Colonial Penn Life Insurance company was founded in the 1960s and is a subsidiary of the Conseco Group, a Fortune 500 company. Colonial Penn Life Insurance and Conseco seek to offer affordable life insurance and financial products to families and senior citizens.

Colonial Penn’s offerings include: Term life insurance policies to issue on people up to age 77; five-year renewable term insurance available to age 75 with no medical exams necessary and with face amounts of $5,000, $10,000, $15,000, $20,000, and $25,000 offered; twenty-year term life policies will lock in premiums without a physical exam available to people age 18 to 77; and accelerated death benefits which are available in case of a terminal illness.

Colonial Penn was one of the first life insurance companies to offer guaranteed acceptance life insurance–life insurance policies with small face amounts, high premiums, and no medical exams required. Colonial Penn Life Insurance marketing mainly targets senior citizens, people who have health conditions that make them uninsurable by most other insurance companies, and people with families to protect who are relatively late getting life insurance into their financial plan. Colonial Penn uses famous, older celebrities such as Ed McMahon and Alex Trebek featuring in highly-produced, almost absurdly dramatized TV and radio commercials to advertise its products.

Colonial Penn has been investigated and sued for charging outlandishly high premiums that supposedly are not risk-justified or not fully disclosed at the point of sale. The company does not receive the highest ratings from independent insurance and financial institution ratings agencies. Standard and Poor’s gives them a mere BB+, and so does A.M. Best give them just a B++. Fitchgives them a BBB and Moody’s a Ba1; both of those ratings are about the same as Best’s.

For instance, Colonial Penn’s $25,000 guaranteed acceptance 20-year term life policy on a standard 38 year old male costs a “mere” $37 a month in premiums. What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong is there are many other life insurance companies that would give that same man the same policy…except he would have $500,000 of death benefit. The difference would be that for those other life insurance companies, those aren’t guaranteed acceptance policies–they would require a medical exam.

Guaranteed life insurance policies are usually a bad idea to start with–only somebody with a health condition that’s so bad that he can’t get life insurance in any other way should consider one. But Colonial Penn pushes these policies as the greatest thing since sliced bread…and they mainly market to seniors, people between the ages of 50 and 75. Using celebrities to bolster their pitch, they play on older people’s fears of being uninsurable. They also play upon the sad fact that most seniors who don’t have a financial background are very ignorant about full financial pictures, even if they own stocks and bonds. These people may believe that all they need as far as life insurance goes is a “burial policy” to finance their funeral.

Life insurance is not about just being buried–if you’re going to buy a policy for that purpose you’d be better off trying to make sure you have enough real money in assets to cover that, instead. And even if seniors have to pay higher premiums when they buy a new life insurance policy, if they take a guaranteed acceptance policy they’re not saving money at all–they’re throwing it away. Most seniors are insurable, just at higher premiums for the same death benefit than younger people of the same gender have to pay. But those rates are still much lower than guaranteed acceptance policies’.

Colonial Penn agents might very well believe they are giving needy people a good service, but if they do they have been had by their own company and those expensive celebrity commercials. Few people would truly benefit from these products.

Securing Life Insurance in Australia is very important because of the cover it provides the family and their members in the event of the death or serious illness of the main breadwinner of the family. With the current economic trend, it is more crucial than ever for families to take protective measures and be insured. With the increases in cost of mortgage, standard of living and credit cards, it is important for a family to be covered. This supports them in the event of misfortune, whether serious or otherwise. Especially in the case of families with dependent children, who will suffer the most in the event of death or permanent illness of one parent or sometimes both.

The Life Insurance market in Australia is very huge in comparison and is continually growing. The Tower Australia conducted a study in which they state that the market will grow in an excess of 18% till it reaches the year 2018. In spite of this rate of growth there is a substantial level of under-insured people in Australia. There are two reasons for this; one is the lack of proper financial advice. Many people have been taking Life Insurance via superannuation fund and believe that’s enough. Superannuation fund is just a retirement scheme that supports the customer when he becomes ill or his dependents if he dies. Getting Life Insurance through a superannuation fund is a less tangled way and it is much cheaper. But the cover they provide during the hour of need is simply not enough. One advantage however, is that the premium is paid off through pre-tax dollars thus making it tax effective, but other types of insurance are just not included. Also it doesn’t require medical check-ups and that feature attracts more people. Superannuation benefits require a lot of waiting because there is a huge delay that goes on because of the complicated rules. Unless there is binding beneficiary nomination, there is no guarantee that the money will reach the beneficiary.

