This is a new phrase: “Refinancing your life insurance.” It was the title of an article from CBS3 News apparently in Philadelphia. It ’s just another way of saying to check on the prices of your term life insurance. Here’s part of the article: Steve Weisbart of the Insurance Information Institute explains: “You might well pay less money now for the new policy than for the old one or you might be able to buy more life insurance for the same amount of money.”Consumers with all types of policies may benefit but those who bought a term policy at least five to ten years ago have the most to gain. Weisbart uses the example of a half million-dollar policy: “A person, say, a male 40-year-old, could pay $300 - $350 a year. Ten years ago that would’ve cost probably $800 - $1,000 year.” To read the article in full click right here “article from CBS 3 News“. You can go here to check your term life insurance prices.

Just so we don’t get in trouble with the securities people, strictly speaking life insurance is not an investment but may qualify under the definition but it may qualify under this definition from the American Heritage Dictionary: “A commitment, as of time or support.” Life insurance is a commitment to those one loves and especially to the next generation. Here’s an article that covers that point as well: Column: Insurance is a good investment Cushing Daily Citizen - Cushing,OK,USA… Travolta became a star with his riveting performance in “Saturday Night Fever,” he did a television commercial for the Mutual of New York Life Insurance Co …

I agree with a lot of what’s in the following article (except that she doesn’t know enough yet to recommend lifeinsure.com !) As Ms Chatsky says in the life insurance article on msn.com: “Shop around for coverage……Begin your search on the Web…..Search engines like these allow you to compare quotes from hundreds of different companies.” It’s always nice to have what you do validated in the press especially with a highly visible media outlet such as msn.com. As you know, (or may not) lifeinsure.com allows the site visitor to access the life insurance rates database to get term life insurance quotes instantly and uniquely, anonymously. Many life insurance web sites require that you give personal information before getting quotes and some even will only email them to you. Lifeinsure.com also has instant quotes for return of premium life insurance and for universal life insurance - both anonymously and instantly right online. This post is definitely a commercial but why not promote when you’re doing the right thing?

As discussed on the www.lifeinsure.com site, life insurance can be an economical way to pay estate taxes. There’s an interesting article written by an attorney entitled “How Life Insurance is valued for estate tax return”. It’s from the Scripps Howard News Service. From the article: “If the policy was not owned by the insured, none of the proceeds are included or taxable in the estate of the insured, unless the policy had been transferred by the owner within three years of his or her death, in which case, the total proceeds are included in his estate.”
To read the whole article click the Scripps Howard link above. To read more about how life insurance can ease the estate tax problem go to the survivorship life insurance page on the lifeinsure.com site.