicare Part B drugs (those typically administered in a doctor’s office) in 2013. And nearly two-thirds of those 75 drugs had annual costs of more than $9,000 per beneficiary. Moreover, the annual costs of 20 of those drugs—most of…
Nurses are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with other health care workers, they face an increased demand for their services—which puts them at greater risk of catching coronavirus. So, in honor of National Nurses Week (May 6 through May 12), we are taking a look at our work on shortages in the nursing and health care worker communities. We are also reviewing federal efforts to respond to these shortages, including through the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act). The nursing workforce Nurses are the largest component of the health care workforce. They provide much of the care for hospital patients and deliver most of the nation’s long-term care. However, the U.S. has been facing a critical nursing shortage for years, partly due to increased…
If you are already retired or are approaching retirement, then it’s likely that your purse has started feeling the effects of a reduced source of income. But look at it this way: you’re not in it alone. As a matter of fact, a third of people over the age of 65 years are getting by living on less than the minimum wage, with one in twenty of them unable to buy birthday or Christmas present for beloved ones. In such cases, there are bad credit payday loans. As if saying goodbye to a solid supply of monthly wages is not enough, thanks to pension reforms, low-interest rates on savings and mortgage plans that are interest-only are coming to an end. It has become clear that it will be difficult for…
It’s no shock that the cost of living isn’t exactly cheap. That shock doesn’t end when retirement rolls around. Are you financially prepared to support your standard of living once you quit working? Even though most people understand the importance of saving for retirement sooner rather than later, studies still show many baby boomers are way behind on their retirement savings. In fact, the Blackstone Group found that 79% of middle-income baby boomers have nothing at all saved for the cost of healthcare in retirement. This is by far the biggest mistake you could be making when you’re saving for retirement. If you think that healthcare costs are expensive now, they hit even harder when you are on a fixed income. The Cost of Original Medicare Many people believe when…
Most people struggle to retire on time because they can't afford to, so thinking about retiring early may seem impossible. If you have a dream of retiring early, then you may want to consider where you live. According to a study done by SmartAsset, there are certain states that offer a better chance of early retirement. Living in, or moving to, one of the states at the top of the list may help you achieve an earlier retirement. To get the results, the company collected data on seven factors: effective tax rates, health insurance costs, non-housing cost of living, housing costs, property tax rates, doctor’s offices per 10,000 residents and entertainment establishments per 10,000 residents. Below is the list of the top 11 states that may up your chances for…
When executives attend conferences and symposiums to improve their leadership skills, they often hear “Nurture your curiosity. Stay hungry for knowledge. Be a lifelong learner. “ What does lifelong learning actually mean? It means don’t get stale. Don’t stop adding to your knowledge base. Find and develop new interests. When we’re children, we’re mandated to attend school until we’re 16, 17, or 18 – depending on our particular state’s law. American society fully embraces going on to college or to vocational training. Some companies pay for their employees’ continuing education. After that – you’re on your own. Some people turn to the online options – podcasts, webinars, and MOOCS, which are massive online open courses. They don’t mind being plugged in for a few more hours a day. But if…