A new TV or life insurance? You decide...

The sales figures from Black Friday are in. So how is America’s economy doing during the most wonderful time of the year?

Looks like overall sales were down, but the shoppers who spent bought more than they did last year, so the sales figures aren’t as bad as they seem. Overall, traffic was down 9.2%, according to RetailNext. However, the value of an average purchase went up 11.5%, offsetting that dip in sales.

One reason for this shift in traffic vs. purchase price is the educated consumer. People are researching what they plan to buy–and then sticking with that plan. These days, fewer shoppers head out randomly, unsure of what they’ll buy until they see it. More and more, people do their homework online, know exactly where they’re headed, what they’ll buy, and what price they will pay.

Interestingly, RetailNext also reported that almost half (47.5%) of Black Friday sales happened…drumroll, please…between 11 am and 3 pm.  NOT at 6 am or 4 am or whatever other ungodly hour stores opened their doors to frenzied people who just had to save a hundred bucks on an LCD TV.

It sounds like these folks know the value of a good night’s sleep…and that calling in sick to camp out for 3 days in front of Best Buy might not quite be worth the $250 savings they’re after.

Something else to consider:  as you’re dropping hundreds (or thousands) as the cash register, ask yourself if that’s money well spent.Could you put that money toward a college education, or a life insurance policy?

Life insurance is cheaper than you think–we ran some numbers, and a healthy non-smoking 38-year-old man can buy a 20-year-term-life policy for $250,000 for about $16/month.  That’s a ballpark figure, of course, but it shows you just how inexpensive life insurance can be.  If this hypothetical 38-year-old wanted a million-dollar 20-year term policy, he’d pay about $45/month.  That’s less than many data  plans or the cost of one new video game.

The best place to live in America? You decide!

Back in September, Bloomberg’s Businessweek.com released its list of “America’s 50 Best Cities,” and San Francisco topped the list.

The site considered 100 American cities and looked at things like:

• entertainment value (bars, restaurants, sporting events, museums, etc.)
• education (citizens with degrees, quality of public schools)
• economy (unemployment, crime).

They weighted entertainment the most, with education and economy second.  While SF finished first in terms of education, it finished 6th in terms of entertainment and in the top 20 for the economy.  Overall, those scores were enough to boost it to the top of the list.

A few drawbacks of SF city life, however, don’t seem to factor into the deal.  Even people who love the city usually agree with the following downsides:

• Friggin’ expensive rent.  According the research company RealFacts, the average rent for a studio (NOT even a one-bedroom) is $2,075.
• Chilly weather
• Hipster factor (maybe a plus, maybe a minus, depending on your point of view and whether you like fixie bikes and handlebar mustaches)
• Driver-unfriendliness of streets, hills, general parking situation

So…let the debate begin!  Do you agree that San Francisco is the best American city to live in?  We think that as long as you have life insurance, anywhere could be the best place to live.  (Yeah, you knew that was coming, didn’t you?)

What would you have done with half a billion dollars?

The blitz of election-related commercials is finally over, and now that the dust has settled, we need to ask an important question: was all that brouhaha really worth billions of dollars that could have been poured into local economies instead?  Why couldn’t we just have used all that money to buy everyone in the country life insurance instead?

The New York Times lists the top 40-odd donors up through November 6th, including how much they spent. Most of the list consists of Super PACs and special interest groups. Here is the number one on their list:

(1) Restore Our Future, a Super PAC that supported Mitt Romney
They spent a whopping $142,645,946 on the election, 90% of that money on attack ads. I look at that number, and I just think, Really? (Cue SNL’s “Really!?! with Seth & Amy”)

In a time when lots of people are out of work, hungry, unhealthy, and unhappy, this is the best use of money our country can come up with?  $142 million on TV attack ads?  There’s something fundamentally wrong with the way money is spent in this country.

The top 5 election campaign contributors (4 pro-Republican, 1 pro-Democrat) spent an un-freaking-believable $373,974,911.  That’s more than a QUARTER OF A BILLION DOLLARS.

If you add up all 45 donors on this NYT list, you get a total of $521,730,970.  That’s more than HALF A BILLION DOLLARS. That’s about $3 for every person in the country (using the July 2011 census for a population count).

What if we used that HALF A BILLION DOLLARS to, I don’t know, invest in education and scholarships?  To create a small new tax break for small businesses that hire new workers?  To extend healthy child programs that offer free infant medical care?  To pay for more police officers to patrol our streets and keep them safe?  Just a thought.  Instead of paying for ephemeral TV commercials that did nothing but bludgeon viewers senseless, maybe we could try to do something that actually buys goods and services for the people of our country.

