Should You Buy Over-50s Life Cover?

When we are in our 50s, one of the things that we have to think about is what will happen to us in the future, and how will whatever happens to us affect our loved ones. We don’t really want to think about getting older, especially in the close run-up to retirement.

But here’s the thing - when you have a family or dependants that rely on you to contribute towards household bills, something that is very important to think about is life insurance. From an insurance company’s point of view, the older that a person gets, the higher a risk they are to them.

In other words, if you are in your 50s, then there is a higher risk that an insurance policy claim would be made sooner rather than later. However, life expectancy has improved over the past few decades due to better and more effective medicine being available to treat medical conditions.

Every cloud has a silver lining

Coupled to that the fact that more people are wising up to the idea that eating healthier means that they can live longer, insurers take these positive factors into account when they are assessing risk and calculating premiums.

There has also been an explosion of specific over-50s life insurance policies being made available to people on the market in the last few years, including ones with add-on benefits designed specifically for men and women in that age group.

Why take out an over-50s life insurance policy?

There are a number of reasons why I would strongly recommend that you take out an over-50s life insurance policy, some of the main ones are as follows:

• Financial security - if you have a family, they could be significantly impacted in a financial sense by your passing if they rely on your earnings to pay for the bills. Life cover will ensure that they will be financially secure when you’re not there to provide for them anymore;
• Funeral costs - the sad truth is funeral costs have risen in recent years, and when you die the financial burden of paying for your funeral might be too great for your family to bear. Having a life insurance policy in place will make sure that these costs are covered, so your family has one less thing to worry about at such a sad time;
• Peace of mind - just as we like to have savings for a rainy day, life insurance offers us extra peace of mind for the future, so that when we retire we can relax and enjoy our twilight years!

What are the added benefits to over-50s life insurance policies?

The main benefit about life cover for people aged 50 years or over is the fact that they are whole-of-life policies. Unlike typical life insurance policies that are only set for a specific term (a bit like the ones you would take out when you get a mortgage on a house, for example), over-50s life insurance policies stay in place until the day you die.

Some policies might offer you discounted funeral plans that you can pay towards, whereas others might even offer you free life cover if you reach the age of 90 years! But one of the other great things about such cover is the fact that many policies guarantee to accept you - a welcome benefit for those with pre-existing health issues.

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Savvy Tips For Pensioners Looking To Save Money This Winter

When we reach our twilight years we expect to be treated with respect and compassion, yet the British government is coming down on pensioners like a ton of bricks at the moment in the hope of finding a way to offer them less money without having to deal with a mass revolt. 

They’ve already raised the retirement age to 67 (rising even further to 68 in a couple of years) and now they’re talking about sliding it all the way up the scale to 70.

Pensioners Looking To Save Money

This is truly tragic, and so it should be unsurprising to see so many campaign groups protesting the changes in London of the last few months.

The worst thing about this increase in retirement age is that almost 50% of people who smoke die before they reach 70, meaning it’s basically condemned the vast majority of smokers to a life of labour without even the slightest chance of being able to see the end of their working days. 

Personally, I find these changes completely disgusting, which is why I’ve decided to write an article about some ace money saving tips guaranteed to help pensioners (and all old people) this winter. 

I might not be able to change the governments infectious decisions, but I’m confident I can treat the symptoms.

Opt For Free Eye Tests

Although a lot of pensioners and old people in the UK still choose to pay for their eye tests and prescriptions, there really is no need for this. 

• Click Here and learn "How to Save Money Each Month – 76 Easy Things You Can Do Right Now"

Sure, the NHS glasses probably look a little less appealing than the designer brands available, but as everyone over the age of 60 is legally entitled to free tests and prescriptions, I’d advise you to take full advantage. This could free up more cash to pay for your rising heating and fuel costs.

Always Use Vouchers

When you open up a newspaper and see coupons or even when you visit specialist website and find discount codes, it’s of paramount importance that you print them off / cut them out and use them. 

This is guaranteed to save you lots of money in the long run that perhaps could be better spent taking the grandchildren out for the day or something similar. I really can’t stress enough how significant savings can be when utilising this technique.

Ask For A Water Meter

Unlike their electricity counterparts, water meters often result in people having lower bills, especially if they tend to take showers rather than baths. 

Most elderly UK residents spend their days visiting friends or sitting the local cafe anyway, so the amount of water being used is usually minimal. You never know; this could free up more than a few hundred pounds this winter.

So guys, now you’ve had time to read through my suggestions I sincerely hope you’ll manage to save enough cash to keep yourselves comfortable as we move into the cold months. 

Just remember that your heating is the most important expense on which you should not try to cut back. We all hear too many horror stories at this time of year about people who couldn’t pay the bills on time, so make sure this doesn’t happen to you.

Have a lovely Christmas folks!

