The recent recession has apparently caused many of this newer generation to become far more worried than their predecessors about their financial stability in later life. A recent study called ‘Reclaiming the Futures’ by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America studied the attitudes of Americans aged 44-74, and found that, though a small majority (54%) felt that they were unprepared for retirement ,many showed an increased awareness about the necessity of having to plan for their financial futures.

New Baby Boomers more likely to buy Life Insurance Products to Fund Retirement

47% of the younger generation surveyed – compared with just 35% of the older people questioned, stated that they wished to attain greater security and financial stability, and 41% as opposed to just 30% of their older counterparts said they wished to reduce financial ‘vulnerability’.

84% of respondents said that financial planning was more important than it had been pre recession.”The economic downturn has woke up many Americans to the challenges of retirement income but this younger boomer segment seems to have taken the lesson even more seriously” according to Gary G Bhojwani, president of Allianz Life. He also stated that “security and guarantees with retirement income are now very important to Americans.” Also, the younger boomer generation is also more comfortable with the idea of working with financial professionals – at 47%, 20% higher than the total overall of the group studied.

Agreed Annuities and Mutual Funds most Popular

Income products such as those with agreed annuities figured high in the opinions of the young baby boomers – and of those that own annuities around 80% considered themselves happy with them, with mutual funds the next highest at 63%.

Allianz Life Insurance Company has been in operation since 1896 and the company specializes in life insurance and mutual funds .

Source: InsuranceNews.net

Only the Top Four Life Insurance Companies in the UK offer Life Insurance to Aids Sufferers

Just Zurich, Scottish Provident, Prudential and Fortis currently give life coverage to HIV sufferers and that out of these four just the Prudential could be said to offer competitive life insurance cover premiums. The researchers offered the big four insurers the opportunity to provide cover for a ‘test case’ HIV sufferer, and found that only two companies – Zurich and Prudential were prepared to take the presented individual on. Zurich quoted life cover of £10 per £1000, and Prudential £5 for every British £1000.

Life Insurers not clear about how much Premiums should be

According to Chris Morgan, the Marketing Director at Unusual Risks “What you have got is companies coming to the market on a pot shot, trying to take a bit of the market and get some claim experience at the expense of the client.”

When asked for a response to the these research findings a spokesperson for Fortis asserted that it was not Fortis’ policy to routinely turn down people with existing medical conditions and that they always took every case on merit.

Phil Brown, Head of Underwriting and Claims at Zurich UK Life stated “the insurability of HIV-positive customers is still in its infancy and as such our position is to continue to assess each applicant on their own merits, considering the many aspects of risk involved.”

Source: Life Insurance.co.uk posted 26 Nov

Life Settlement by seniors

The practice of ‘life settlement’ is carried out mostly by seniors, who perhaps decide that they would rather live in the ‘here and now’ or need cash to improve their standard of living. Alternatively perhaps they have decided that the policy is no longer required since they have made alternative financial arrangements for the future.

But before thinking of selling a life policy seniors should consider the following:

• Do they have adequate coverage for funeral expenses etc. in the event of their death?
• Do any members of their family have special needs which require extra financial provision?
• Life Insurance payouts are exempt from income tax – this is extra money which could help a charity or family member – giving up the policy means they would miss out
• Depending on government policy the beneficiaries might be able to pay estate taxes with the proceeds of life insurance payouts
• The process of selling a policy is quite complicated since all the premiums made from when the policy was originally taken out have to be calculated and the tax on the sale has to be carefully calculated by professionals

There certainly are situations when selling a life policy on to a third party makes sense – emergency cash may be urgently required or the policy holder may have made other suitable provisions for those left behind. Before taking this big decision however policy holders must seek advice from a qualified financial advisor.