By 2052, it is estimated that approximately $41 trillion in US assets will have changed hands. Families, and this means wealthy families in particular, have needs in the area of specialized estate planning that can be confused by the introduction of complex estate planning strategies laced with legalese. To help overcome this, the Pacific Life Insurance Company and Pacific Life & Annuity Company are offering a kit that contains materials written in plain English that can show you how life insurance can be used to stabilize and strengthen estate planning techniques.
Pacific Life’s vice president for marketing services, Alyce Peterson, explains that by employing life insurance in a client’s estate planning it is possible to provide a death benefit that can be designated for use in paying off any pending estate taxes.
When you combine a life insurance policy with estate planning you can also:
Deep away with the possibly forced liquidation of assets (to pay estate expenses)
Renew wealth so that it can be passed on from generation to generation
infuse positive behaviors among heirs (as expected needs are met)
Make inheritances between family members equal and fair
Designate a charitable legacy
Clarify which assets are to be retained, which sold and which donated.
As Vice President Peterson explains it, there are many company clients that become overwhelmed and even overly cautious when they have to deal with complex planning strategies and try to decipher the legal language that is involved. She explains that the company’s new resource guide book is in plain English format and includes fact finders that address this problem.
The booklet, “What the Wealthiest Families Know” and the included kit is available to financial professionals by contacting their Pacific Life Insurance Company or Pacific Life & Annuity Company representative.
Pacific Life Insurance Company
The company was originally founded in 1868, as Pacific Life Insurance Company and established to provide life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds. In addition, the company offers a range of investment products as well as services to individuals, businesses, and pension plans. The company, Pacific Life numbers more than half of the largest one hundred United States companies as clients and is also a member of the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association (IMSA). The Insurance Marketplace Standards Association is known for its promotion of high ethical standards in the selling of individual life insurance policies and annuities.
Maryland Condo Insurance Strongly Affected By Court
An unexpected court decision has been made in Maryland regarding a disputed $6,400 in damages over a Maryland townhouse that has reversed 26 years of normal industry practice, and that has left agents, insurers, lawmakers and condominium associations confused as who is liable when individual units in a complex are damaged.
For over 26 years Maryland insurance agents have used a basic concept to write condo and condo-association policies, the standard being that when there is a loss, association policies are to pay to restore damaged condo units to their original state. This meant that unit owners would then have to purchase additional coverage to cover any improvements that had been made to the condo, examples being more expensive countertops. Since Maryland revised its condo act in 198, this has been the standard employed.
This April however, this was all changed when Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that the insurance policy held by a condo association is not obliged to pay for damages to individual units. The standard set 26 years ago was established as the bases for the insurance industry practice in the state. Insurers say that this decision has a massive implication.
This is not a simple matter. What insurers and lawmakers specifically want is gain a legislative solution that more concretely defines what gets covered by a condo association and what by individual unit owners. This however, will not be possible until early 2009, which is the next time the General Assembly will be meeting.
Until this occurs, condo insurers have all agreed to continue operating in accordance with the old rules.
To work out what is in essence a gentleman's agreement as to how condo insurance will operate until the legislature reconvenes, insurers, agents, lawmakers and condo groups have begun holding town hall type meetings.
Until that time, it will be a wait-and-see situation for the insurance industry and condo interests, what Jason Ernest, who is the vice president of the Insurance Agents and Brokers of Maryland, calls a long summer.
This is also referred to as the Tuckerman case based on a decision by the Court of Special Appeals that concentrates on two separate claims made under two different policies that were issued by the Pennsylvania-base Erie Insurance Exchange.
Whether your business is selling jewelry or garden plants, bicycles or lingerie, retail establishments typically have some features in common. For one, they usually have inventory that needs to be protected from physical perils, such as fire or theft. They also have a good deal of store traffic from the general public, raising the risk of third-party bodily injury claims.