Six Smart Ways to Grow your Savings Account with Investments

Growing your savings account is very important if you want to establish a significant amount of savings for a rainy day. Not only will that money come handy in emergency situations, but it can be the basis of your retirement fund. Here are six ways to grow your savings account through smart financial decisions and intelligent investments.

Invest in the Stock Market

If you have established a few thousand dollars in your savings account, it may be time to begin investing in the stock market. Research stocks that are doing well, and the types of stocks that may boom over the coming years. Begin by holding a demo account for a few months, where you track the progress of stocks you select. If that goes well, you can begin to use your savings to invest wisely and boost your returns.

Create a Contingency Fund

Set aside a certain amount of money for emergencies. Whether you want to keep this money in your regular savings account, or in a separate one, will depend on your personal preferences. This money should be added to each month, and should only be touched in an emergency situation, or if you find yourself without an income for a few months.

Mutual Funds

Mutual funds are perfect for long term investors who may not want to make every investment decision themselves. Mutual funds will provide you with different options, depending on how aggressive you want them to be with your money. Look at plans that have great returns over a five or ten year period, instead of funds that have a good year or two.

Repay Your Debt

Boosting your savings is not just about adding money to your savings account. If you take steps to eliminate your debt every month, your overall financial position will be a lot higher. Having $2000 in your savings account with $0 debt is better than having $10,000 in the account with $9,000 outstanding loans.

Buy Government Bonds

Government bonds are a great long term solution to boost your savings account. Bonds may not have the return of mutual funds or the stock exchange, but they are reliable, provide solid returns, and come in various terms. Bonds come in 3 or 6 month terms, in addition to 1, 3, 5 and 10 year terms.

Invest in your 401(k)

Investing towards your retirement income is vital, even if you are still in your mid 20s or early 30s. The earlier you start your retirement fund, the larger it will be when you are 60 or 65. Invest intelligently in your 401(k) by studying the money and markets, and you could end up with a significant savings boost every year.

Each of these options varies in the risk, return and steps involved with investment. However, each of the six suggestions will ensure that you are in better financial health, and that the money sitting around in your savings account multiplies over a period of time. Do you research to decide which method or combination of methods is best for you and you will be taking positive steps to a fuller savings account.

Features to Look out for When Choosing Insurance Software and What it Can do for your Company and Clients

The insurance industry is moving faster than ever, and in order to stay on top of your game it’s important to utilise the latest insurance technology solutions on offer. Both insurers and brokers require reliable insurance software that they can depend on and there a wide range of options out there, but what specific features should you be looking out for?

Here’s a guide to some of the best, which can provide valuable functionality to the day to day running of your insurance firm or brokerage.

Easy configuration without expert help

Some insurance software solutions are so complicated and impenetrable that they require the help of outside specialists such as SSP Worldwide, or specially trained in-house IT staff just to set them up or apply changes as needed. By finding one which is user-friendly enough to configure yourself you can save time, money and any associated headaches.

But if you do need to call in the experts then don’t be afraid to if you think that software installation is beyond your skills set. Better to be safe than sorry…

Wide range of functionality

Ideally you want one software package which can do it all. It can be expensive and unnecessarily confusing to use different pieces of software for each aspect of the insurance process, and there’s also the risk that they won’t be compatible with your operating system – or each other! So find one insurance software package that is fully featured and can tie together every aspect of your business, from underwriting and certificate issuance to claims management and billing. As well as making the process generally more neat and tidy, this will reduce the amount of time spent training new staff.

Telematics for motor insurance

Modern technology has given insurers the ability to provide motorists with personally tailored insurance based on how they drive. By picking insurance software that supports telematics you can add a new dimension to the service you provide, and reward careful drivers with cheaper policies.

Because telematic systems provide an accurate picture of how the policy holder drives, they enable a better calculation of risks to be made. Data used includes average speeds, roads used, speed of deceleration and time of driving. Some telematics solutions use a specially installed box to collect the data, while others can be utilised by downloading a smart phone app onto an existing device.

Cloud-based operation

The ‘Cloud’ is all the rage at the moment and it’s easy to see why. If you’re not familiar with the term, cloud computing refers to the act of accessing software and data on a remote computer via the internet rather than from your own hard drive.

By choosing a cloud-based insurance software solution you don’t have to worry so much about the capabilities of your own hardware, as the software will effectively be running remotely on external server. In addition to this, if a problem occurs then it will be somebody else’s responsibility to fix it. This in turn can reduce IT costs for your company and prevent costly downtime.

About the author – Paul S. Sutton is a freelance writer with a background in insurance. He regularly blogs on insurance industry issues for a variety of websites and often uses www.ssp-worldwide.com for research.

Hard Asset Investment – A Great Way to Make Money

Shipping Container Investments are quite Profitable 

Investors always try to make more money through their investments. The traditional investment options like stocks have shown poor performance in the past. This has inspired investors to look for alternative ways of investing. Hard asset investments have gained have popularity in the present times. These assets show good performance even under difficult economic conditions. They have lower risks associated with them and yield better returns.

