Guaranty Association Benefits Company

The One Personal Finance Topic that may be too personal -

There is an issue of personal finances that may be too personal. It is the subject wants to write because reading about it leaves you feeling down. This topic is death. Death is the only thing we all have in common. No matter how much time we spend reading all the ways to ensure that you have a healthy financial future, you can not have a foolproof plan until you address the inevitable.

Why do you need? Life Insurance

Unfortunately, the best way I can explain this is to talk about those who do not have life insurance

1 story :.

Today I was sent a Facebook invitation to help a family in need. They have a wonderful story, full of difficulties, but also with great joy. A husband and his wife had a heart for foster children, and went through the process of making twins who had been through the host system and placed with horrible abusive guards the two previous times. This time they were placed with a loving family who would do what was necessary to give these children a permanent home. The kids had a very difficult time adjusting, but after several years of relentless pursuit, parents love them as their own, the children finally felt part of a family for the first time. They were adopted into the family, a family that was now their forever.

A few months later, the husband went to the doctor because of some alarming symptoms, and it was discovered that he had a brain tumor at the end which was inoperable. In one year, he died, leaving his wife and two adopted children behind. As sad as this story is, what is most distressing is that they have spent all their savings fight against cancer, and were left with no money. There was no life insurance policy in place to cover the cost of his wife having to raise two children on her own without income. They have set up a donation page (which is the best way to help a family in this position), I wish this story could have been raised by the financial burden of a life insurance policy, but unfortunately, This is not the case.

Story 2:

When I was 5 years old, my father died of melanoma skin cancer. He was only 31 years old. When they found the cancer, it was already in step 5, meaning it had metastasized, entered his blood stream and was himself the whole plantation on his body. His diagnosis of terminal cancer put our family in a whirlwind, especially my mother. She had three children under 8 years old and her husband, the mainstay of the family, was about to die.

Fortunately, my father was an insurance salesman living who knew the value of getting a good long-term life policy in case something devastating thing should happen. Unfortunately, it also underestimated when he would leave this earth, and only signed for a $ 75,000 policy. My mother was able to pay for medical expenses and funeral with money, and not much to live.

The doctors made a mistake on his diagnosis a few years before, and called a mole "benign," when in reality it was stage 3 melanoma. A kind of trial arose, and my mother received money that ended up taking care of us for years to come (I even received an inheritance from him and blew all). But if this trial never came, the money to take care of us would not be here, and my mother would be in a financially desperate situation. We probably would have lost everything and moved with his parents or relative who could help as she tried to get back on its feet.

Why do not more people have life insurance?

According to an article on USA Today in 2010. "Only 44% of households have an individual life insurance policy, and 30% have no person or life insurance offered by the employer ... "They said that there were 11 million households with children under 18 who has no life insurance policy in place. The common refrain from those who chose not to buy a life insurance policy was that there was no financial priority. Whether the Downed economy, lack of knowledge, not wanting to face their mortality or just plain procrastination, it is clear that people do not feel that life insurance is enough to throw a few dollars priority one month.

What have we done?

We ended up signing me to a term life policy from 25 years to $ 1 million to $ 43 a month. I came up with that number by calculating how my wife would need to live indefinitely at an interest rate of 4%. It should first pay off the house and invest the rest, be able to live in interest alone and leaving out the main to provide passive income. After tithing, her monthly income would be $ 2,100 per month to the interest rate of 4%. Based on our budget, it covers all the line items in our budget, with some leeway as it gets adjusted to life without me. And believe me, just typing that sentence makes me feel sick to your stomach, but reinforces that we made the right decision in getting this policy.

This is important

You will die. This sentence should make you uncomfortable. I hope it makes you uncomfortable enough to get off your butt and look into getting a life insurance policy. It is one of the ways you can tell your family that you love them, and can continue to love, even if the worst happens imaginable. Please do not expect that my father did, and do not ignore that 30% of US households do. Set aside $ 30- $ 50 per month and give your family a reason to sleep well at night.

