Life Insurance: Not Just For the Young Anymore
It is a common belief that life insurance is only for those who are young and have families that rely on their support. It seems like a logical line of thinking after all. Once your mortgage is paid and the kids are off to supporting themselves, you'll have Social Security and a pension plan that will start taking care of you and your spouse. Why do need life insurance?
Well, hold it right there. This line of thinking may make sense in some way on the surface, but when you start to think about the fact that the economy is not what it once was, it has become more and more of a trend for older people to start considering adding life insurance policies into their retirement plans.
Should You Consider This Line of Thought?
It depends, but it's not a bad avenue to consider exploring. Read on for reasons why it's not a bad plan to consider.
First of all, since many older people today are finding themselves in much more debt than their parents or grandparents did, you may need to consider how those debts will get paid when you die. Do you have a mortgage you are still paying on? How about credit card debt? These things were unheard of years ago, but today, they are much more common problems. Do you really want to leave your spouse having to worry about making the house payment by him or herself?
You also have to consider your adult children. Are you still helping to support them? This is also another downside of a bad economy. Many self-supporting adults are still relying on elderly parents to help them financially. This may not be an ideal situation, but it is a reality that many face today.
Life insurance will help you protect yourself and your family against the unknown realities you may face. Rising health insurance costs, lousy investment returns and lower interest rates are all a reality that have come up recently that you need to be better prepared for. This doesn't even take into consideration the fact that Social Security has an uncertain future. You need to have a plan to help you face whatever lies ahead, and life insurance can help you do that.
Life insurance is also a way to help you leave the legacy to your children and grandchildren. You may not have much right now, but with a good life insurance policy, you can quickly build up that nest egg you want to leave to your family. It's definitely something to look into if you have lost what would have been the inheritance for your children and family members.
Do you need life insurance? It depends on many factors, but the bottom line is that it is no longer something only the young should think about. Talk to your financial advisor for more information about what life insurance can do for you and your family today.
The Benefits of Obamacare
You've probably heard a lot in the last couple years about what critics everywhere have called "Obamacare", the health reform law designed by the Obama administration to solve the healthcare crisis in this country. While it may not be the answer that most people are seeking when it comes to the healthcare debate, it does have its benefits. And while the term "Obamacare" does have a negative ring to it, it has been used more than the official name of the bill, which is "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."
The Good Things
Okay, so we've probably got to accept the new name, but what about all the good things that this new law will provide? There's a lot of negativity, coming from both sides, but surely there are good things right? You've probably heard all about how it's ruining small businesses, costing too much, destroying Medicare and even violating the constitution. Where is the good in all this?
Let's start with the cost. The truth is that the new law will actually reduce the federal deficits. After President Obama signed it into law, the Congressional Budget Office and the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation staff figured that the reduction in healthcare spending would be about $143 billion dollars over a 9-year period. While that varies and could be as low as $124 billion, this is still a hefty sum.
There is also a projection of $210 billion in deficit increases if Congress passes the controversially named "Repealing the Job Killing Health Care Law Act".
Right now, there are millions of small businesses that can claim a tax credit of up to 35% of their healthcare costs. In the next couple years, many states will come up with healthcare marketplaces in which small businesses can combine their buying power to help significantly decrease costs.
What About Medicare?
If it were up to the Republican budget plan, Medicare would be abolished, thanks to a plan that was created by Rep. Paul Ryan. Benefits you have right now would be guaranteed, you could get free annual checkups and some free tests and vaccines, but the Part D will be finished as of 2020. There would be no more lifetime or annual coverage, and no more rejections due to pre-existing conditions. There are many new methods of capping the surge in insurance premiums that include rating providers to help consumers decide which are the most effective, as well as which ones are the safest choices.
As far as children are concern, there is another immediate benefit that claims that insurers must cover children until they are 26 under their parent's policies. Previously, children were no longer covered after age 19.
Of course the biggest benefit is that almost all Americans will have health coverage. This will reduce the rate of those covered from 19% down to 8% who will remain uninsured.
There are many pros and cons, but this is by far a giant leap in the health insurance issue.
