Critical Illness Insurance

"You need insurance, not only because you are going to die, but because you are going to live." - Dr. Marius Barnard, product founder .

With advances in medicine, science and technology and increasing life expectancy in Canada, we have a greater chance of experiencing a serious illness and surviving!

What's covered?
Our policy covers 22 conditions, some of which include the following:

* Heart Attack
* Cancer
* Stroke
* Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery
* Severe Burns
* Loss of Limbs

* Multiple Sclerosis
* Alzheimer's Disease
* Parkinson's Disease
* Major Organ Transplant
* Loss of Speech
* Deafness

* Paralysis
* Kidney Failure
* Coma
* Blindness
* Occupational HIV
* Motor Neuron Disease (including ALS)


What is the difference between Disability or Critical Illness?

Disability Insurance pays you a benefit to help meet day to day living living expenses while you are disabled. With disability insurance, the benefit is for a period of time until the beneficiary is fit to return to work.

Critical Illness Insurance on the other hand pays you a one time, lump sum benefit if you are diagnosed with a critical illness or condition as defined in your policy and you satisfy the survival period. This differs from disability in that a person diagnosed with a critical illness is not expected to return to work.

The benefit can be used to:

* seek timely or non insured treatment outside Canada
* pay outstanding loans
* allow a healthy spouse to take time off work
* put towards for anything else you want

How you use it is up to you!

Since Disability and Critical Illness Insurance meet different needs, a sound financial plan should include both.

Job at risk? Save your insurance

If your job is even slightly shaky, now's the time to schedule a medical checkup, get your teeth fixed and look into coverage alternatives.

By Liz Pulliam Weston

Americans are dependent on their jobs for more than income. Many of us get our health, life and disability coverage through our work.

So as the risk of job loss rises during a recession, so, too, does the risk of losing coverage that can protect us against catastrophic events.

In fact, 4.2 million people could lose their health insurance in the coming months, estimates the Center for Economic and Policy Research, on top of the 45 million the Census Bureau says already lack coverage.

Those without health insurance are one illness or accident away from financial devastation. What's more, as I detailed in "A survival guide for the uninsured," people without health insurance are more likely to die prematurely and suffer lower lifetime earnings as poorer health interferes with their ability to make money.

Losing life or disability coverage can be just as disastrous for a family's finances. Here's what to do to increase the odds you'll stay covered and solvent in a downturn.

Help with health insurance

Take advantage of your health coverage while you've got it. If you have a good health plan now, use it to catch up on any medical care you've deferred, such as physicals, health screenings (mammograms, colonoscopies, etc.), dental work and new glasses. If you're not sure what you need, talk to your physician.

This care will involve some out-of-pocket expenses at a time when you're probably trying to conserve cash, but you'll have to spend a lot more if you lose your job and have to purchase health care on your own. Speaking of which . . .

Use COBRA as a last resort. If you lose your job, federal law typically requires that your employer allow you to continue your health coverage under COBRA rules. The catch: You have to pay the full premium, which is much more than the discounted premiums employees usually pay, plus an administrative fee of up to 2%.

To give you some idea of the cost, the average worker paid $273 a month in 2007 for family coverage or $58 for single coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, which tracks health insurance trends. Yet the actual total premium for health insurance averaged more than $1,000 a month for family coverage and $373 a month for singles.

If you and your family are healthy with no pre-existing conditions, you probably would be better off buying a high-deductible policy on your own. You have some time to shop around -- you're allowed 60 days to decide whether to sign up for COBRA benefits, and the coverage is retroactive.

To find an individual policy, start with the Blue Cross-Blue Shield provider in your state. Career coach Nancy Collamer, the author of "The Layoff Survival Guide," also recommends checking out eHealthInsurance and DentalPlans.com.

If you can't qualify for a cheaper policy, you may be stuck with COBRA. If you can't swing the premiums because your income is too low, you may be able to get coverage at least for your children and perhaps for yourself. Start by checking InsureKidsNow.gov.

Reduce your out-of-pocket medical expenses. Regardless of the type of coverage you wind up with, you can ratchet down the costs of care. Readers who post on the Your Money message board recommend the following:

• Stay as healthy as possible. Eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, maintain a good weight, take a multivitamin, brush and floss your teeth, quit smoking, drink in moderation or not at all. "We believe that good health comes from a healthy lifestyle," wrote "lone banker," who along with his wife is covered by Medicare. "We will be 69 this year (and), except for our annual checkup, we have minimal medical expenses."

