Whether you own a whole life insurance policy, term life or another type its pertinent to check your policy at times to see if it is still suiting your needs.  There are many variables that can change your needs including gaining (like the birth of a child) someone that you need to have to provide income for in the event that you pass.  Read the complete story at SJ-R.com.  I know that people don’t think about reviewing this type of coverage as often as say health insurance but it is important to do so.

The ratings firm known as Fitch has confirmed how it looks at New York Life from a financial standpoinit.  The story is available by gonig to marketwatch.com at this link.  Industry professionals should pay attention to this type of info especially if they sell policies for them.  Not a bad idea for policy holders to keep an eye on them either.

Its possible to have a life insurance insurance policy that is considered to be offshore.  There was a conference recently on this topic and there is an article at PR Web that touches on the subject.  Its obvious that one reason one would consider this is the tax benefits.  Could be worth looking into for some individuals.

Below is a good explantion on that whole life insurance is versus term

Maybe this is a sign of the times: baby boomers are considering liquadating their life insurance policies (in the form of a life settlement) in order to help with funding retirement.  Read the story here from Philly Burbs.  I can’t say this is very shocking considering the dismal performance of many investments in the past 10 years.  Before going with selling the policy to a life settlement baby boomers should fully understand how it works and and consider asking the advice of an informed professional.

Could 2 life insurance companies have to pay the state of Illinois hundreds of millions if not over a billions dollars?  This story pertains to abandoned property and can be seen over at on courthousenews.com and the link is here.  This could open up more similiar cases and I wouldn’t be surprised if other state started checking if insurers are handing over abandoned property.

AM Best does a confirmation of its ratings on Nippon Life Insurance company which marketwatch.com is running a story on and can be seen by clicking here.  These ratings can be useful for policy holders in following how the company holding their policy is doing financially.  Perhaps with other factors they are also pertinent in gauging the strength of an industry in a region.

A related video to the first story mentioned is below:

We are not affiliated to the party in this video.

Taxes on life insurance is an important issue and is being discussed in detail with 3 profesionals over at lifehealthpro.com and can be read by going to this link.  Addressing this concern can be quite complicated and most will benefit from having an advisor assist with this type of issue.  In the end those that are not prepared may end up paying tax (or their estate) that could have been avoided.

Perhaps one way to judge the pulse of the life insurance industry and related business activity is through the MIB life index.  After years of a negtive trend things may have started a reverse of course with last year ending with a small uptick.  See more from PR News Wire on this here.  For those that work in the industry this meassure is worth keeping a close eye on.

Is there a point when purchasing life insurance can make no sense.  Apparently the answer is yes and is being reported on over at Fox Business and can be read here.  This is a good read and it spells out the purpose of coverage and perhaps that some people may not want premium costs if they don’t justify the death benefit.  On the other hand it may serve a legacy use.

A situation on whether one should cash in their permanent whole life insurance policy’s cash value  before other options is being addressed at hometownlife.com in an article which can be seen by clicking here.   The one posing the question is in the need of cash badly.  The big thing about surrenduring a policy cash value is it usually there is a surrender charge with is often expensive but sometimes its a better option than other means.  A lot times this types of coverage’s cash value can be borrowed off of as well.

The large insurance company New York Life realigns the management of some of its products which is being reported here by investmentnews.com.  Makes sense in putting the investments side of the business together with annuities and having the other division working on long term care, life insurance (as those 2 things aren’t really looked at as investments) and other related products.  Seems like a better focus with this change up.

A law came out recently allowing veterans to get more life insurance coverage through their VGLIP programs.  Govexec.com is talking about this and can be seen at this link.  In the article it mentions that only a fraction of those eligible are going for this allowed increase.  Its makes one curious why more vets aren’t utilizing this new allowed increase.  How are they being informed of its availability?  Maybe they aren’t seeing the benefit of having the extra coverage or perhaps they don’t want the extra expense.  Could it be another sign of stuggling economic recovery in our country?

Their is an excellent question at nj.com about life insurance and whether its better for a retiree to redeem their whole life policy now or letting it go until they pass.  Of course taxes are an important consideration with this.  Check out the story (there is something to learn) out by going here.

Hmm I wonder if life insurance is a growing industry in China (which has had quite a bit of growth for years).  Bloomberg reports on that countries biggest player in that market and what its stock is doing as well as what some analysts are saying about it.  It doesn’t seem like they all agree in their oppinions.  What a surprise.   See more by clicking here.

Most of know that life insurance is important as it protects loved ones financially in the event of death but how many of use acually have it? There was a survey conducted by onlineinsuranceamaketplace.com that tries to answer this question.  They also run various surveys on life insurance and other types of coverage on their Facebook page. See their website here.  Either way having life coverage is vital for most people especially those that have financial obligations and need to provide a replacement of their income to their heirs.