Lately I've been doing some research on the costs of dying, or what costs you'll immediately incur should a loved one die suddenly.

I remember when my grandmother (Phyllis Read) passed away, age 83, back in 1995 my dad arranged the funeral.. I didn't ask about the cost detail of the funeral, as I didn't feel it was appropriate to ask. My dad mentioned that the sandwiches, dainties and coffee for the family and friends visiting, cost upwards of $3,500. I looked around and saw maybe 200 sandwiches, and a couple pots of coffee.

I wasn't about to ask my dad if he haggled prices for these funeral services. His mother had just passed away. That's the angle that the funeral companies don't mind.

I don't think my grandmother had life insurance, but she did have savings in place to cover all costs.

My dad said in passing that, "this is what she wanted as her last request. A nice funeral where friends and family would be gathered." My dad didn't spare any expenses out of complete respect for his mother.

I never forgot about those exhorbitant funeral expenses, and was reminded about them again today.

How many people think about funeral expenses. I get a feeling that most people don't do "funeral shopping" until after the loved one dies.

The immediate need for knowing funeral costs comes at the same time as compiling information about the loved one. Compiling the basic records of life like military service records, social security numbers, life insurance policies, mother's maiden name, divorce or wedding documents, etc. is an ordeal we avoid whenever possible. When death occurs avoidance is no longer possible - there is an immediate need for those records.

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Life insurance news and headlines for December 21, 2006

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I was looking around today at various life insurance blogs to see what people were writing about.

Lindquist.com had this post regarding Life Insurance Settlements being regulated.

It seems that if people are selling their life insurance policies to cash out of them, these transactions are regulated by NASD rules and are teh same as secureties transactions.

I'm going to keep my ears perked up for more about this.

Member Obligations with Respect to the Sale of Existing Variable Life Insurance Policies to Third Parties
Executive Summary

Sales of existing life insurance policies to third parties?often referred to as "life settlements"?have grown exponentially in recent years, and that trend appears likely to continue. The purpose of this Notice is to remind firms and associated persons that life settlements involving variable insurance policies are securities transactions, and firms and associated persons involved in such transactions are subject to applicable NASD rules.

Suffering from a life threatening disease and want to settle your life insurance policy early?
Viatical settlements are also becoming more and more popular with seniors and people suffering from life threatening illnesses.

According to this site:

A viatical settlements is a large amount of cash given to terminally ill people, known as viators. This money is given in exchange for the death benefits of their life insurance. The word viatical or viator comes from a Latin origin, known as viaticum, which means provisions of a journey.

These sorts of settlements are often found attractive to viators (sellers) because of the fact that they will receive a large amount of money during their final days. Viatical settlements are especially attractive to investors for their high rates of return.

Dictionary.com defines viator as:
A person with terminal or a life-threatening illness who sells their life insurance policy at a steep discount to an insurance firm to pay for their health-care costs or improve their quality of life.

Investopedia Commentary
A viator will usually receive a percentage of the policy's face value, around 50-70%, in a cash payment. This is one way in which an individual is able to receive money to help with medical coverage.

If you're suffering from a life threatening illness, a viatical settlement may be the way to go. This may also be the case if you're the only member of your family and you don't have anybody who relies on you financially any more. It may be a good idea to cash out of your life insurance policy while you're still able to enjoy the money.

Get a life insurance quote

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I am inviting anybody life insurance blog writers and law blog writers to come and visit on my blog.

In 2007 we will be covering many topics in life insurance. Along with talking about different life insurance products, I will be covering instances where people died an untimely death and hopefully had life insurance.

I will also be excited to visit your blogs and comment on your topics.

Again, if you have a blog that talks about life insurance, legal law aspects of life insurance, and any other related fields to life insurance, I am inviting you to drop by and visit on my life insurance blog.

The interesting thing is, the more I blog about life insurance, the more I learn about life insurance. Adding the legal and related industries components to this blog will help our readers get a much better grasp of the different aspects of life insurance.

BLOGGERS WANTED:
Life Insurance Bloggers Wanted
Legal Bloggers Wanted
Funeral and Death related industry bloggers wanted

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Cancer is such a horrible disease. One moment you don't have it, and then all of a sudden, you're diagnosed with it. As we're talking about sources of untimely death, Cancer is a leading cause in this day and age.

Cancer is terrible because it ravages a family emotionally, and then financially. As a person is disabled because of cancer they can no longer earn the living that they once enjoyed. If they die from cancer hopefully they had insurance in place to take care of their surviving family members.

Plain and simple, cancer is another cause of untimely deaths where it is paramount that people had life insurance in place. It is everybody's worst fear to die an untimely death caused by cancer. The purpose of this article is to further illustrate that cancer can happen to anybody, and it's good to have life insurance protection in place to guard financially against such a terrible disease causing death.

See also:

• Canadian Cancer Society
  
• Cancer Statistics
  
• Tabacco Facts - Cancer
  
• Cancer Causing Agents
  

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I found this on the Saskatchewan Consumer Protection website.

This discussion of funerals and cremations goes hand in hand with life insurance especially if one has just passed away. The first things you think about when a loved one passes away is: What do I do now? Who do I contact for help in this situation? Where are all of the life insurance policies located? What should I expect of the funeral company that I've hired.

Where as all people in the funeral industry are highly respectful of the deceased and the surviving families, it's good to know in advance what is expected of funeral homes at the time of death.