Generally, the most cost effective and efficient way to provide property and liability insurance for your small retail business is with a Businessowners Policy (BOP) specifically tailored to small retail stores. Though marketed under a variety of names, policies will typically have provisions similar to the property insurance and liability insurance sections of the BOP, with the option to add various other coverages that you may need.
Property coverage
The BOP covers real estate your business owns. If your store rents or leases its premises, the BOP provides coverage, in the event of a covered cause of loss, for tenants' improvements and betterments. These are fixtures, alterations, installations, or additions that you have put into the space that cannot legally be removed from the landlord’s premises.
The BOP insures your other business property (in addition to real estate) and your inventory. The policy recognizes that many retailers experience seasonal variations in value. For the majority, Christmas is the big selling season, but for others, the biggest season may be summer. The BOP accommodates seasonally fluctuating inventory value with an automatic 25 percent increase in your policy limit for business personal property, which includes inventory. The seasonal escalator applies only if you have insured business personal property to at least 100 percent of your average monthly values during either the 12 months preceding the loss or the period of time you have been in business as of the date of the loss, whichever is less.
The higher your inventory’s value, the more attractive a target it is for thieves. Risk management can help reduce this risk, but can never entirely eliminate it. To protect from potential losses, you will probably wish to add Burglary and Robbery Coverage to your BOP. Employee dishonesty is another risk for which you can add protection. The BOP already covers your risk of accepting bogus money orders and counterfeit money, although you may want to add higher limits.
Depending on the nature of your retail business, other coverages that may be appropriate to add include:
o Spoilage.
o Food Contamination.
o Mechanical Breakdown.
Universal life insurance is a protection policy for your dependents in the event of your death. Unlike regular life insurance, it is much more flexible. There are several reasons why you should consider applying for a universal life insurance quote. Most importantly, a universal life insurance quote will give you an understanding of the costs and benefits of taking out universal life insurance. These include earning market rates of interest on the cash value account. It also allows you to borrow or withdraw money from the policy. There are also several limitations to this type of account which you should consider.
These are the items excluded in a home insurance New York policy. You need to make special mention of these items if you want them to be covered in your home insurance New York policy: earthquake, floods, pet damage, damage by birds, rodents and insects, pollution damage, water damage resulting from flood or sewer backup, deliberate damage you do to your own or someone else's property by vandalism, normal wear and tear, war. This is a long list of exclusions and you are advised to discuss these fully your home insurance New York insurance agent before you sign anything.
The last thing you want to do is to think about losing your home because you failed to make a couple of payments. No one really believes that the mortgage bank will foreclose on you, but you should understand the foreclosure process, what leads up to it and be ready to recognize and address the problems that affect your ability to make your mortgage payments on time.
When you signed the contract with your mortgage lender and he lent you the money to buy your house, you agreed that if you can’t repay the loan, the lender can ‘foreclose’ or take ownership of the house. So if you do not pay your monthly mortgage payment, you are technically in default on your mortgage. The law varies from state to state, but generally, a loan that is even 90 days delinquent can be considered as a cause for foreclosure.
Your lender may send you a notice warning you that he is about to start foreclosure proceedings. Don’t count on such a letter and don’t wait for one. Take steps to prevent a foreclosure as soon as you realize you are having trouble paying the mortgage! The first one is if you had a genuine reason for not making the payment, go and talk to the mortgage holder immediately.
Traditional mortgages require that you make monthly payments on both the principal and the interest on the money you borrowed. The principal you owe on your mortgage decreases over the term of the loan. An I-O payment plan allows you to pay only the interest for a specified number of years. After that, you repay both the principal and the interest.
Most mortgages that offer an I-O payment plan have adjustable interest rates, which means that the interest rate and monthly payment will change over the term of the loan. The changes may be as often as once a month or as seldom as every 3 to 5 years, depending on the terms of your loan. More information on ARMs is available in the Federal Reserve Board's Consumer Handbook on Adjustable Rate Mortgages.