Overview of Hard Assets:

A hard asset refers to something you own which is tangible. It can be a type of physical asset like land, machines, inventory or building. It can also be financial like cash, credit or a financial instrument like a bill of exchange, draft, share, bond or a check. Hard assets are considered as very valuable since they can be used for producing or purchasing other goods or services.

The physical properties of a hard asset determine its value. Sometimes, its value depends on the fact that whether the hard asset can be reproduces or has been reproduced earlier. This rule applies to assets like paintings. Certain machinery types and buildings can also be included in this category. 

Hard Asset Investment Examples:

Hard asset investments are of various types. Some choices can turn out to be good while others can be bad, on the basis of the economy. Some popular hard asset investments are energy, forest products, renewable energy and water, base metals, precious metals and agriculture. Another hard asset which has gained immense popularity is shipping container. Shipping container investments have proved to be very profitable. Asset management companies like Pacific Tycoon deal with shipping container investments and can guide you to proceed right when investing in shipping containers.

High Demand

Hard assets have a high demand in the world today. The demand is extremely high in case of hard assets like metals and precious gems, luxury goods, food and energy. Metals with a high demand from consumers are steel, iron ore, aluminum and copper. Owing to the high level of demand, investing in these hard assets can turn out to be a good idea. 

Investing in Hard and Tangible Assets:

You can find numerous good reasons to invest in hard and tangible assets. These assets offer benefits that are usually not offered by other investment options. If your investor portfolio is full of bonds and stocks, you can easily diversify your portfolio by adding some investments in hard assets. You can expect very competitive returns to be yielded by such investments. Investing in such assets is also a great way of evading inflation. These investments also have the ability to improve your portfolio’s risk/reward profile. These investments are very lowly correlated to traditional investment types.

There are many websites that provide information on how to invest in hard assets. You can find many companies that deal with investments in tangible assets like platinum, silver, gold, certified coins, gemstones and diamonds. Such hard assets are meant for enjoying, holding on and then selling. They can result in significant profits.

Conclusion:

Hard asset investments offer many benefits over investments in conventional assets like stocks. These investments are less risky and provide high returns. They can also diversify your investor portfolio.

Summary: Hard asset investments have turned out to be more profitable than other investments. Investors are increasingly investing in hard and tangible assets nowadays.

Auto Financing Options for Retirees'

If you've recently become retired but have suddenly found yourself needing to purchase a new car (to visit family, for instance), there's a good chance that you'll want to get an idea of what your current financing options are now you're retired.

Whether you worked hard all your life to earn a pension plan from your company, or you invested in property as soon as you could and the investment paid off (or both), there still may come a time in which you need to look towards alternative methods in which to raise financing for your new car. Three of the most common, and useful, methods are listed below.

1) Loans

Even as a retiree it's very possible for you to get a car loan approved, especially if you've built up an exceptionally good credit score over your life. Though some may worry that they may be turned down for a loan because they're no longer working, in truth the companies paying out for these loans are much more interested in how quickly you've paid people back in the past (your credit score) rather than whether or not you currently have money coming in.

Of course, finding an auto loan that's right for you has become much more difficult in recent years as so many online sites have popped up selling essentially the same thing. For this reason, only look for the best car loans you can find online, and speak with them on the phone directly as the sooner you get them on the phone the sooner you can arrange a deal that suits you (something which is much easier to do when speaking to a real individual).

2) Children and Grandchildren

Borrowing money from family and friends can sometimes be difficult, but if the only reason you need a new car is so you can drive up to visit your children and grandchildren then there's a good chance that they would be very happy to help you finance your purchase, as it'll allow you to see each other more often.

Of course, this won't take away from some of the awkwardness of having to ask them for money, something which can sometimes cause much pain and disagreement between families if you're unable to pay the money back on the agreed-upon schedule. Keep this in mind before approaching your children and grandchildren, but by no means take it as an absolute deterrent.

3) Your Savings

Even if you do have savings you may not want to use them to purchase a new car – instead looking into getting a loan so you can pay for the cost of your new auto slowly. This is entirely understandable, as when you move into retirement your thoughts shift to what you'll be doing with your money after you're gone, with you in most circumstances wanting to leave as much as you can to your children.

If you have a significant amount of savings, however, this may well be the best route for you as it likely won't even make a dent in the amount you've saved up. If you've been making money thanks to your savings growing with compound interest over the decades, it won't hurt to take a small amount out to pay for a new car, with this money being much better spend in this way – so you can visit your family whenever you please – than it would be if it was left to your children and grandchildren.

In conclusion, if you've recently become retired but have suddenly found yourself needing to purchase a new car (to visit family, for instance), there's a good chance that you'll want to get an idea of what your current financing options are now you're retired.

About the Author:

Blink Finance is a firm that offers financial services such as how and where to get the best car loans, personal loans, or business loans in Australia.