People in Australia back out of Life Insurance because of the dreary paperwork associated with it. There are a lot of time consuming routines to carry out. Most Life Insurance companies require that you have a medical check up and the customer needs to be advised each step of the way by a financial adviser. Most people are reluctant to endure this as it is quite expensive. But the benefits customers get from proper Life Insurance are much better than Life Insurance through superannuation.

There are so many companies providing this service. Some of them are AC and L Insurance, AIA Insurance, AMP Insurance, Asteron Insurance, Aviva Insurance, AXA Insurance CommInsure Insurance, ING Insurance, Macquarie Insurance, MLC Insurance, MetLife Insurance, Prefsure Insurance, Suncorp Insurance, Tower Insurance and Zurich Insurance. Understandably the rates are not all equal; the policies vary from company to company. Deal with the company that has the highest rating and ensure that they have a long history of trustworthy dealings and come to the aid of dependents when necessary. Earlier, people bought Life Insurance with the help of financial advisers, but now companies have gone online and it is possible to get free quotes online, making insurance hunting a much easier task.

Life insurance is protection against financial loss because of the death of an earning member. It is the promise an insurance company keeps, to pay the beneficiary a specific amount of money on the policyholder?s death. This is given in exchange for the timely payment of premiums.

There are many insurance companies that carry out aggressive marketing of their policies. It is important for a prospective buyer to study the market before deciding on a policy. It is important to keep in mind the financial stability of the insurance firm before taking a policy. There are also new private sector companies entering the fray. They are promoting their policies as an investment option, apart from the life insurance.

The insurance companies generally promote whole life insurance with exorbitant premiums as they get more commission on them. It is however worth knowing that term benefits with affordable premiums give cover for the term without any major frills.

Term life insurance provides death protection for a definite time period and is perhaps the simplest form of life insurance. It is basically designed to provide temporary life insurance protection on a restricted budget. It can be bought in large amounts for small premiums and hence it is suited for short-range goals.

Term life insurance policies also have the advantage of having adjustable premiums. Depending on the financial state of the policy buyer, premiums can be altered. The premiums may, however, be never raised above the maximum number of premiums stated in the policy. There is also a provision for renewing the policy when the original term ends.

All the companies promoting low cost life insurance have similar policies with a few additional benefits added or removed. Choosing the right policy and the right firm depends on the research done by the policy buyer.

Life Insurance has sometimes been described as a bet between you and the Insurance Company. The Insurance Company is betting that you are going to live and you are betting that you are going to die. If you do die, you win the bet. This approach has been the basis of life Insurance policies in the past. Despite the fact that it would seem this does not much benefit an individual, the truth was that the Life Insurance payout was designed to provide for those that you left behind.

Changes in health care and the increasing life span have brought some changes to this concept. The desire for senior citizens to spend their retirement in an active adult community where they can enjoy their golden years to the maximum has prompted many to take a fresh approach to the use of the cash value of life insurance. It has also influenced the type of policies that have become popular. When a payout upon death was the main purpose of an insurance policy, the only thing that mattered was the amount of the death benefit.

Today, people in increasing numbers are opting to not spend their last years in their homes. An Arizona active adult community that is located in an area without a harsh winter seems much more attractive. A Florida active adult community situated close to the ocean would be preferably to long cold winters. This is the new dream of senior citizens, but in many cases the funds needed to make this dream come true are not available at the time of retirement. It has become possible to redeem the cash value of an insurance policy prior to death through an annuity settlement. The basic idea is the seller of the annuity provides a cash settlement to you at retirement. In return, they basically become the new beneficiary of your policy.