The I-O payment period is typically for 3 to 10 years. After that, your monthly payment will increase, even if interest rates stay the same, because you must pay back the principal as well as the interest. For example, if you take out a 30-year mortgage loan with a 5-year I-O payment period, you can pay only interest for 5 years and then both principal and interest over the next 25 years.
You must be thinking the same thing I was when I heard about this. How can someone possibly scam you with a home equity loan? Are you not protected by the government or some other organization to get these people to be “real” with you? One would think it’s hard to pull these scams off, but in this fast paced world we want things done quickly with the least possible amount of work with the most pay off.
The home is, arguably, the biggest asset you can possess and this makes the home equity loan conmen’s mouths collectively water at the prospects of turning it to their favor. If you’re a minority, elderly or have poor credit you’re a potential target. The federal trade commission (FTC) wants everyone to be knowledgeable about these underhanded practices so you can protect yourself.
I’m sure we’ve all heard a lender tell us to pad our income numbers. You know what I mean. You write down your income as more than what it is to help nudge you along to a better shot at getting a home equity loan. Lenders will encourage you to do this because they don’t care if payments aren’t made. You have money built up in your home and if you can’t meet the payment they foreclose and take it, selling it for profit. This is known as “equity stripping”.
So your equity mortgage loan is a bit high. You’re falling behind and don’t see yourself being able to pull yourself out of the hole. You look around for solutions and a lender offers you another loan to refinance your current property. You pay off the old loan and begin a new one, saving yourself. All you’ve done is saved yourself from lender #1 while lender #2 lurks in the bushes waiting for the dreaded “balloon payment.” This is the reason why your loan payment is lower than before. When the principle term of your loan is up you may have a balloon payment due. This is the total amount you financed, due in one lump sum. If you can’t pay it or can’t refinance then you face losing your home.
One of the most widely used scams is the “make the equity in your home work for you” scam. Your payments are nice and manageable, your rates are low but you would like a few extra bucks to have fun with so they prey on your good fortune. This home equity loan gets you some extra cash and after a few months they call to offer another loan under the guise of a “home improvement”, “vacation” or “new car”. You bite and you get another loan refinanced. Eventually your payments grow, your fees are higher and your manageable payments become too much and you fold.
There are several other scams involving home equity loans, but these are the top three instances. The worst part here is that they are perfectly legal. Is it moral? Not even close. Read everything. Don’t go to over the phone lenders for things you don’t need. You’ll be better off in the long run taking the high road.
Secured home equity loans are financial sums loaned to you through using your house or property as collateral. Mostly, these loans have low interest rates attached. These are secured home loans. They are also often provided to those individuals with bad credit holders with defaults in payment, county court judgments and arrears Understanding equity. Equity is defined as the amount obtained by subtracting your total mortgage balance from the market value of your home or your property. The higher the resulting equity balance, the higher the amount you can opt to receive. As much as 125% of the value of property can be borrowed.
Secured home equity loans:
There are two types Secured home equity loans, these are: home equity loan and home equity line of credit. In home equity loans permits you to receive the entire amount of the whole loan in one lump sum. You, on the other hand, are required to repay this entire amount plus the interest in regular installments at a fixed rate. The home equity line of credit, also often referred to as HELOC, allows you to utilize the loan as if you were using a credit card. This means, you only pay interest only on the amount that you borrow. However, there is a limit under which you can borrow money under HELOC. In general, the sum given by these secured home equity loans can increase up £75,000. Additionally, the length of time for repayments can stretch up to 25 years.
In order to access secured home equity loans that will keep you out of financial woe, it is best to approach various agencies that can guide you through the rigorous process of finding you the best lender. The purpose of these agencies is to provide you with a spectrum of secured home equity loans from which you can then choose the best suited one. These also allow you to compare the interest rates offered by various lenders through these agencies.
Practicing precaution with secured home equity loans
Your home is the lenders security that you will make repayments. For this reason make sure you have read and understood the terms and conditions of the lenders. In many cases there are hidden loan terms. It is incumbent on the borrower to check the credentials of the lender.
