Thursday, January 29, 2009

Key Person Insurance

A life insurance policy that a company purchases on a key executive's life. The company is the beneficiary of the plan and pays the insurance policy premiums.
Also known as "key man insurance", "key woman insurance" or "business life insurance.Key person insurance is needed if the sudden loss of a key executive would have a large negative effect on the company's operations. The payout provided from the death of the executive essentially buys the company time to find a new person or to implement other strategies to save the business.

Variable Life Insurance Policy

A form of whole life insurance, variable life insurance provides permanent protection to the beneficiary upon the death of the policy holder. This type of insurance is generally the most expensive type of cash-value insurance because it allows you to allocate a portion of your premium dollars to a separate account comprised of various instruments and investment funds within the insurance company's portfolio such stocks, bonds, equity funds, money market funds and bond funds. In addition, because of investment risks, variable policies are considered securities contracts and are regulated under the federal securities laws; therefore, they must be sold with a prospectus.The major advantage to variable policies is that they allow you to participate in various types of investment options while not being taxed on your earnings (until you surrender the policy). You can also apply the interest earned on these investments toward the premiums, potentially lowering the amount you pay. However, due to investment risks, when the invested funds perform poorly, less money is available to pay the premiums, meaning that you may have to pay more than you can afford to keep the policy in force. Poor fund performance also means that the cash and/or death benefit may decline, though never below a defined level. Also, you cannot withdraw from the cash value during your lifetime.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Level-Premium Insurance

A type of term life insurance for which the premiums remain the same throughout the duration of the contract. The premium paid on this type of policy will be higher at the beginning of its life but lower towards the end of its life as compared to term policies that have rising premium rates.This policy is a type of term life insurance, meaning it provides coverage only for a specified duration and it has only a death benefit, no savings component. Therefore, when looking at level-premium insurance, you should carefully consider the length of coverage best suited to your needs. For example, if the primary purpose of the death benefit is to provide income to support very young children and/or fund college expenses, a 20-year level premium might be appropriate. However, if these children are already in their early teens, you may need only a 10-year level premium.

If you enter into this type of insurance policy, it is important to ensure that the premium level is guaranteed. In some cases, a policy's premium level is not guaranteed, and the company can actually raise it to a new premium level which will have to be paid for the remainder of the policy's life.

Permanent Life Insurance

An umbrella term for life insurance plans that do not expire (unlike term life insurance) and combine a death benefit with a savings portion. This savings portion can build a cash value - against which the policy owner can borrow funds, or in some instances, the owner can withdraw the cash value to help meet future goals, such as paying for a child's college education. The two main types of permanent life insurance are whole and universal life insurance policies. To borrow against the savings portion of a permanent life insurance policy, there is usually a waiting period after the purchase of your policy for sufficient cash value to accumulate. Also, if the amount of the unpaid interest on your loan plus your outstanding loan balance exceeds the amount of your policy's cash value, your policy and all coverage will terminate.

Permanent life insurance policies enjoy favorable tax treatment. The growth of cash value is generally on a tax-deferred basis, meaning that you pay no taxes on any earnings in the policy so long as the policy remains active. Provided you adhere to certain premium limits, money can be taken out of the policy without being subject to taxes since policy loans generally are not considered taxable income. Generally, withdrawals up to the amount of premiums paid can be taken without being taxed.

Whole Life Insurance Policy

A life insurance contract with level premiums that has both an insurance and an investment component. The insurance component pays a stated amount upon death of the insured. The investment component accumulates a cash value that the policyholder can withdraw or borrow against. As the most basic form of cash-value life insurance, whole life insurance is a way to accumulate wealth as regular premiums pay insurance costs and contribute to equity growth in a savings account where dividends or interest is allowed to build-up tax-deferred.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Health Insurance

A type of insurance coverage that pays for medical and surgical expenses that are incurred by the insured. Health insurance can either reimburse the insured for expenses incurred from illness or injury or pay the care provider directly. Health insurance is often included in employer benefit packages as a means of enticing quality employees.The cost of health insurance premiums is deductible to the payer, and benefits received are tax-free. Health insurance has many cousins, such as disability insurance, critical illness insurance and long-term care (LTC) insurance.

