The secret investment lives of health and life insurance companies Psychology Today (blog)
15.04.10
Isn't it ironic: health and life insurance companies have over $1.9 billion invested in fast-food companies, according to a news story on CNN.com . The fast-food companies include such health-promoting and life-extending chains as McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, and Taco Bell (that was some sarcasm to go with the irony).
The numbers come from a new report from Harvard Medical School researchers. The same researchers reported last year that health and life insurance companies owned $4.5 billion in tobacco company stock.
The CNN story includes analysis by public policy leaders who claim that the investments run counter to the insurance companies' financial interests. For example, Sara N. Bleich, PhD, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is quoted as arguing, "They are essentially killing off their consumer base, so it's not a sustainable model in the long-term. Long-term goals should be consistent with health, because that ensures a large population from which to draw consumers."
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Short Term Life Insurance
Can you advise me on how to get the best of a short term life insurance to cover for a house mortgage?
Denny
Houston Texas
A short term life insurance, say for five or ten years, is good for people who are just starting out. People who are building their first house may find it a strain on their budget to get a permanent life with a higher face amount. What they can afford is probably a $25,000 coverage, which is low and not enough.
Getting the best of a short term life insurance means getting the lowest deal with the maximum coverage and using it to provide coverage while the family cannot afford a more expensive one.
Purchasing the lowest deal with the maximum coverage will not be difficult for you because a short term life insurance is way cheaper than the permanent one. If you have a mortgage for $250,000 on your newly-built house, you would not want that house to go to your creditors should something untoward will happen to you. Getting a $250,000 coverage could be enough to satisfy your house loan but how will your family survive? It is good if your wife has a well-paying job. But if her job is paying only the minimum wages, she would have difficulty raising your kids and sending them to good schools. This is a grim scenario but has happened to too many families.
What you should do is to get at least double that amount, and even four times of your annual income. Half-a-million term coverage only costs about $250 a year, which puts a million dollar coverage at about $500 to $600. That’s not a lot for insuring for family’s future.
Do not forget though that a term coverage is only to be used when there are no funds to buy a permanent one with a higher face amount. Once you have the financial flexibility later on, buy the permanent plan and still continue with the term plan if you want to.
Source: Life Insurance Houston- Houston Life Insurance
ReutersTreasury weighs next move amid signs of global recessionInsurance also got attention from another regulator on Friday. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sought comment on a plan to begin providing deposit insurance up to $250000 for accounts involving loan servicers who collect mortgage payments on behalf Lawmaker pushes insurance office as part of financial regulatory