• Use your insurer's mail-order pharmacy. You could save one-third to one-half of the money you now pay for your prescriptions. Mail-order pharmacies affiliated with insurers typically provide a three-month supply of a drug for the price of two or even a two-month supply for the cost of one month. You also can buy many generic prescriptions at Target or Wal-Mart for just $4 a month.

• Use discount or online prescription-eyeglass stores. Buying glasses from your eye doctor is the most convenient way to go, but it's also among the most expensive. Poster "Robert26" buys glasses every two years from a discount place that also performs a basic eye exam. "If there is a problem with my eyes they tell me to go to (an ophthalmologist)," he wrote. "Glasses are about half of what they are at (an ophthalmologist's office) and the same quality. I also use coupons if they are sent to me or in the paper."

• Use "urgent care" clinics instead of emergency rooms. A phone consultation with a doctor is another way to reduce costs.

• Understand your coverage. Read the summary your insurer provides. If you're not sure whether something's covered, call your insurer and ask. Don't be afraid to question your doctor's recommendations for tests and screenings to find out what's really necessary and what it might cost you. "Some things are not considered part of a yearly physical," wrote poster "DramaQ1015," "and just because your doctor wants to do it then, don't assume that you won't be paying out the nose for it."

• Negotiate. Ask for discounts if you pay cash or have a substantial deductible.

Employer life insurance isn't a great deal

Life insurance is another key coverage for many families. If anyone depends on you or would suffer financially should you die, then life insurance is a must. To determine how much coverage you should have, use MSN Money's Life Insurance Needs Estimator. If you need insurance, you may need a lot: A family with young children may need coverage that's 10 times the parents' annual income.

Even though your employer may offer coverage, life insurance at work is generally a bad deal all around. This kind of coverage is:

• Inadequate. Most employers that provide coverage as part of your benefit package give you $50,000 or the amount of your annual salary. If you need life insurance, you likely need a lot more.

• Not portable. Coverage typically ends when you lose your job.

• Expensive. If you can buy more than the basic coverage through your employer, you'll probably overpay, particularly if you're younger and healthier than your company's average employee, because you're being charged more to cover their risk. "The people who are left in the group coverage pool," said Byron Udell, the CEO of insurance-comparison site Accuquote, "are those who are too sick or too lazy to shop around."

• Variable. Group life insurance is typically offered in age "bands," Udell said, with the price increasing each time you pass a benchmark: 35, 40, 45, etc. By contrast, you can lock in a low payment for 10, 20 or 30 years if you buy your own level term insurance policy. ("Level" means the premium stays the same for that 10-, 20- or 30-year period; "term insurance" is pure insurance with no investment component.)

The solution: Buy policies on your own if you can. Now is a great time to buy, Udell said: Term life insurance prices have never been lower. (See "Suddenly, life insurance is cheap".)

"In 1994, a 40-year-old male who bought a $500,000, 20-year level term policy would have paid $995 a year," Udell said. "Today that policy is $350."

Prices have fallen so far that many people can buy a cheaper policy to replace one they already have, even though they're older, Udell said. (Read "Refinance your life insurance" for tips.)

Anybody who bought life insurance 10 years ago, he said, should be looking to replace it.

Some guidelines:

• Buy enough coverage. Life insurance agents love to tout the investment returns and other features of so-called cash-value life insurance, but such coverage is expensive. The premiums can be 10 times as much as term life insurance. Consider such policies only if you can afford enough coverage; otherwise, stick with term life.

• When in doubt, go long. Udell likes 30-year policies for their flexibility. The rates are somewhat higher, but you've locked the premiums in for longer. You can always let a 30-year policy lapse after 20 or so years, he said, if you no longer need the coverage. But if you buy a 20-year policy and it turns out you need coverage longer, you'll pay through the nose. Rates typically skyrocket after your term expires.

• Shop around. You can get quotes from Accuquote and Insure.com, among other sites. Chose a financially strong company; A.M. Best, Standard & Poor's and Moody's all rate companies' financial strength.

Forgotten but crucial: Disability insurance

The last piece of your insurance coverage is the one that's often missing: disability insurance.

You're actually more likely to be disabled than to die during your working years. In fact, nearly one out of three Americans age 35 to 65 will suffer a disability lasting at least three months, according to the Health Insurance Association of America. But most Americans don't have sufficient disability coverage.

