Life insurance is universally recognized as an essential pillar of a financial plan for providing much needed capital in the event of a breadwinner. It is also fundamental to other planning needs, such as estate planning to pay for settlement costs and taxes, and business planning for business continuation or key person protection.

There is no getting around it—health insurance is complex and complicated. You have to have it and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. And, when your child is living with a special need it makes the whole process even more complicated. Finding in-network specialists, scheduling exams, and keeping track of copayments and deductibles can be exhausting.

Few consumer products are the object of a love/hate relationship as life insurance.  The thought of buying life insurance is not something that most physicians relish, yet, if it is done right, it can provide the greatest peace-of-mind a person can have. The key is to do it right.

Unquestionably, disability insurance is more complicated than other forms of insurance. There are a lot of moving parts to understand in order to create the right kind of coverage, which may be one reason why many people are reluctant to look into it.

For anyone who has purchased life insurance, most would agree that it is one of the most critical financial moves they could make.  Yet, many people fail to give their life insurance purchase the meaningful consideration it requires. A life insurance purchase is for life, which means there are no “small” mistakes when purchasing it, only big, costly ones.

When you buy a life insurance policy, you are essentially transferring your financial risk to a life insurer which then becomes obligated to pay your beneficiaries based on the contracted amount of death benefit purchased. The life insurer is able to assume the risk because, based on its data, it knows when you are expected to die.

Life is full of risks, and people make decisions everyday that require weighing those risks against their ability to protect themselves using their own resources or by transferring the risk to an insurance company.  Most people realize that they couldn’t afford to rebuild a damaged home or buy a new car without insurance.

Business owners have a tremendous opportunity to generate significant rewards from a business in which they have invested heavily. However, as with any opportunity with the potential for great rewards, there are great risks, many of which have the potential to create a serious financial hardship on a business.

In practice, the question often arises as to why a single woman should own life insurance. Before answering it, it might be instructive to consider some demographics, especially as they have been trending in recent years:

With rates as low and competitive as they have ever been, it’s as close to a “buyers” market in life insurance as you’ll see.  Still, in these cash-strapped times, curbing all costs and expenses is a priority for most people, and buying life insurance is no different.