It has come to our attention that a certain YouTube video has garnered a crazy number of views by purporting to show a Bigfoot/Sasquatch creature in the wild, unforgiving scrub brush of Utah:

Comments on the video’s YouTube page run from the insulting to the profane.  Like most YouTube comments, they make me fear for the intelligence and sanity of the next generation.  But there’s one burning question no one has bothered to raise:

Does this man/gorilla/bear/ have life insurance?

Seriously.  More than 4 million people just saw his hiding place on YouTube.

Today is the day we wear costumes that disguise our true identities, ring total strangers’ doorbells without fear, and eat more candy than should be allowed by law.

But why do we do this?  What does it all mean?

Our Halloween is actually the remnant of an ancient seasonal holiday celebrated by the Celts.  The Celts lived in what is now the UK, Ireland, and parts of northern France. Their year ended on November 1 and they celebrated the night before with a festival called “Samhain.”  On that day, they believed the gateway between our world and the spirit world was open.

Some say the tradition of costumes arose as a way to scare away these roving spirits.  Others say that roving spirits or fairies would go door-to-door during their night of freedom, asking for food.  If you gave food to the spirits or fairies, you got a reward.  If you didn’t, you got punished.  (You don’t want to be punished, in case you were wondering.)

But, you say, we’re not all Celts.  What’s the deal?

To make a long story short, the Roman Empire took over most of the areas where the Celts lived.  The Romans eventually became Christian, and many of the old pagan traditions were incorporated into Christian practice. In 835, Pope Gregory IV declared November 1 All Saints Day, also called All Hallows. This helped align pagan practices with Christian practices.  It put everyone on the same page, calendrically speaking if not philosophically speaking. The day before All Hallows Day was known as All Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween.

So there you have it!  When we celebrate Halloween, we’re actually acknowledging the complicated interplay between pagan and Christian, Celt and Roman.  And you thought it was just about wearing your pajamas to work.

Reasons to buy life insurance are plentiful….and so are reasons to procrastinate.

Every time we have something we need to do, we fight a battle between two parts of our brains: the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex.  Whether you get your “to-do” list done depends on which part of your brain wins the battle.

The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that helps us make decisions–it’s the “get stuff done” part of the brain.

The limbic system, according to the Review of Clinical and Functional Neuroscience, regulates our responses to emotional triggers. It handles our sensations of motivation and feeling of reward. In this case, the limbic system recognizes the good feeling that comes with putting off an unpleasant task.  It’s the “I’ll do this tomorrow” part of the brain.

Some things aren’t at the top of our to-do lists, and buying life insurance is probably one of them. But the next time you start thinking, hey, I wonder what’s new on Hulu, stop that limbic system from taking over your night. Think about your future instead. And your family’s future. Providing for them could be as easy as getting a free quote online. So do that first…and then watch all  6 seasons of Highlander on Hulu.

Life insurance might cost less than your monthly iPhone bill.  It sounds crazy, but it could be true.

The Labor Department released a new statistic on middle-class budgets, showing how the recession has affected spending.  While most middle-class families have cut back as much as 15% on purchases for clothes, entertainment, and eating out, they’ve increased their spending on cell phones by about 10%.

The Wall Street Journal’s accompanying article headline says it all:  ”Cellphones Are Eating the Family Budget.”

While I object to the use of “cellphone” as one word, the idea has merit.  Usage-based data plans encourage you to suck up bandwidth to your heart’s content.  If you watch YouTube videos for 10 minutes a day, you’ll eat up 1GB of data in less than a month.   If you listen to Pandora for an hour a day, you’ll burn between 1.5GB and 2GB a month.  Heaven forbid you stream a movie on Netflix.

So How Much Do Smartphones Actually Cost?
According to the Wall Street Journal, the average household spends about $1,200 on phone service.  If your household has more than one smartphone, your family might be paying more than $4,000 per year, way more than what you’re likely to pay for cable or internet service…or life insurance.

Does it seem strange to anyone else that families will pay $4,000 a year for the privilege of watching cat videos on their smartphones, when as many as 95 million families have no life insurance?  Are motorcycle crash videos really the best use of family finances?