If you're still working, you're probably covered by worker's compensation insurance, which can pay medical costs and provide some income, but only if you're injured on the job. Your employer may offer coverage that covers disabilities suffered off the job, but this coverage is usually tied to your employment. Lose your job and you'll probably lose your coverage.

Buying coverage on your own is an expensive proposition, and it may be impossible to get if you have health problems.

So here's an approach to consider:

• Opt for long-term-disability coverage if your employer offers it. This is generally the least expensive way to go.

• Try to supplement the coverage with an individual long-term-disability policy. Insurers that offer this coverage include Unum, Cigna and MetLife.

• If you lose your work coverage, try to expand your individual coverage. You may be able to boost your monthly benefit for an additional premium.

• If you're buying a policy on your own, buy smart. Get the highest monthly benefit and longest payout period you can, but keep costs down by choosing a longer waiting period before benefits kick in. For more information, read "Disability insurance can save your life."

Liz Pulliam Weston's new book, "Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want Out of Life," is now available. Columns by Weston, the Web's most-read personal-finance writer and winner of the 2007 Clarion Award for online journalism, appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions on the Your Money message board.

15 things you need to know about insurance

Insurance can be complicated and confusing. This guide answers some basic questions about the types of coverage you need.

Winston Churchill once described the Soviet Union as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." The same might be said of insurance in its varied forms.

You know you should have a comprehensive, cost-effective network of coverage, but what you need and how much can be confusing. Here are answers to 15 of the most commonly asked questions about insurance:

1. What sorts of insurance do I need?

Most people need to be concerned with insuring four areas: their possessions, their life, their health and their finances.

2. When you're talking about possessions, does that mean homeowners insurance is the most important?

Probably, because a house is likely to be the single biggest investment most of us make. The rule of thumb with homeowners insurance is not to skimp. If you can, pay extra for guaranteed-replacement coverage, which mandates that the insurer will replace your home if it is destroyed, regardless of the cost. If you instead specify a dollar amount of coverage, and it's not enough, you could end up paying the difference.

3. Once I have guaranteed-replacement coverage for my home, I'm all set, right?

Well, it's important to know what your homeowners insurance covers and what it doesn't. For example, particularly pricey items such as big-screen televisions and fancy stereo equipment are often excluded from policies or, at the least, inadequately covered. The same goes for antiques, collectibles, expensive jewelry and furs. Ask for riders that specifically cover those items.

Additionally, homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage. Go to your town or municipal office to see if your home is in a flood plain. If so, these private insurers participate in the federal government's National Flood Insurance Program. Likewise, seek out earthquake insurance if you live in a vulnerable area.

4. I have a home office. Do I have any special insurance needs?

Oh yes. A great deal of home-office equipment, including computers, fax machines and copy machines, are excluded from most conventional homeowners policies. You have to obtain separate insurance to cover them. If you see clients in your home office, insurance becomes particularly important: You will need liability insurance as well. Check with your insurance agent to make certain your bases are covered.

5. Does homeowners insurance cover me if, say, someone slips on my front steps, breaks a leg and sues me?

Not completely. Homeowners policies -- and, for that matter, renters policies -- have liability limits. One option is an umbrella policy. This adds additional liability coverage, upward of $1 million, relatively cheaply (prices vary considerably from state to state). It also gives you additional liability coverage for your car.

6. Is car insurance an absolute must?

Absolutely. Every state requires that drivers have some sort of automobile insurance in place. Even if they didn't, it would be sheer madness to drive one inch without some form of protection. Slam into someone else and wreck another car, or kill someone, without the protection of auto insurance, and your financial life could be ruined.

7. Why is auto insurance so expensive, and how can I hold down the cost?

The biggest bite comes from liability protection, which is composed of bodily injury protection and property protection. This is one element of auto insurance you shouldn't shortchange. Look for coverage of at least $100,000 per person, another $100,000 for property and $300,000 per accident. If you can swing it, add uninsured motorist coverage, which protects you if you're in an accident involving a driver with no insurance.

To make this more affordable, consider raising your deductibles (that portion of the expense you have to pay before your coverage kicks in). Pushing up deductibles to $500 or even higher can significantly cut your premiums. Consider eliminating collision coverage, which covers damage to your car. That's probably not wise if your car is new, but give it some thought if your car has a few years on it and driving around with a ding or two is no big deal.

