When shopping for immediate annuities or life insurance it always amazes me how far apart quotes can be from different companies.  To make things even worse, the same companies aren’t always the cheapest, so you ALWAYS need to shop around. Here are a few sites where you can get instant quotes without the hassle of [...]

First, to put it on the table, I have a strong bias against EIAs because I think there are more effective ways to achieve the same result.  They often have many moving parts that can make them less valuable than they originally appear and which help hide the expenses built into the product – commissions (often around 8%) and [...]

When long term care policies are sold, people are reassured that the premiums will be stable.  But they often forget this is not a guarantee and if the insurance company discovers they have underpriced a product for a class of people the premium will go up. I have actually been impressed that John Hancock (Manulife) [...]

With Bush’s signing of the Genetic Information Nodiscrimination Act (GINA), in 12 to 18 months people can get genetically tested without worrying about how it will affect their health insurance (in 12 months) and employment status (in 18 months). From my initial reading, it looks like genetic tests can still influence life insurance ratings however.

Genworth has created a map to see long term care costs in your state.  It is mostly at the state level although many large cities have their own numbers.  Metlife’s Nursing home survey covers more metropolitan areas if you can’t find yours here.

Jim Miller provides an overview of longevity insurance.  It is basically an immediate annuity that doesn’t start paying until around age 85. These products are still new so I’m not confident that pricing has stabilized yet (i.e., enough competition to ensure you are getting your money’s worth).  The other issue is that they are not inflation [...]

Kimberly Lankford reviews resources for early retirees to get health insurance. COBRA National Association of State Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans Georgetown University Health Policy Institute consumer guides

Leimberg Information Services has written a great summary of the tax treatment of long-term care Insurance. For individuals, deductions flow through itemized medical expense deduction (subject to 7.5% floor) and if self-employed, through the self-employed health insurance deduction (subject to age based maximums).

Health is one of the most important assets a young person has. It has long been known that there is a correlation between health and wealth. When this was first examined it was postulated that this was because wealthier people had access to better health care. Further research has shown causation actually goes in the [...]

Typically the drafting attorney will take care of deeding your property into your new revocable living trust (RLT). The attorney will normally include instructions for the client to notify their home owners insurance that the trust should now be named an additional insured. Unfortunately, this is often forgotten. Here is a form letter you can [...]