Life Insurance vs. Smartphones
Life insurance policies are far less expensive that many data plans.  For example, CNN Money’s retirement guide notes that a 40-year-old man in good health who buys a 20-year term life insurance policy might expect to pay $350 per year for a $500,000 policy.  That’s $350 per year, compared to the $4,000 per month many multi-phone families currently expend.

It’s time to re-think where your money goes…into a cell phone provider’s pocket, or into the future of your own family. We might have to think of another name for the so-called “smartphones” because in terms of budgeting, they’re anything but.

Why?

Whole life insurance is the unwanted and unnoticed middle child of the life insurance industry. Often times the middle child of a family develops a unique talent or quirky personality to differentiate them from the rest of the pack.  This is not the case with whole life insurance.

It does not seek to separate itself from the rest of the life insurance policy family. Instead whole life insurance blends the qualities of other policies into one slightly repulsive and useless package that looks frighteningly similar to the frightening Sasquatch with Patrick Duffy for a leg.

Offering nothing new to the table, whole life insurance simply exists, a horribly unneeded existence to be certain yet an existence none the less. If the life insurance industry was a band, whole life insurance would be the triangle player. Sure, we could do with just three guys in the band and have the drummer play the triangle but why not waste space?

Wholesale insurance offers none of the same peace of mind found in permanent life insurance, but the same investment policy. Where with permanent life insurance you have guaranteed coverage, whole life insurance gives none of the same financial security.

In my mind you have two options. Get term life insurance and invest the difference not getting whole life insurance saved you. Or get permanent life insurance pay a little extra to rest easy knowing your loved ones’ futures are secure.

But DO NOT get whole life insurance.

If you are healthy and searching for life insurance, medical exams can lower your rates. However, not everyone is in perfect condition or wants to meet with doctors if they don’t have to. The best option in these cases is to get life insurance without a physical exam.

Although there is no meeting with a doctor in no medical exam life insurance, you may be asked a few basic health questions. In fact issuing these policies has become so common some agencies will not even require that you answer the questions.

A life insurance policy that does not require an exam will definitely cost more. Life insurance agencies want to know as much as possible before insuring someone. The more they know the lower the risk of insuring them.

By refusing the medical exam you are denying the agents information and the risk for insuring you will be higher. The risk will then be shared with the customer through more expensive rates.

Some of the drawbacks of taking out a no exam policy include higher cost and less coverage. How much it will cost depends upon the policy and the carrier. The easiest way to compare rates and to ensure you get the lowest cost for the most coverage is to use an agency. Agencies will save you money and save you time.

How to Get Life Insurance Without A Physical

The first thing to do is choose which policy fits your circumstance best.  Policies that do not require a physical exam include Guaranteed issue, Instant issue, and Simplified issue (also called Renewable).

Guaranteed issue life insurance guarantees that you will have coverage. No questions asked. Your policy will be complete quickly and efficiently, however the costs will be noticeably higher than the average policy.

Guarantee issue usually used by people who would have trouble getting life insurance with other policies. The life insurance companies are aware of this added risk so the rates are higher.

Instant Issue Term Life Insurance is mostly used for people who do not have the time to hassle with a medical exam. It is for people who want life insurance fast. Often times companies will allow you to get this policy online after filling out an application. The application will be processed quickly, sometimes within the day.

Simplified or Renewable Term Life Insurance is similar to Instant issue. The difference lies in the ability to renew your contract with your agency without a medical exam however you will have to answer health questions. There will be no medical exams now, or in the future.

If you have any questions feel free to ask below in the comments. After all that’s what this blog is for – to answer your questions.

With the economy the way it is today, scouring the web for the cheapest life insurance quotes is the best option for many American families who need coverage but are on a tight budget.

It’s common knowledge that applicants in superb health are usually offered the most affordable rates. (It also helps to be a non-smoker.) But beyond keeping yourself in excellent health, the most effective way to get the cheapest life insurance quotes is to shop around and compare rates from a wide range of insurance carriers—the more rates you compare, the better your chances of finding a carrier that will offer you affordable coverage.

You could use a phone to call life insurance carriers one-by-one until you find a quote that fits your needs and your budget, but that’s a laborious and tedious process that could take you the better part of a day. Skip that nonsense and let us do the heavy lifting for you.

When you shop for coverage online, you enter a few pieces of basic information into our quote form, click the submit button and you’re ready to start comparing quotes. Then, we display the cheapest life insurance quotes directly to you instantly, free of charge.

Get started right now. Shop and compare online to find the cheapest life insurance quotes available.