Other ways to cut costs: Drive safely (drivers with good records get better deals); insure every car you own with the same company (multi-car packages often mean lower premiums); don't smoke (statistics show that smokers have more accidents than nonsmokers); and, if you're still in school and pulling down good grades, let your insurer know it (good marks sometimes cut premiums). For more help, see "Shopping for auto insurance."

8. What about life insurance? Do I have to have that?

Does anyone depend on you financially? In its most basic form, life insurance covers a person's income. If no spouse, child or parent is depending on your income, then life insurance is optional. If you're married, or there is someone whose well-being depends on what you make for a living, life insurance can prove an essential form of protection.

There is one wrinkle that goes against the maxim "no income, no insurance." If one spouse works and the other stays home with kids, consider taking out insurance on the parent at home. Should he or she die, the death benefit could cover the hefty expense of child care.

9. How can I figure out how much life insurance I need?

It's something of an inexact science, but try MSN Money's Life Insurance Needs Estimator.

10. What sort of life insurance should I consider?

Term life insurance is best for most people. It's the cheapest and most simple insurance you can get. You pay the premium and you're insured. It's particularly effective if you follow the time-honored wisdom of investing the difference between what you pay for term insurance and what you would pay for "whole life" or cash-value insurance. If things work out, your systematic investment program will leave you with a nice large cache of cash.

11. So I should never buy anything but term life insurance?

It's not quite that cut-and-dried. If you doubt you'll be able to invest the difference, cash-value programs are a form of forced savings. Some are tied to mutual funds that can offer reasonable rates of return. And, because life-insurance death benefits are exempt from taxes, they can prove an effective strategy to pass assets along to your heirs. The downside to most cash-value plans is that they're more expensive than term insurance, and you have to hold on to them for a set number of years so you're not hit with heavy "early surrender" charges.

12. Health insurance is something I can't do without, right?

Correct. Nearly 46 million Americans lack health insurance. Make sure you're not one of them. Many employers offer health insurance to employees at group rates. Plans boil down to two options: managed care and fee for service. With managed care (HMOs, PPOs and the like), the employee is responsible for a co-pay, generally between $10 and $30, for doctor visits and other services. In exchange, the program specifies certain physicians from which you may select. Managed-care programs are infamous for making you wait days and even weeks to get in to see someone.

Fee for service, on the other hand, carries more expensive premiums than managed care. The major advantage is that you can generally go to any doctor you want. Fee-for-service policies usually pay 80% of patient expenses after deductibles, and you are responsible for the remaining 20%. Like other forms of insurance, you can trim fee-for-service premiums by increasing your deductible.

If you're self-employed, or your employer doesn't offer health coverage, make certain you get something in place. You can start by searching for quotes online here at MSN Money.

13. What exactly is COBRA?

COBRA stands for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985. Under COBRA, if you resign from a job or are terminated for any reason other than "gross misconduct," you can continue under your former employer's health-care coverage for up to 18 months. In many cases, spouses and dependent children are also eligible. The downside is that the premiums are expensive -- in effect, you're paying both your and your former employer's share. The idea of COBRA is to continue a form of coverage until you arrange for some other sort of health insurance.

14. Does health insurance help if I'm sick or injured and laid up for a while?

Partially. Health insurance helps only to pay your medical expenses. Disability insurance is what keeps income coming in if you can't work for a time. This is one of the more commonly overlooked types of insurance, and one that most working families really need. It pays you an income if you're incapable of generating your own for any period of time. Some employers offer it, but in many cases, you'll have to get it on your own. Look for policies whose waiting periods are no longer than 90 days. This is the time you have to wait until you start getting disability payments.

15. What about long-term care?

Long-term-care insurance helps pay for nursing care and other like expenses when you get older. That's a good thing, no doubt about it. But the premiums are expensive and become more so the older you get. The average premium for those younger than 65 is $1,337 per year. Older than 65, it's $2,862, according to the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. So you have to consider whether you can genuinely afford the increasing premiums.

7 life insurance mistakes to avoid

Is your insurance adequate? How do you know? Even in today's hard times, you may need more, not less.

[Related content: insurance, life insurance, insurance companies, insurance rates, policies]

By U.S. News & World Report

For most people, talking about life insurance sounds almost as fun as eating rotten fish. And while ignoring it can compound a family tragedy by turning it into a financial nightmare, more and more people are doing just that. A recent survey by the nonprofit Life Foundation indicated that one-fourth of Americans would consider canceling their life insurance policies in order to save money during the recession.

Before making that kind of drastic decision, consider these seven common insurance mistakes -- and you might decide to buy more coverage, not less.

