How To Get The Best Rates On Life Insurance In Arkansas

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 29th, 2010

Life insurance is almost a rite of passage into the adult world. Once you own a life insurance policy then you know that you are really and truly a responsible and thoughtful adult.

Still, no one wants to pay more for life insurance than they need to, so before you purchase a policy, or before you review an existing policy, why don't we look at a few of the things you can do to insure that you really do get the best rates on life insurance in Arkansas.

Before we get into the steps you can take to lower your life insurance costs each month, we should probably review quickly the two primary types of life insurance policies that you have to choose between.

You can purchase either a whole life policy or a term life policy.

There are a couple of very important differences between the two types of policies that you need to be aware of before you make your choice. If you are making your decision based primarily on cost, then term life insurance would seem to be your best bet since the monthly premium on a term policy is always ? initially ? lower than the premium on a same-size whole life policy.

While it is true that you can save money initially by buying a term policy, keep in mind that a term policy is only good for a set number of years ? called the term of the policy. Once your policy reaches the end of its term it expires. If you want to continue receiving life insurance coverage then you'll need to purchase a new policy ? at a considerably high premium.

If your term policy expires several times during your life then you will need to purchase new policies over and over again, paying a higher and higher premium price each time. Note, too, that you will be paying higher and higher rates as you get older and older and typically have fewer and fewer resources with which to pay those higher rates.

With a whole life policy, on the other hand, you pay a slightly higher premium to begin with, but your policy never expires (as long as you continue paying premiums each month) and so your premium remains constant for your whole life.

A whole life policy will also accumulate a cash value over time, which allows you the option of borrowing money against your policy at very low rates.

Regardless of which type of policy you choose, one of the biggest factors determining the rate you'll pay for your life insurance is whether or not you smoke or use tobacco products. If you smoke you will pay considerably more for your life insurance than if you don't smoke.

If you're overweight you'll pay more for your life insurance since additional weight has a negative affect on life expectancy. Losing even a little weight can place your Body Mass Index into a lower category and save you as much as several hundred dollars each and every year in premiums so making that extra effort to lose even a little weight can really pay off.

Not engaging in dangerous or extreme sports, not driving a fast sports car, not having a dangerous occupation?each of these things can help to keep your life insurance premium low.

Finally you'll want to go online and find at least 3 different websites that allow you to compare life insurance policies from different companies and their prices.

Many people believe that if they compare policies on one website that they are comparing all of the different insurance company's prices. Unfortunately that's wrong. Each site only compares a small number of companies.

You need to take the extra time and compare policies on at least 3 different websites and then look at the best deal on each. That way you can feel much more confident that you really and truly have gotten the best rates on life insurance in Arkansas.