Insurance Claim

A formal request to an insurance company asking for a payment based on the terms of the insurance policy. Insurance claims are reviewed by the company for their validity and then paid out to the insured or requesting party (on behalf of the insured) once approved.Insurance claims cover everything from death benefits on life insurance policies to routine health exams at your local doctor. In many cases, claims are filed by third parties on behalf of the insured person, but usually only the person(s) listed on the policy is entitled to claims payment.

Insurance

A contract (policy) in which an individual or entity receives financial protection or reimbursement against losses from an insurance company. The company pools clients' risks to make payments more affordable for the insured.When shopping around for an insurance policy, look for the best priced package that is right for you - prices can vary from one insurance company to the next. And make sure you know what you want.Some individuals, for example, prefer 24-hour claims service or face-to-face contact with an insurance representative. Also consider the claims settlement process, the amount of the deductible and the extent of the replacement coverage. Insurance companies and the policies they offer are not all the same, so think about more than just the price.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Insurance2

A contract (policy) in which an individual or entity receives financial protection or reimbursement against losses from an insurance company. The company pools clients' risks to make payments more affordable for the insured.
when shopping around for an insurance policy, look for the best priced package that is right for you.they pay may vary from 1 lakh to 1 crore.if a insurance company is paying high means,then the monthly investment for a person will also increase.the insurance can be made for any property like home,vehicles,stores and even on human beings.One cannot easily apply for insurance since there are various procedure to follow.the most important is first they will check whether the person is alive and he is capable of paying.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Minimum wages

Minimum wages is the lowest hourly, daily, or monthly wage that employers may legally pay to employees or workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labor. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about the benefits and drawbacks of a minimum wage. Supporters of the minimum wage say that it prevents the exploitation of workers.Minimum wages have drawn strong criticism from many economists, since it establishes a price floor on wages. Price floors can lead to a dead weight loss in the economy, which means that inefficiencies exist. In this case, the minimum wage might force companies to hire fewer employees, thus increasing unemployment.

financial crisis

When a bank suffers a sudden rush of withdrawals by depositors, this is called a bank run. Since banks lend out most of the cash they receive in deposits (see fractional-reserve banking), it is difficult for them to quickly pay back all deposits if these are suddenly demanded, so a run may leave the bank in bankruptcy, causing many depositors to lose their savings unless they are covered by deposit insurance. A situation in which bank runs are widespread is called a systemic banking crisis or just a banking panic. A situation without widespread bank runs, but in which banks are reluctant to lend, because they worry that they have insufficient funds available, is often called a credit crunch.

When a country that maintains a fixed exchange rate is suddenly forced to devalue its currency because of a speculative attack, this is called a currency crisis or balance of payments crisis. When a country fails to pay back its sovereign debt, this is called a sovereign default. While devaluation and default could both be voluntary decisions of the government, they are often perceived to be the involuntary results of a change in investor sentiment that leads to a sudden stop in capital inflows or a sudden increase in capital flight.

Global insurance

Global insurance premiums grew by 8.0% in 2006 (or 5% in real terms) to reach $3.7 trillion due to improved profitability and a benign economic environment characterised by solid economic growth, moderate inflation and strong equity markets. Profitability improved in both life and non-life insurance in 2006 compared to the previous year. Life insurance premiums grew by 10.2% in 2006 as demand for annuity and pension products rose. Non-life insurance premiums grew by 5.0% due to growth in premium rates. Over the past decade, global insurance premiums rose by more than a half as annual growth fluctuated between 2% and 11%.

Insurance

Captive insurance companies may be defined as limited-purpose insurance companies established with the specific objective of financing risks emanating from their parent group or groups. This definition can sometimes be extended to include some of the risks of the parent company's customers. In short, it is an in-house self-insurance vehicle. Captives may take the form of a "pure" entity (which is a 100% subsidiary of the self-insured parent company); of a "mutual" captive (which insures the collective risks of members of an industry); and of an "association" captive (which self-insures individual risks of the members of a professional, commercial or industrial association). Captives represent commercial, economic and tax advantages to their sponsors because of the reductions in costs they help create and for the ease of insurance risk management and the flexibility for cash flows they generate. Additionally, they may provide coverage of risks which is neither available nor offered in the traditional insurance market at reasonable prices.