More Life

Life insurance provides peace of mind for you and your family. We at Brice Financial Services make sure that you are partnering with a reputable, stable insurance company. We've got the tools and information to answer your questions and help you decide.

Life insurance FAQs

• How often should I review my Life Insurance policy?

  You should review your insurance needs at least once a year. If you have a major life change, you should contact your insurance agent or financial adviser as soon as possible. The change in your life may have a significant impact on your insurance needs. Life changes may include:

  • Marriage, divorce or retirement
  • Birth or adoption of a child or grandchild
  • Significant changes in your health or that of your spouse/domestic partner
  • Taking on the financial responsibility of an aging parent
  • Purchasing a new home
  • Refinancing your home
  • Purchasing or investing in a business
  • A loved one who requires long-term care
  • Coming into an inheritance
• Researching a Life Insurance Company

  Many people choose their insurance company simply based on the competitiveness of their life insurance quotes. While price is undeniably important, there is a host of other factors to weigh when making this vital decision. Here are the main points to keep in mind:

  • Financial Stability  This is probably the most crucial factor in selecting a life insurance company. No matter how good a company's product appears, you need to be assured that your provider is financially secure enough to pay your claim(s). There is no guarantee for life insurance policyholders, similar to that provided for bank accounts by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), so be sure to select a company important point that is likely to be financially sound for many years, by using ratings from independent rating agencies.

  • Product  Most companies offer a broad range of policies and features, so choose a company that offers the product(s) and features that meet your needs. Your adviser will have the most knowledge in this subject matter, so be sure to ask all the questions you wish until you are completely satisfied with the explanations given.

  • Customer Service  For many people life insurance is a complicated subject, so it helps to deal with a seasoned and knowledgeable adviser whom you can trust, who clearly understands and is attentive to your needs, and with whom you can communicate easily with on an ongoing basis.

  • Claims and Market Ethics   Your state insurance department can tell you if the insurance company you are considering doing business with had any consumer complaints about its service level relative to the number of policies it sold.

    Similarly, it makes sense to do business with a company that has high ethical standards. Some life insurance companies subscribe to the principles and codes of conduct of the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association, a nonprofit organization that promotes ethical conduct in life insurance marketing.

    The better a company's rating in these two vital areas, the better your chances of being treated fairly, efficiently, and courteously.

  • Premium and Cost   The premium is the amount you pay the company for the life insurance policy. Even for a given death benefit and type of insurance (term life or whole life), the premium can vary widely among companies, either because some companies' policies lack fewer riders that others include or because some charge more than others for the same coverage. So the first step in comparing policies is to make sure you compare similar insurance plans, based on the following:

    • Your age
    • The type of policy and policy features
    • The amount of insurance you are purchasing

    Bear in mind that the premium for the policy is not the same as the cost of the insurance portion of the policy. One policy might have a higher premium but also offer more benefits (such as riders, or it might pay policy dividends) than another. Or both might promise dividends, but in different amounts at different points in time. In each case, the higher-premium policy might have a lower cost of protection. How can you tell what a policy's cost is? Companies should tell you a policy's Net Payment Cost Index and its Surrender Cost Index. Use the Surrender Cost Index if you are thinking of keeping the insurance only for a specific period of time; use the Net Payment Cost Index if you expect to keep the policy indefinitely. Generally, the lower the cost index, the better.

  • Licensing   Not every group of insurance companies licensed to operate in each state. As a general rule, you should buy from a company licensed in your state, because then you can rely on your state insurance department to help if there is a problem. If the insurance company becomes insolvent, your state's life insurance guaranty fund will help only policyholders of companies it has licensed. To find out which companies are licensed in any state, contact that state's Office of Insurance Regulation.

• Estimating your Life Insurance needs

  The amount of life insurance you decide to purchase depends on your anticipated final expenses and your family's projected monetary needs in the future. In most cases, if you have no dependents and enough money to pay your final expenses, you do not need any life insurance.

  However, once you have dependents you should buy enough life insurance so that, when combined with other sources of income, it will replace the income you now generate for them, plus enough to offset any additional expenses they will incur replacing services or employment you currently provide (for example, if you do the taxes for your family, the survivors might have to hire a professional tax preparer).

  Your family or business partners might also need extra money to make some changes after you die. For example, they might want to relocate, business assets may need to be sold, or your spouse might need to go back to school to be in a better position to support the family.

  Most families have some sources of post-death income besides life insurance. The most common source is Social Security survivors' benefits. Many also have life insurance through an employer plan, and some from other affiliations, such as an association they belong to or a credit card. Although these sources might provide a significant income, it is rarely enough.

  Experts recommend buying term life insurance or whole life insurance equal to 20 times your salary before taxes, however the true amount of life insurance you need varies according to your financial, family and marital circumstances, and once you have dependents, you definitely will need insurance coverage. It is always best to seek the advice of a qualified insurance adviser when you are ready to ask about getting a life insurance quote.

• Life Insurers we represent

  Brice Financial Services offers an excellent selection of life insurance policies from several highly-rated insurance companies.

  One of our goals Our goal is to make the insurance selection process easy. We offer an excellent selection of life insurance policies from several highly rated insurance companies — some in business for a century or more — and each one is known for quality products, excellent service, competitive rates and a solid ability to honor claims. Brice Financial Services is an appointed agent for the top 50 A.M. Best-rated insurance companies, including the following:

  • American General Life
  • North American Company
  • Protective Life
  • Lincoln National Life
  • Banner Life
  • Athene Annuity and Life Company
  • MetLife
  • Life Insurance Company of the Southwest
  • American National
  • Equitrust Life Insurance Company
  • Transamerica
  • Genworth Life Insurance Company