Your friendly, neighborhood life insurance agent is most likely to answer this question with the word “everybody.”

The fact is, not everybody does need life insurance. If you don’t have a family, you probably don’t need life insurance unless, of course, you’re a really nice person and just want to leave some money to a friend or a charity.

If you do have a family, the question isn’t do you need life insurance. The question is how much do you need?

A life insurance sales representative may want you to apply some kind of formula. In years gone by, he or she might have told you that you need to buy insurance equal to four times your annual salary. So, if your annual salary is $50,000, you might have been told you need at least a $200,000 policy. Today, the same agent might tell you that you need eight times your annual salary or a $400,000 policy.

In most cases, this is probably too simplistic an approach, as it tends to assume that you are your family’s sole provider.

Today, there are a number of other factors that should be taken into consideration. Does your spouse work or is he/she a stay-at-home mom or dad? Are you a single mother or father? And where does that put you? How old are your children? Will your surviving spouse be raising kids for three years or 15? If your spouse works, how much does he or she earn? If something should happen to you, is there family nearby that could help raise your kids or is the nearest family 1,000 miles away?

Let’s take a hypothetical example. Jim W. is 45 years old, earns $75,000 a year and has two kids age 15 and 17. Jim’s wife, Martha is 43 and earns $50,000 a year. Jim and Martha believe their kids are college material. How much life insurance does Jim need? Let’s assume $25,000 a year times the two boys, times four years. That’s $200,000. Jim also wants to make sure Martha lives comfortably for the rest of her working life and figures she’ll need an additional $25,000 a year to do this. Multiply this $25,000 by 22 and that’s $550,000. Add this to the cost of the boys’ college, and Jim needs at least a $750,000 life insurance policy … and that doesn’t include anything for Martha’s retirement!

Now, compare this to Beth who is the single mother of a boy, Robbie, age eight and a girl, Kinsey, age 12. How much insurance does Beth need? There’s no spouse but if anything happens to her, the kids will go to her sister, and the sister will need financial help. So, assume $10,000 a year to the sister for 16 years — $160,000 - plus college for the kids at $200,000. This adds up to a policy of maybe $360,000. See the difference that circumstances can make?

Before you purchase a policy, sit down and figure out who will need to be taken care of, for how long they will need the help and, realistically, what that help should consist of. If you die this should not be like winning the lottery for your survivors. Don’t buy so much insurance that you will be really strapped for all those years before you pass on.

The next step is to do some comparison-shopping. Different insurance companies often quote different rates on just about the same coverage as they tend to rate risks differently. You should also look at the cost of term vs. cash value life insurance. Many experts believe that if you’re young, with young kids, your best bet is a term policy as it costs less, yet can offer good coverage. For example, if you’re 35 and in good health, you can probably buy a $500,000, 10-year level term polity for less than $300 a year. And a 20-year, level-term policy might cost you no more than $400 a year.

You might also save money on the term insurance by buying more than one policy. For example, if you have two children, one age 12 and one age eight, you might consider buying a 10-year, level term policy to take the 12-year old through college, and a 20-year term policy to cover the eight year old through college.

Finally, you can get quotes on term insurance and even buy it without ever seeing a life insurance agent. There are a number of web sites where you can do this, including quickquotes.com, reliaQuote.com and intelliquote.com.

It is important to understand that the quotes available from these sites are just preliminary quotes. The insurance company you choose will not provide a firm quote until you have provided all requested information and, in most case, have taken a physical. The good news is that the physical will be done in your home and at your convenience.

Cash value life insurance is a much more complex issue. The best way to get information on it is to sit down with a good, experienced agent who can explain the alternatives available and the costs and benefits of each.

Have you heard about HD radio technology? It makes AM sound as good as FM and FM sound almost like you were listening to a CD … and its free! To learn more about this amazing new technology, just go my Web site, http://www.hd-radio-home.com, to get all the buzz. Douglas Hanna is a retired marketing executive and the author of numerous articles on HD radio and family finances.

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While life is populated by choices, one certainty that faces the majority of adults is that they can control their future options only by planning ahead. Financial planners recommend diversifying interests to insure profit. Real estate planners bank on the idea that real estate matures over time and is a solid investment.

Life insurance promises a financial cushion for bereaved family members so they won’t have to worry about things such as house payments or accrued debt. Long term care planning focuses on the growing need for assisted care as the nation’s baby boomers near retirement age and individuals are living longer and longer lives.

Who benefits from the leads on long-term care?

• Long Term Care Facilities
• Individuals
• Insurance Planners
• Families

Long-term care is provided for individuals who need special assistance, but do not want to be a burden on their families. Why leave important decisions and financial burdens until the last minute? By planning ahead, adults can guarantee that their needs will be met in a manner that they choose and pay for.

For example, with life spans reaching 90 to 100 years old on average, a retiree with declining healthy may have to rely on family alone to support them if their health takes an ill turn or they are injured. Long term care planning puts those decisions and options into the hands of the people who will need them.

A 55 year-old man or woman is an excellent prospect for long-term care because they have the time and wherewithal to make the decisions now that will benefit them 30 years down the road.

What makes long-term leads a viable option in today’s market?

The target market of long-term care leads are far more likely to discard direct mail advertisements about planning ahead versus answering their own curiosity or searching out potential services on their own. Since the prospects provided by a lead service are already contemplating their options, it’s a much smaller leap for the agent to make in helping them achieve their plans.

Let’s face it, planning for a nebulous time of infirmity and ill health in the future is not a pleasant topic. Longer life span means that robust adults will not see a decline in their health until their years are much further advanced. They are less likely to take into consideration needs like debilitating disease or chronic conditions. Direct marketing techniques that pursue these avenues will likely outspend their return value.

A lead service can cut down on the overhead and output of marketing dollars while providing a more sustainable list of prospective clients. By cashing in on the prospects that are already aware they need some plan or formula in place, the agent’s work is halved with better odds at providing returns.

How can long-term care leads help everyone involved?

Yes, long-term care leads will help agents close more sales and thereby increase their profits. However, the concept behind long-term care leads will also provide excellent service to the target market. The information age is overripe with available material. Websites that detail the finest of small prints and where one resource can sound very much like another are a turnoff for a lot of prospective clients.

A lead service helps them to cut through the tape by acquiring their contact information and interests. That information and specific points of interest are then distributed to the right agents and contacts that can help them find what they are looking for. Ultimately, long-term care leads are a win-win-win situation for the agent, the client and the client’s family.

Long Term Care Insurance Quotes Wiz was designed to make the long term care insurance and term insurance process as simple and easy as possible. http://www.longtermcarewiz.com

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