Month: September 2023
Life insurance dividends are paid out by mutual life insurance companies. The dividends represent a return of premium payments that you’ve been overcharged. Overcharged? Yes, life insurance companies overcharge you, then return the difference later at the end of the year – but you’re not being ripped off. In fact, that excess amount is used to ensure the long-term viability of your policy.
You see, at some point, your dividends will exceed the premium payments you make – that’s the result of the insurer investing most of your premium dollars. While dividends are not guaranteed, you should know what to do with them when you do get them since most mutual insurers have a consistent track record of paying them out every year.
Take as Cash
One option you have is to take your dividend as cash. This option treats the life insurance policy like an investment – you take the dividend as it’s paid out. It doesn’t help the cash value growth much, but the dividend tends to grow each year. Admittedly, this isn’t the most attractive option since dividends are taxable once you’ve recouped your cost basis (the sum total of your premium payments).
Buy More Insurance
The most popular option – the default option with most companies – is to buy additional paid up insurance. Why is this popular? Because additional paid up life insurance grows the death benefit, grows the cash value, grows the dividends exponentially, and defers tax on all of this growth as long as the policy remains in force. It’s also an excellent option if you want to supplement your future retirement income since the policy’s dividends, and the rest of the base cash value, may be accessed income tax-free as long as the policy remains in force (check with your tax adviser to make sure that your situation would not prevent tax-free access to cash values).
It’s also an ideal option if you just want to ensure a growing death benefit. While dividends are not guaranteed, most insurers have an excellent track record, so there’s a reasonable expectation of growing the benefit amount over the long-term.
Reduce The Premium
If you don’t want to be stuck paying a premium for the rest of your life, consider using the dividend to reduce the premium. Be careful of this option though. Back in the 1980s, something called “vanishing premiums” hit the market. This was a concept sold by many life insurance agents.
Basically, agents back then told customers that they could make a few years worth of premium payments, and their premiums would be covered by the dividends generated by the policy. In essence, the premiums would “vanish.” Well, as interest rates fell, customers realized that dividend rates were not guaranteed. Premiums never “vanish” unless you buy a limited pay policy – which means you must make all premium payments outlined in the policy.
If your dividend isn’t enough to cover the premium, you may have to resume payments later on in your life. If you’re fine with that, this is a decent option to lessen the burden of payments.
Invest Them
You can let the premiums sit in the insurer’s general investment account and accumulate interest at a fixed rate. You may also be able to invest them in the insurer’s separate account for a non-guaranteed return based on the performance of mutual funds. In both instances, you will pay income tax on the investment gain.
Pay Off Previous Loans
Sometimes, you need to borrow money against the value of your policy’s surrender value (the cash value). If you don’t want to repay the loan, or can’t make repayments, you can use the dividends to repay the loan. This way, the interest doesn’t accumulate and put your policy in danger of lapsing.
Everyone wants to insure their home (their biggest asset) but everyone also wants to find the best possible deal when it comes to their home insurance. Fortunately there are several different ways for homeowners to get this in Alabama.
If you are willing to take the risk you can lower the cost of your home insurance by not insuring for flood damage. No standard policy protects for flood damage; if you want flood damage insurance you’ll have to purchase a special policy that is federally insured. Not purchasing this policy will save you money.
Also, most home insurance polices in Alabama do not offer full-coverage for wind damage. If you live in an area where high winds – hurricanes or other storms – are a problem then you will have to purchase a rider to your policy that will cover you for full wind damage. Not buying this extra protection is a risk on your part, but not buying it will save you money.
Increasing your deductible will also save you money. Just remember that if you ever file a claim you will be expected to pay your deductible out of your own resources, so don’t offer to pay a larger deductible than you can actually afford to pay. You can save money on your home insurance if you install motion-sensitive floodlighting and if you install deadbolt locks on all exterior doors and make sure every window has a working lock.
You can save money if you install a kitchen-rated fire extinguisher in your kitchen and you make sure to install the proper number of smoke, fire, and carbon monoxide detectors throughout your house and make sure they each have a working battery.
Installing a 24/7 home security system that automatically reports problems to fire and police authorities can save you 20% or even more on your monthly premium. Just be sure to discuss your choice of system with your agent ahead of time since not all systems qualify for the highest premium discount.
Buying your high risk home insurance online will also save you money. Looking at the prices on several of the price comparison websites will allow you to see the widest range of prices and will help you to find the very best price that’s available.
Alabama has some of the best rates for home insurance, but if you are seriously in the market for affordable high risk home insurance in Alabama then you are in luck because there are several simple things you can do to save more money than you ever dreamed possible.
Let’s start with the simple stuff. Paying your premiums yearly rather than monthly will save you money. If you can’t swing paying all of your premiums at once then set up an automatic monthly payment for your premium. If your insurance company doesn’t have to bill you each month you’ll save money. Make your home less attractive to burglars by adding motion sensitive floodlighting, deadbolt locks on all exterior doors and working locks on all windows.
Make your home safer from injury claims by filling pot holes, replacing broken or cracked cement, and replacing all broken and lose floorboards on decks and porches.
Purchasing a home security system that monitors your home day and night for fire, theft and carbon monoxide can save you a bundle each month on your premiums, but make sure you discuss your plans with your agent first as some systems won’t qualify for a full discount. If you run a business out of your home you may be able to also claim a tax deduction for a portion of your home security system, adding even more to your savings!
Here in Alabama most home insurance policies do not cover your home for wind damage. If you want full wind coverage you will need to pay extra. Due to hurricanes and other wind-related problems not signing up for the extra insurance, while saving you money, is somewhat risky.
Similarly, no standard policy covers you for flood damage. In order to be covered for floods you will need to purchase a separate policy that is backed by the Federal Government. Not buying this insurance will save you money but it is a risk to you. Increasing your deductible will save you quite a bit of money every month. Just be sure you don’t make your deductible so high that you are unable to pay it should you ever file a claim.
Buying your home insurance online will definitely save you money. If you are serious about finding this then you will need to take the extra time necessary to run your price comparisons on more than one of the price comparison websites. The more sites you run your policy on, the more prices you are going to see and the more chances you’ll have of finding the lowest price possible.