The Funeral and Cremation Services Act
The Funeral and Cremation Services Act incorporates provisions which were previously in The Saskatchewan Embalmers Act and The Prepaid Funeral Services Act and adds provisions governing funeral homes and crematoria. The Act:

• establishes a Funeral and Cremation Services Council with members (both elected by industry and publicly appointed) to administer the Act. The Council operates under the general supervision of a Superintendent of Funeral and Cremation Services appointed by the Minister;
  
• provides bylaw-making powers for the Council to set standards of practice, with review of the bylaws by the Superintendent;
  
• requires licensing of persons providing services under the Act, including embalmers, funeral directors and salespersons selling prepaid contracts, as well as owners of funeral homes, crematoria and transfer services;
  
• prohibits the disposition of human remains at any place other than a cemetery, by cremation or as otherwise provided in the regulations;
  
• sets out, in order of priority, which person is the authorized decision-maker with respect to the disposition of the remains of a deceased person;
  
• prohibits licensees from representing that goods or services are needed if they are not or from charging a fee for goods or services not authorized by the purchaser (unless they are required by law);
  
• requires licensees to make itemized price lists of their goods and services available to the public;
  
• continues the prepaid services assurance fund established under The Prepaid Funeral Services Act and provides for payment from the fund for claims arising out of a contract;
  
• continues the ten day cooling-off period for prepaid funeral services contracts, and other cancellation rights, and also applies these rules to prepaid cremation services contracts.

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Learning about death helps us understand why we need life insurance!
This week I've been doing quite a bit of research on how people die, where they die, and what happens if they die in an unexpected place at an unexpected time.

While filling up for gas today at 6:30 am the gas attendant asked me how my day was so far. I said "it was great , and that my mission this week was to learn about death" . I told him that I needed to learn how people die so that I could write articles for my life insurance website.

Knowing that I wasn't some type of crank, he starts to tell me about his that his aunt and uncle were Romeo and Yvonne (Bonnie) Laforge. These are the same folks who were murdered in a double homicide in STURGEON FALLS Ontario. LaForge Homicide

He also went on to talk about his other family member who was killed in a car accident after they were a car collision with moose

TRAGIC, UNTIMELY SOLEMN DEATHS
These are some stories of tragic untimely deaths that most people over 20 years of age could tell about. somebody knows somebody who had an untimely accidental death.

Respectfully, I asked the young fellow if his relatives who died tragically had any life insurance. I asked him if he knew the costs related to these deaths.?

After a tragedy such as the ones described above, wouldn't it be horrible if the surrounding family members would be stuck with funeral bills, having to pay debts, taxes and any other costs associated with these peoples untimely death.

This week I am contacting lawyers offices, funeral homes and life insurance carriers to research what actually happens when somebody dies in an untimely fashion and doesn't have life insurance. I want to know the actual downside to the surrounding loved ones in this circumstance.

What are the actual costs of accidental death. Can family members and friends handle these costs out of their current budget.? Do you have to pay for the funeral arrangement right away. That could cost $10,000 -$15,000 depending on the type of funeral. etc

I also want to know the benefits of having a life insurance policy in place to the surrounding loved ones, friends and family.

I will report back as soon as I get replies back from my funeral home, life insurance, and lawyer contacts.

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I'm starting to research into an article regarding making provisions for the death of loved one during the christmas holiday.

I'm contacting funeral homes around the U.S. and Canada to get some ideas as to their advice on how to proceed should a loved one die during the christmas holiday.

The Scenario:
You're visiting relatives during the christmas holiday. You're either at their house or your house and you're visiting from another state or province.

A visiting relative passes away while he or she is staying at your place.

The questions I raise are:
1) Do you contact the deceased's life insurance company right away?
2) Should you plan the funeral right away?
3) If I contact the life insurance company do I have to pay right away?

In the next few days, I will be contacting funeral homes, life insurance carriers and more to get these questions answered squarely.

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It's christmas time and at the same time I need to make my contribution to this life insurance wealth of information :)

I thought I would have a look around for blogs and sites that talk about Christmas and Insurance.

The christmas time of year does bring about some hazards that people should think about such as being careful with household products, fire safety with christmas trees etc.

Let's see what these sites have to save about christmas time and the various types of insurance.

A site that is named http://www.christmas-insurance.com/
- This is a small site that's claim to fame is that their URL is christmas-insurance.com. Hilarious.

Lena Wee - Christmas Insurance
- Another site where the owner of the brokerage is named Christmas.

Christmas Travelling Insurance
- This page recommends that people remember to purchase trip insurance when they're travelling for christmas. Millions of people travel all over the world to visit loved ones during this time of year. It's a time of year that you don't need any extra financial surprises, especially if you're out of country.

Christmas cards for life insurance agents
- This site promotes Christmas cards for life insurance agents to send to their clients. Well... everybody needs to stay in touch and give good cheer, this time of year!

A poem for insurance professionals - cute!
- This is a humorous poem for life insurance agents to help them check out the risk factor of their clients christmas items. Nicely done.

Pet insurance at Christmas
- This is an article about getting pet insurance at christmas time. It makes sense to avoid over-spending on illness and injury when you already have to consider the everyday expenses of food, grooming, property damage, kennelling and routine vaccinations. Just remember, a pet is for life, not just for Christmas.

There you have it, a quick look at how some sites are talking about insurance and christmas.

Personally I think it's important to do your risk management before the holidays start. If you're visiting with relatives and friends, you want the time to be filled with warmth and love, and not about worry about what happens if something goes wrong.

As well, it's nice to know that if something does go wrong, you'll have the most peace because you've got all your bases covered.

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Looking for a job in life insurance. Aviva and HSBC OKed to set up insurance branches China. China is hiring life insurance agents! I can imagine that just as the rest of the economy is exploding in China, the life insurance industry is going to experience some phenomenal growth. There's a huge market place of over 1.3+ billion people in China (According to www.cia.gov). I'm sure all of the life insurance carriers are drooling over the opportunity to expand into China. That's an interesting bit of news.

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