1. Thinking you have enough. In a recent survey of middle-income Americans, Allstate found that while respondents generally agreed that everyone should have some level of life insurance, most believed that it should primarily cover bills and funeral expenses. Only 20% said life insurance should replace the income of the person who died, in order to continue to support any children and other dependent family members. The idea of having a policy that paid out seven to 10 times one's salary -- an amount that could easily make sense for someone with young children -- sounded like an attempt to sell a needlessly large policy to the respondents.

• MSN Money insurance planner

In fact, a third of adults have no life insurance at all, says Steven Weisbart, the chief economist for the Insurance Information Institute. Of the remaining people, many of them have only the insurance that comes from their workplace policies, which is usually not enough for people who want to support dependents after their death.

2. Not talking about it at all. "It's a topic that nobody really wants to think about," says Matt Easley, a vice president for Allstate Financial, partly because thinking about death is so uncomfortable.

Though life insurance isn't required the way auto insurance is, Weisbart says it is "morally required," because "if you have dependents, you owe it to them to protect them from the loss of your capacity to earn an income." (See "What if you got hit by a bus?")

3. Relying on old rules of thumb. Traditionally, people relied on a standard "seven times income" rule to calculate how much insurance they needed. But that's not a useful measure, Easley says, because people's situations are so different. A single person with no dependents will probably need much less insurance than someone with five young children, for example. Instead, Easley recommends sitting down and thinking about "the things you want to protect." How much would it cost to support your children in the way you want? To pay for their college or pay off the mortgage?

Calculate economic loss

Michael Bonevento, a senior financial adviser at Ameriprise Financial, also recommends making a "human life value" calculation, which looks at the economic loss that would come from a breadwinner passing away. For example, if he earns $100,000 per year and has 20 years left until retirement, then the value is $2 million. (Taxes then get subtracted out along with the amount the breadwinner consumes himself, and other benefits such as health insurance are added. Finally, the present value of that number is calculated.)

• Calculator: How much life insurance do you need?

The human life value is usually a higher number than what people come up with after considering what they'd like to be able to pay for if they were to die. Bonevento recommends purchasing insurance for somewhere between those two amounts.

4. Ignoring your non-monetary income. Many people, when adding up how much of their income they would need to replace, forget about the benefits that come with their jobs, such as health insurance and retirement account payments. "I have a job, and my employer pays my health insurance costs, but if I died, and that subsidy disappears, my wife would have to get health insurance without it, so it would cost more," Weisbart says. Life insurance, then, should pay enough money to cover the new health insurance bill.

5. Forgetting the long term. People often lose track of how long the life insurance payout should support their children and other dependents after they die, Easley says. "If you have a child who's 10, in 15 years, they'll be out on their own," he explains, so in that case, term coverage that will provide support for those 15 years likely makes the most sense.

6. Thinking that it's too expensive. Many people mistakenly think life insurance is prohibitively expensive, Bonevento says, but it's possible to find a policy that fits both your needs and your budget. Term insurance, which provides temporary insurance over a specific time period, is more affordable than permanent insurance, which lasts a lifetime. In addition to managing financial risk, people sometimes use permanent insurance as an investment tool, as well.

But those on a tight budget tend to choose term insurance. One of Bonevento's clients, a married man with one child and another on the way, decided he needed to take out $1.5 million worth of term life insurance. His monthly payment, pending an assessment of his health, will cost between $102 and $219 per month.

7. Forgetting to update a policy. Though major life events, such as the birth of a child, marriage or divorce, usually mean it's time to update your insurance policy, many people forget to do so. Even Sept. 11, which affected many of Bonevento's clients, did not serve as the motivator he thought it would. Then, he says, "when tragedy strikes, they face financial problems on top of everything else."

This article was reported by Kimberly Palmer for U.S. News & World Report.

Your 5-minute guide to life insurance

There's no need to dwell on your demise, but you should use these 18 tips to make sure your loved ones would be taken care of. Get the right policy, and don't pay too much.

Life insurance provides families with financial security should a spouse or parent die. Once you have dependents, the question "What if you got hit by a bus?" requires serious consideration. (See the video "Preparing for the worst.")

First, the basics

There are essentially two types of life insurance: term and whole. You can apply for a policy online, seek help from a financial planner or buy through an agent.

A term policy covers periods of one to 30 years. When the insured dies, the face amount of the policy is paid to the beneficiary. Term life has no savings component. If you haven't died by the end of the term, you don't get any money back. For most Americans ages 20 to 50, a term policy is the best and simplest option. (See "Term or whole life?")

