Florida Residents - Shopping for Life Insurance? Call 561-741-8849! I know - my website is not the fanciest. But, I can promise you fantastic personalized service. I can promise you that when you call you will talk to me, Keith Murray. A live Florida Licensed Insurance Agent located in Florida - not a sales center in India.
Why would I want to buy my term life insurance from Keith Murray? : If you live in Florida you need to call me. I am a broker / agent representing American General, Banner Life Insurance, Empire General, First Colony Life, GE Life and Annuity, Humana One, ING, Jefferson Pilot Life Insurance, John Hancock, Lincoln Benefit Life Insurance, Lincoln National, Mass Mutual Life, MetLife, Nationwide, Pacific Life, Penn Mutual, Pruco, Prudential Life Insurance, Transamerica, West Coast Life, William Penn Life Insurance. I work with a lot of different life insurance companies because one size does not fit all. You are unique and I shop to find the best insurance for your needs.
LIFE INSURANCE 101 - THE BASICS Often times you hear people say the following about life insurance. 1) I don't need life insurance. 2) I have life insurance though my job. 3) My nephew / cousin / neighbor / friend / auto insurance agent sold us life insurance that is also our retirement account.
I will try to address these key points and share with you my thoughts on life insurance.
What is the point of buying life insurance? The best way to express this, you buy life insurance if you love someone and want to take care of them and support them when you are gone. Imagine a two parent household suddenly losing the main money earner or worse, both parents. Who would take care of the family? Who would take care of the children? Who would pay for their needs? And who would pay for their college?
What if my wife is a stay at home Mom, does she need life insurance? Yes, if your wife were to die, who would take care of the children? Who would cook, clean and perform all of the duties that she performed? If you were forced to hire someone to do all of these activities over time it could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What if I have life insurance though my job? If you have life insurance through your job, that is a good thing. But do you have enough? A friend of mine told me that he was covered, he had good benefits at his job. After a little research we found that he only had $10,000 of life insurance. This was barely enough to cover the cost of a funeral, definitely not enough to provide for his two minor children. To calculate your life insurance needs I recommend multiplying your annual income by 7.5. This is generally a good target for the life insurance needs for a famuly.
Example: Amy and Frank are married with two small children. Amy works part time while the kids are in school earning $18,000 while Frank works full time earning $55,000 per year. They have a $250,000 30 year mortgage and have $35,000 in debt including car loans and credit cards. Both Amy and Frank should purchase life insurance. I always recommend having at least enough coverage to pay off all debt. Using the 7.5 rule mentioned above we can calculate how much they each need is to multiply their annual income by 7.5. Frank should purchase at least a $500,000 policy ($55,000 x 7.5 = $412,500) and Amy should purchase at least a $300,000 policy ($18,000 x 7.5 = $135,000) plus you want to cover all debt.
Although no formula is exact and no one can predict the future it is always better to over estimate your needs than the opposite.
Can I combine life insurance and retirement savings? Life insurance does not make for a good retirement vehicle nor does the opposite apply. Does your car make a good house? The answer is obviously no. If you need life insurance, buy a good term life insurance policy. If you need a good retirement plan, setup a good retirement plan. Don't try to make one item do both.
Divorce - I am getting divorced, why is a life insurance policy necessary? If you have children or if you are paying / receiving alimony a term life policy is a must. Many people opt for the return of premium rider which returns all of their money at the end of the term.
Example: John and Debbie are divorcing. John has agreed to pay Debbie $2,000 per month for alimony and child support for the next 15 years. They also want to help their children with college tuition. John should purchase a 15 year term life policy to protect his family. In the event John should die during this period his insurance policy could replace his monthly payments and help pay for the children's college education. * A nice option, if John takes the return of premium rider, at the end of the policy he will get his money back. It is almost like getting the insurance for free.
My final comment, life insurance is not the lottery. You should have enough to keep your loved ones in the life style they currently have. Don't view your death as your family hitting the lottery. You should purchase enough insurance to maintain their standard of living, not put them on "Life Styles of the Rich and Famous". Any extra money you would be wise to invest it for your future for you to enjoy with your family.
If you have questions please feel free to e-mail or call my office to discuss your insurance needs. I promise, I will not try to sell you any insurance products that you don't need. I treat each customer as if they were a family member and I never sell you an insurance product I wouldn't sell my mother.
Please direct any questions or comments to Keith via e-mail at Keith@KeithMurray.biz or by telephone at 561-741-8849.!
