Consumer's Guide to Life Insurance
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| You may already own some life insurance, either through your
employer's group plan, as part of your veterans' benefits or through a policy
you bought yourself. But perhaps you think you need additional life insurance
protection. If you have no life insurance, you may be thinking of buying some.
Or maybe you have questions about the financial strength of a company. Whatever
the case, this booklet can help you make the right decisions about life
insurance. It tells you how life insurance works, describes the most popular
types of policies, suggest how to decide what policy to purchase and whom to
buy it from.* |
| The main purpose of life insurance is to provide financial
security for your family. It helps to ensure that, when you die, your family
will have the financial resources it needs to protect their home and car and
provide the income needed to run a household. It is a contract between you and
an insurance company. That contract requires that the company pay someone you
name -- your beneficiary or beneficiaries -- a certain amount of money when you
die. Your survivors can use that money as they see fit. The money is not
subject to federal or state income tax (although it may be subject to death or
estate taxes). With life insurance, you can provide a guaranteed financial nest
egg for your family's future. |
* If you have some general questions about life insurance that are not answered
in this booklet, you might want to call the National Insurance Consumer
Helpline at (800) 942-4242. |
| NICH is a consumer information telephone service sponsored by
insurance industry trade associations. Trained personnel and licensed producers
are available to answer questions about various insurance matters, to refer
consumer complaints to appropriate sources and to send consumer brochures on
request. |
The Helpline operates from 8 am to 8 pm, Eastern Time, Monday
through Friday.
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