In the past, rates skyrocketed if you were older than 40. But now good rates are available in your 40s and 50s if you're in good health. Insurers today can better estimate risk by taking into account everything from cholesterol levels to family history. (See "Suddenly, life insurance is cheap.")

A whole-life policy, also called permanent life insurance, not only protects you from the day you purchase it until you die, but it also includes an investment in bonds, money markets or stocks. The policy builds cash value that you can borrow against. The three most common types of whole-life insurance are traditional, universal and variable. (See "The debate over term vs. permanent life insurance.")

The downside of whole life: It's expensive because part of the money is put into a savings program, and it typically comes with high fees and commissions. (See "When it pays to consult an insurance pro.")

If you already have a policy but think you are paying more than you would had you opened it recently, shop around. (See "Refinance your life insurance.")

How much is enough?

Deciding how much really just depends. If you're single with no dependents, you probably don't need any at all. The key time to get life insurance is when you have children. In addition, get coverage if you have a spouse who doesn't work. (See the video "How much life insurance is right?")

A rule of thumb for life insurance is five to 10 times your annual salary. MSN Money's estimator of life insurance needs can help you decide how much coverage you should have. (Also see the video "A lifetime of life insurance.")

Consider these tips:

• Don't buy life insurance for young children. It's largely wasted because you're not replacing income. (See "Insurance plans you can avoid.")

• Look at your budget before committing to a premium. When you buy life insurance, you have to keep paying the premiums throughout the term, no matter what, or lose your coverage. (See "Your 5-minute guide to budgeting.")

• Don't let a policy lapse if you plan to buy another one at some point. A high number of lapses could indicate financial instability. (See "The effects of lapsing on your policy.")

• You might be able to drop your life insurance if your children are grown and your spouse has income.

• An insurance policy is only as good as the company that backs it, so check out a company's financial rating before signing on. Avoid advisers who say the ratings are unimportant or unavailable.

• If you are single and simply don't want your relatives burdened with the cost of a funeral, consider contributing to a Totten trust savings account. (See "Plan -- and pay for -- your own funeral.") Should you take out a life insurance policy later on, you could use all your contributions to the trust, as well as the interest earned, for something else.

How to get a deal

The price you pay depends on your age, health, habits and even hobbies, but there are ways to reduce your rates. You'll likely need a medical exam before being approved for the policy, to rule out risk factors. (See "The lowdown on life insurance medical exams.")

And it might not hurt to check out MSN Money's life-expectancy calculator.

As with everything else, it pays to shop around and negotiate rates. Quotes are available at Web sites such as Insure.com and AccuQuote.com.

Here are more ways to cut costs:

• Ask about discounts. Don't expect your insurance agent to go out of his way to trumpet them.

• Quit smoking and lose weight. You could cut your rates by as much as 50%. (See "10 ways to save on life insurance.")

• Buy coverage in bulk, particularly in increments of $250,000. Oddly, that sometimes costs less.

• Understand how insurance agents and commission-only financial planners get paid: They don't make money unless they sell insurance products. Agents also make lower commissions on term-life policies, so look out for maneuvers to get you to buy something else.

• Clean up credit issues before applying for insurance, because most companies base rates partly on credit history.

Stay ahead of the curve

Life insurance is not a one-time-only deal, so keep these things in mind:

• Don't depend solely on life insurance offered through your employer. You can't count on keeping it should you lose your job or become disabled and can't work. (See "5 life insurance blunders to avoid.")

• Watch for hidden fees, including those for paying premiums by direct withdrawal from your checking account.

• Periodically review your policy. The one that fit your family five years ago might not be the best choice today.

• Life insurance settlements, in which policyholders sell their insurance to investors, are a growing trend. But shop around first, beware of high commissions and know the tax consequences of selling your policy. (See "Sell your life to a stranger.")

• Store your policy documents in a safe place, such as a fireproof security box or safe-deposit box.

• To make things easier for your survivors, consider putting your passwords in the same place. (See "Don't take your passwords to the grave.")

• And while making these provisions, be sure your beneficiaries can locate your 401(k). (See "You're dead: Where's your 401(k)?")

Finally, as difficult as it is, talk with your loved ones about your insurance plans. At the very least, tell them which company holds the policy. If they don't know about it, they might never get the money -- and the security -- you wanted them to have.