According to LIFE, The Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education, we go to great lengths for our loved ones. We work hard to provide them with a life filled with happiness, comfort and opportunity. In fact, there’s almost nothing we wouldn’t do for our loved ones.

That’s where life insurance comes in. It can’t put your family’s life back to how it was, but it can keep your loved ones in the world they’ve always known. So if you think you need life insurance (or more than you currently have), now is the time to do something about it.

Watch these Cupid-on-the Street interviews on Love and Life Insurance.Then get a life insurance rate you will love at Efinancial by choosing the best life insurance rates from America’ top insurance companies

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In what is the insurance industry’s biggest acquisition in history, Prudential is buying American International Assurance’s Asia organization in the deal of the decade, a bet on the soaring demand in Asia for personal financial services.

The beleaguered American International Group Inc. will give up a cornerstone of its business, the part of it that represents the whole of the Asian insurance marketplace, in a government-approved deal worth a shattering $35.5 billion. The sale could reduce by nearly one-fifth the amount of federal bailout money still invested in struggling AIG.

The cash proceeds of the sale would allow AIG to pay back nearly 20 percent of the almost $130 billion in bailout funds that are outstanding. Together with an anticipated sale of American Life Insurance Co., or Alico, to MetLife Inc., the sale could net enough to eventually cover the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s $47.9 billion investment in AIG.

With the purchase, Prudential is giving investors a chance to profit from Asian consumers’ growing use of financial services. As the region’s economic growth continues, so will the need for Prudential’s business.

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Life insurance providers in the US may not be using genetic information to make underwriting decisions right now, but the lobbying efforts of a Maryland-based interest group to limit legal restrictions in this area suggest that the industry’s unofficial moratorium on the use of genetic information may eventually come to an end.  So reports the latest edition of Genomeweb.com’s Pharmacogenomics Reporter.

The passage of the Genetics Information Non-discrimination Act in 2008 appeared to have quelled fears of genetic discrimination in the US — at least regarding health insurance and the workplace. However, life insurance companies are exempt from GINA and most states do not restrict the use of genetic information in life insurance underwriting.

A Maryland-based interest group for life insurers is lobbying the state legislature not to pass laws restricting the use of genetic information — an effort that underscores the prevailing view of payors that genetic data is no different than other clinical factors in making underwriting decisions.

“We use these genetic test results in underwriting exactly as we use all medical information: with care and based on sound scientific basis or clinical or actuarial relevance,” the League of Life and Health Insurers of Maryland said in a statement to the Maryland Insurance Administration’s Genetic Testing Workgroup last September. “We know of no problem of misuse of genetic information or tests in the underwriting of life, disability income, or longterm-care insurance.”

Where do you stand on the issue of using genetic information for insurance underwriting purposes?

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This is NOT your father’s, or your grandfather’s, Whole Life Insurance, says  The Wall Street Journal. The old gray mare of life insurance — whole-life insurance — was “a shining star during the financial crisis.”

“Thanks to conservative investments in bonds, whole life—and its cousin, universal life—delivered positive returns during the financial crisis,” reports the financial news beacon.

But before you ride off with a new policy, realize that whole life is a horse of a different oolor compared to term life insurance. Because it is a permanent, long-term, investment-oriented account,  new buyers will typically face stiff start-up costs and up-front commissions that soak up most of the first-year’s premium, well before the policy’s investment performance gets growing.

Term life is still the “default recommendation” for most consumers, particularly those on tight budgets, remarked James Hunt, an actuary with the Consumer Federation of America.

Under a whole-life or universal-life policy, the insurer deposits your premium, less insurance costs and other expenses, into a “cash value” account. Insurers typically promise minimum interest payments of 3% to 4%.

Could Whole Life Be RIght for You? Read on for more! >>>

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Is there a good time and a “less than good” time to bid farewell to a life insurance policy that has accumulated cash value?

A recent case covered in the New Jersey press offers an illustrative example.

A  62 year old man had held a whole life insurance policy with a $125,000 death benefit since January of 1992. He had accumulated $14,667 in dividends earning about 5.5 percent, and cash value of $33,736. His  annual premium is $2,416. His wife is 60, and the couple are both healthy and working.

The question?: If he forfeited this policy (to pay off a mortgage), would he owe income taxes?  Should he keep the policy and pay the premium out of the dividends?

While the answer could be complicated depending on the couple’s overall financial picture, a simple answer is as follows:

If a life insurance policy that has accumulated cash value is surrendered, the amount of cash received from the cash value that exceeds the basis (above the premiums paid to date) is taxed as ordinary income. Your insurance company can provide an in-force illustration to determine your basis.

An insurance policy dividend, unlike a stock dividend, is generally considered a return of premium. As such, it is not taxable income unless the total amount of dividends received exceeds the total amount of premiums paid — the basis.

If dividends are left to accumulate and earn interest, the interest credited each year is taxable income.

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If you’ve landed one of America’s best-paying jobs, you’ll definitely want to look closely at the many posts in Efinancialblog on protecting your income with the right kind of life insurance.

According to the U.S. government’s Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, based on 2008 data, high income earners span the spectrum, but most of the wealth is concentrated in the health care sector.

The typical surgeon (position # 1) makes an average of $206,770 a year. That puts surgeons above anesthesiologists (position #2) to have the best-paying job in the country.

Orthodontists (#3) average $194,930 in annual pay, while Obstetricians (#4) report in at an average of $192.780.  Also putting their money where the mouth is are Oral and Maxilofacial Surgeons who earn an average $190,420 annually, (#5). Medical Internists are (#6) on the list, earning the most in the state of Wisconsin.

Back to the oral cavity again, Prosthodontists (#7) bring home a whopping $164,810 per year with “All Other” Physician and  Surgeons avergaing $165,000 at the (#8) slot and General Medical Practicioners at (#9).

What are the top paying non-medical jobs in America? Read on! >>>

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“Can you get life insurance while pregnant?” Are there special underwriting factors? What is the best way to get life insurance as a pregnant woman?” You are reading some of the most frequently asked questions in the life insurance field.

The most common answer is this: Typically, the best time to get life insurance is before you give birth to your newborn child. But let’s examine which conditions might be cause for concern?

Are your pregnant now? If you have a normal pregnancy and are otherwise low-risk, you can still get life insurance even while you’re pregnant. Expect the underwriter to order your medical records when you apply for insurance during pregnancy. The process may take a few extra weeks when records are ordered from your doctor’s office.

What is the life insurer looking for at this point? The underwriter wants to see what your weight was before and make sure that you’ve added a healthy amount of baby weight. They also want to make sure you don’t have any complications.

Are there actual medical issues that an insurance underwriter be concerned about with your pregnancy? A few complications may pose a risk.

Read on for the complications that can complicate getting life insurance >>>

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When calculating the need for life insurance, the conventional, “inside the box” thinking typically takes into account the need to replace just one income…the income that is lost by the primary income earner who is no longer there to make a financial contribution. But like so many things in life, the most simplistic, top-of-the-head way of thinking about a problem is not always the most useful.

Tragically, when the life of one parent in a young family is lost, a paycheck is only one part of what disappears into the enormous void that is suddenly created. The working partnership that existed between two parents role-playing is forever changed. The multifaceted roles that were performed by both spouses in running a family can hardly be filled by a single parent alone.

In so many cases today, the reality of the situation is that both spouse’s income earning potential is affected when one is lost. As a practical matter, when both parents work, many families will need to take into account two incomes when calculating life insurance need.

Should your life insurance coverage account for just one income? >>>

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