Women did you get a more difficult path Ahead -

Editor's Note: We saw this on infograpic LifeHealthPro.com and thought that it synthesizes the bumps in the road can expect women on the path to retirement. He said that 35% of those who are not currently working with a consultant would be open to. If you need a place to start, go here.

Your donation can help change the life of a young adult -

The article, How to divide your charitable Pius by the New York Times columnist Ron Lieber made me think to charitable donations. I am always open my checkbook an ad hoc basis throughout the year whenever events or causes that are meaningful to me happen, like Race for the Cure.

But something Lieber wrote me think, "Many of us would not be where we were it not for the educational institutions that took over the bill when we could not pay full freight. In my view, this not only creates a debt of gratitude, but a running tab that hopefully clear long before I die. "

This is certainly true in my case. And I think there are very few of us who could say otherwise. But the University of Wisconsin-Madison really need my check? I guess my friend in his development office would say yes. But this year, I'll start paying that "running tab" by donating to the scholarship program life lessons studies.

This program helps young adults who have lost a parent and who are in tight (sometimes desperate) financial difficulty paying for school. I think my fight back and could have met the draft education law, but also includes their move after losing a parent, and often become a parent to other siblings, as Brittney LaCombe.

Brittney is amazing. She raising her two teenage sisters while getting her degree in social work. You can watch the moving story here. As she says: "I work full time, go to school full time and taking care of my full-time sisters" This is not to life plus 20 years to imagine themselves

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that's why I just online donation to the LIFE lessons Scholarship Fund. and I ask that all who read this donation can they-as well. Skip this donation link on (www.lifehappens .org / donate-to-life-lessons) and we will help Brittney and other young adults as they realize their dream of obtaining a college education.

Happy holidays!

It's time to get your (own) order in the finances -

economy. The "fiscal cliff." Increased taxes. Decrease in deductions and credits

The media is full of doom-and-gloom news 2013 :. How the impact of changes (or lack thereof) will negatively affect taxpayers while those on the Capitol Hill debate and disagree. Meanwhile, taxpayers expect, powerless to do more than watch and wonder and worry.

While it is true that you can have minimal control over what the government decides national budget, you have significant power over what happens on your own "Capitol Hill. " the new year serve as an incentive to get your "house" budget in order, using this quick list of three key areas to look.

# 1 estate-planning

do you have a will or trust? And if you do, when was the last time you reviewed it, update it to reflect changes in your personal life or financial situation?

According to Financial Web, die intestate (without a will) means that your estate will go through the probate process, and your assets divided by the laws of the state, not necessarily in the way you would desired. (Intestate Calculators help you see the effects of these laws.) Your family will probably need to hire a lawyer, so that your estate will most likely have to pay for administrator's services and other costs the settlement of the estate. And then there are the personal items and family heirlooms, collectors possessions-that personal may not be given to the very people you most want to have them.

All these costs, not to mention the possibility for the family-dispute could have been avoided by making a will or creating a trust.

# 2-legal documents

durable financial power of attorney, according Findlaw.com, is a document that gives someone (often referred to as your agent or attorney in fact) the legal authority to act on your behalf in financial matters. Both living wills and powers of attorney the health care give you the ability to define your wishes regarding your medical treatment while you are still able to communicate. The living will (also commonly known as an advance directive, or the appointment of a patient advocate) also indicates that the right and the power to make end of life care decisions on your behalf. (In some states, the two documents are combined into an "advance health care directive.")

# 3-Insurance Coverage

When you hear "insurance", do you think that the car, a home or personal property? If so, you need to expand your definition and understanding, and then contact an insurance professional for more information and help in choosing the right policy for your needs.

Start life insurance , which includes both term and permanent. While term insurance is the most affordable type of insurance when originally purchased, it is designed to meet the temporary needs and provides protection for a specific period of time. Permanent insurance provides lifelong protection, accumulates cash value and price is for you to keep for a long period of time.