The annuity settlement changes the conditions of the bet. Now, you are betting that you are going to live, and the new beneficiary of your policy is betting you will die. If you live, you win. Many senior citizens are seeing this as a better idea. It takes some careful planning, and each case must be considered individually. The debt situation and the situation of a spouse and of children must be taken into consideration. The increased popularity of Individual Retirement Accounts has lessened the need for a large death payout to some degree. The best time to plan for your life insurance needs as a senior citizen is long before you ever become one. Sadly, this is not always done until too late. In this case, the options can be considered. It is not a time to be rash and seeking the advice of a trusted Insurance agent or financial advisor is highly recommended. If you plan on spending your last years enjoying a California active adult community, start that planning as early as possible.

Families opt for a life insurance policy to provide security against calamities such as death, fire, or accidents. Such deals prove to be a safe way of protecting individuals by agreeing upon a certain amount prefixed by the insurer that would be paid in case of such unfortunate events. Insurance companies assist bereaved families by providing moral, financial, and emotional support. Life insurance is purchased by working employees, and by senior citizens too.

It is possible that a policyholder may not be able to pay the premium fixed due to financial constraints. In this case he would be forced to sell his policies to companies for cash back at a fixed percentage. Some companies may not offer the amount expected by a policyholder. Other companies may agree to pay face value of the policy. An application form has to be filled that includes the medical and policy information to dissolve such a policy and claim compensation.

At times, major companies that invest in buying policies at a lower rate than the purchase value may acquire large sums offered by insurance companies at the time of maturity. Various lenders or brokers, who bid for higher rates, may pay the customers only half the value acquired.

Companies that buy such life insurance settlement policies are major investors who fund many transactions every year for a considerable amount of profit. These policies are held as portfolio assets rather than selling them to outside investors. Such policies are purchased from holders who are in desperate need of money. People may tend to sell their policies to companies without knowing if the company is legally recognized or not.

A policyholder has to consider all such drawbacks and avoid selling them to fraudulent companies who may reap profits over such deals and disappear.

Hence, before selling a policy, individuals are advised to consult lawyers who guide these people. It may prevent them from scams. Selling a life insurance settlement involves a lot of trust in the company. Hence, people need to read the prospect of the companies before taking such a major decision.

Both whole and term life insurance policies are beneficial for consumers. Proper financial planning for most individuals and families will include life insurance in order to provide guarantees for the beneficiaries. In most cases, term life will provide the needed liquidity in times of need, but whole life will also provide needed benefits in certain situations.

Term Life Insurance

Term life has quite a few advantages and the most obvious is cost. Families can purchase policies with large face amounts for pennies on the dollar. These benefits will provide loved ones with funds to pay for mortgage expenses, raising children, tuition, debt, and everyday living expenses.

Term life literally buys time. Policies are usually purchased to cover a 20 or 30 year term. Conceivably, after this term has expired, the insured would have less debt, children would be young adults, and the family would be stronger financially overall.

However, term life will eventually expire and is quite expensive to convert to whole life. Should there still be a need for insurance after the end of the term, then the proposed insured would pay much more for a similar policy. Life policies are always much less expensive when for the young and healthy. If the insured has very poor health, then he or she may no longer qualify medically for life insurance.

Whole Life

Whole life is advantageous as it provides benefits for the entire life of the insured. Consumers need not worry about their future insurability as long as they pay their premiums. And a well structured whole life policy will eventually be a paid up life policy. Premiums will no longer be due and the interest earned will pay for the cost of insurance itself.

Consumers can borrow against their whole life policies and use the cash value in times of need. In this way, whole life plans are much more like an investment than term life. Additionally, the internal cash value can always be used to fund a single premium paid up policy. The face amount would be less, but premiums would no longer be charged by the insurer.

Whole life plans work very well to provide for known future obligations like estate and inheritance taxes. Life insurance can be setup outside of the estate and provide needed liquidity for tax, business, and personal obligations. Smaller final expense policies are always funded by whole life insurance.

However, these polices can be expensive and if they are not properly funded in the present or the future, then they can become a financial burden. In some cases, a whole life policy could lapse and become worthless to the owner and the beneficiary if premiums are underestimated or simply ignored.

In all, both whole and term life have a place in any financial plan. It is wise to discuss present and future needs with an agent and to perform a life insurance needs analysis. With proper planning, consumers will have peace of mind knowing that their obligations will be accounted for.