“My 401(k) is dropping in value. I’m rethinking my retirement.” We looked back at his plans last year. “I was all set up to finally do some traveling. Since my wife died, I’ve been waiting on retirement to take off and see the world.” He was pitched into health insurance or medical insurance that would give him cover outside the US. He said he passed the time bugging local agents to give him chapter and verse on all the policies.

Then the stock markets went south and all his plans changed. “I’ve been looking more carefully at Medicare. The cover’s not so bad, so I’m looking at policies to top up the cover to get the best budgeted treatments whenever possible.” He smiled. “I’ve been doing the round of the same agents. Boy, were they pleased to see me again.” We talked about whether he was using the internet. “I’ve been following the AARP’s campaign, Divided We Fail, and their plans for an HMO for Medicare folk like me look interesting. I’ve been using the online sites to get health insurance quotes as well. It’s more effort because not all of them are set up to do specialized cover for the elderly, but there’ve been some interesting health insurance quotes.”

Dave’s been a revelation. He has plenty of experience in planning his financial affairs and has been playing the field when it comes to getting health insurance quotes. As more savvy people start looking for Medigap policies, the market is likely to get more competitive and the existing discounts and incentives are likely to improve. When actual retirement is coming up, look round carefully for the right cover for you.

There is now a universal need to create assets or to maintain the ones we already possess and, once this is addressed, it provides a solution as to how to pay for our liabilities and sustain our existence. Many individuals find that to create a budget helps account for their incomes and expenditures.
If a person’s assets are more than their liabilities then they are said to have accumulated wealth. Ideally, it is desirable to remain in this position. Whilst this gives the person the ability to spend more in the consumption of goods and services, it is widely recognizable that once something is consumed, it may never be able to be recovered.
Therefore, when wealth is achieved a person has a responsibility to spend that wealth wisely, for it is the continuous flow of value or money that maintains or increases wealth. Changes in an individual’s circumstances may elicit a higher level of precaution than previous engaged in, such as the purchasing of a life insurance policy.

Despite the most elaborate and strategic of financial plans, the uncertainty of the future can often present unexpected contingencies that may affect even the most careful of individuals.
For example, a person’s assets may be well in excess of their liabilities, but if the value of these assets were to fall then their overall wealth would also decline. Depending upon the gravity of the reduction in value, this may have profound consequences.
This kind of unforeseen circumstance has often occurred when a significant proportion of assets are of one type, such as shares in public companies. When the stock market experiences a crash, the value of these assets can plummet in unison due to their similarities and many have been found to have suffered financial loss to the point of unavoidable debt.
Similarly, storing money with any one financial institution can also at times be found to have similar results, particularly when that institution is found to be insolvent and goes into receivership for bankruptcy.

As such, from the above it can be seen that holding assets entails a certain amount of risk. It is fair to say that the diversifying or spreading that risk over a number of different asset types is financially wise and doing so in a manner which provides for the unexpected contingencies that human life often throws back at us shows a considered approach to both your personal wealth and the wish to protect your future.

Because of the savings or investment component, permanent policies cost more than term policies. The first main issue for you to consider is the scale of the investment element. Over the last ten years, the stock market has outperformed other forms of investment. It’s only recently that the DJIA and other indicators have begun to fall. Thus, if all you want is high growth, don’t buy policies of this type. Buy term life insurance and make your own investment decisions. Insurance companies are not wealth managers with a mission to maximize your capital. They are conservative investment managers whose only mission is to provide steady growth (if possible) over time. Remember, to maintain the tax efficiencies, the policy should be in force at least fifteen years. Always think long term and, so long as the policy has the required number of years in play, the benefits pass to your beneficiaries tax free.

The different types of permanent insurance policies give you a choice on how your savings are to be invested. It’s up to you to investigate the options and to be comfortable with the decisions you make about risk. A further essential element to consider are the options to stop paying the premiums later in the policy’s life. Depending on the terms of the life insurance policy, you may be able to use the accumulated investment income to pay the premiums, or you may buy an annuity with that element. This will relieve any financial strain in maintaining instalment payments during your retirement.

Finally, look carefully at the conditions you have to meet to withdraw cash from the investment account, or borrow from the account or use it as collateral for a loan. Since there will be both a cash and surrender value, it is important to know how to use this value to pay for your children’s education or should an emergency arise. Always have a clear understanding of a life insurance policy before you buy. Never buy simply because the premium is a low or affordable cost. Get the best value for your dollars.