Disability Insurance provides an income for you and your family if you are unable to work due to illness or injury. And while you may think that workers' compensation will handle this possibility, the statistics show that most disabilities occur away from the workplace, and the majority of long-term disabilities caused by the disease, no accidents.

long-term care insurance is just what it sounds like: insurance to cover your expenses if you have long term care needs due to illness or accident. According to LIFE, the chances that you'll need some type of long term care is about 70%. Think it is only for the old? Think again: 40% of patients receiving long term care are under 65, notes LIFE. (The long-life care page includes a printable consumer guide (PDF).

In examining these areas and to correct deficiencies or weaknesses, you'll be on your way to protect your future and one of those you love!

Cupid hits the streets to see if there is a link between love and life insurance -

Well, the Month of Love is upon us, and who better to know if there is a connection between love and life insurance as Cupid. (And we bet you've never met a cupid like this first!)

Tell us, do you think that cupid is right when he says: "life insurance is the best way for me to show you I love you"

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People buy life insurance because they love someone -

People buy life insurance because they love someone. My life is proof.

When I was 17, my father was only 52 years old at the time, was diagnosed with colon cancer. Unfortunately, the cancer has progressed and I saw him become sicker. Finally, when I was 19 and my father was 53 years "young", he lost the fight against cancer.

Although I was too young to appreciate it at the time, looking back now, I can see how lucky we were that our life insurance agent had always been search for ourselves if my parents thought it was perhaps a little too impatient.

My parents bought a life insurance policy when they were married, and again when they built their house. Then when my sister was born, they bought another, and when I was born yet another. When they need to plan for college and retirement, again, they bought a policy.

My father was a big believer in owning what he bought, not "rent" for him, so he bought all life insurance policies. Of course, this was the day when people did not have much money, and a well paid job was considered $ 40,000 per year.

I understand now that if were not for the persistence of the agent of our family and my believing parents what he preached, the result for our family would have been much different. There are a lot of madness that could have happened. Instead, the application was paid and my mother was able to maintain its financial dignity by paying debts that were the result of treatment of my father. She was able to keep things simple, like Christmas and birthdays a fun and happy time even without dad.

The experience of the power of life insurance has had a profound effect on my life. I was just 19 years old when my father died, and to be honest, I'm not really grasp what had life insurance for my family at that time. But when I was 26, having started another career, I came "home" to life insurance. I am now a consultant and, much like our agent was there so many years, I help families plan for the future, whatever it may bring. I help them understand that people want life insurance for what it does, not for what it is

I do not need to make up the importance of life insurance . I lived it. I know that people buy life insurance because they love someone. And I'm living proof. It could have been very different.

Why everyone should have a directive Advance -

What would happen if you have suffered a catastrophic medical event such as a stroke or an accident which leaves you incapable of communicate. How do you "have a say" about the type of care you receive or do not receive. The answer is an advance directive.

Every adult should plan ahead by completing an advance directive specifying his personal preferences regarding what is acceptable and unacceptable medical treatments. There are two types of advance directives:

A living will: This legal document states your preferences about the type of medical care you want to receive (or do not do) in different scenarios if you are incapacitated and can not communicate

medical power of attorney :. also known as a durable power of attorney for health care or health care proxy, a medical power of attorney to another person names, such as your spouse, daughter or son, to make medical decisions for you if you are not able to make medical decisions for yourself, or if you are unable to communicate your preferences. Note that a medical term is not the same as a proxy, which gives another person the authority to act on your behalf on matters you specify, such as managing your financial affairs.

Here are some important points to remember:

• Each state regulates advance directives differently. Consequently, you might want to involve a lawyer in preparing your advance directive
• You can change, update or cancel an advance directive at any time, in accordance with state law .
• If you spend much time in several states, you may want to have an advance directive for each state.
• Make sure that the person you appoint to act for you-your health care proxy has current copies of your advance directive.
• Give a copy of your advance directive to your physician and, if applicable, your establishment of long-term care.

Be sure to contact your agent or advisor for financial details.