Term Life Insurance Articles
How Foreign Travel Can Affect Some Life Insurance Policies
2009-12-29
You may be under the impression that maintaining a healthy lifestyle will guarantee you get the best price for your term life insurance coverage. If you live an average life this could be true but if your lifestyle takes you even slightly off the beaten track you could end up paying far more than you expected. An article on SmartMoney describes a 40-year-old business owner from Santa Monica, CA. in great health who is paying exorbitant rates for his term life insurance. He eats well, follows an exercise program and doesn't smoke. Yet, he is considered high risk because he is an outdoor enthusiast who likes to scuba dive and mountain climb. Travel is also considered a risky activity.
When you are researching term life insurance quotes you need to consider your normal activities and how they affect the cost of your premiums. Your doctor's clean bill of health does not counter the fact that, according to the term life insurance companies, you involve yourself in activities that make you a greater risk. Your lifestyle albeit healthy, may cost you more than being on medication for high blood pressure or cholesterol. Depending on where your travel takes you, it could more than double the cost of your policy over your lifetime.
Obviously you won't be affected if you live in a city like Los Angeles compared with living in a small country town. It would be against the law anyway. On the other hand certain foreign countries are considered "dangerous" and if you travel to them for personal or business reasons with any amount of frequency, your life is at risk. A term life insurance underwriter will make certain assumptions. For example, if you travel for a company that does business with countries with a certain political orientation such as Russia, or troubled by war such as Iraq you may end up in the direct line of fire so to speak. Your insurance agent will also project that having family in similar countries means you are likely to visit them, and more than once.
You may feel tempted to skew the truth a little about where and how often you travel to these "dangerous" countries but think about it before you sign on the dotted line. If something should happen while you are in one of those place your term life insurance coverage could end up being null and void. Failure to tell the truth when you sign up for insurance can give your provider a reason not to pay your beneficiary. The penalties for risk can vary between companies, and there are better deals available that support your lifestyle.
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You may be under the impression that maintaining a healthy lifestyle will guarantee you get the best price for your term life insurance coverage. If you live an average life this could be true but if your lifestyle takes you even slightly off the beaten track you could end up paying far more than you expected. An article on SmartMoney describes a 40-year-old business owner from Santa Monica, CA. in great health who is paying exorbitant rates for his term life insurance. He eats well, follows an exercise program and doesn't smoke. Yet, he is considered high risk because he is an outdoor enthusiast who likes to scuba dive and mountain climb. Travel is also considered a risky activity.
When you are researching term life insurance quotes you need to consider your normal activities and how they affect the cost of your premiums. Your doctor's clean bill of health does not counter the fact that, according to the term life insurance companies, you involve yourself in activities that make you a greater risk. Your lifestyle albeit healthy, may cost you more than being on medication for high blood pressure or cholesterol. Depending on where your travel takes you, it could more than double the cost of your policy over your lifetime.
Obviously you won't be affected if you live in a city like Los Angeles compared with living in a small country town. It would be against the law anyway. On the other hand certain foreign countries are considered "dangerous" and if you travel to them for personal or business reasons with any amount of frequency, your life is at risk. A term life insurance underwriter will make certain assumptions. For example, if you travel for a company that does business with countries with a certain political orientation such as Russia, or troubled by war such as Iraq you may end up in the direct line of fire so to speak. Your insurance agent will also project that having family in similar countries means you are likely to visit them, and more than once.
You may feel tempted to skew the truth a little about where and how often you travel to these "dangerous" countries but think about it before you sign on the dotted line. If something should happen while you are in one of those place your term life insurance coverage could end up being null and void. Failure to tell the truth when you sign up for insurance can give your provider a reason not to pay your beneficiary. The penalties for risk can vary between companies, and there are better deals available that support your lifestyle.
