How do you know if you’re properly covered for homeowners insurance? How much Life insurance¹ should you have? Many consumers find Insurance confusing, but our job is not finished until you fully understand and are comfortable with the coverage you’re paying for. On our first meeting we’ll review your current insurance coverages to determine your level of risk, and from there we can provide you with a personalized quote/quotes to give you the level of service you deserve and need. If you’re not satisfied with the level of service provided, then frankly neither are we.
Located close to the intersection of Highway 24 and Interstate 680 in Walnut Creek, our agency can help you navigate the many options available when choosing Home Insurance, Flood Insurance, Auto Insurance, Classic Car Insurance, Business Insurance, Life Insurance¹ and more. Not only do we cover Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Pleasant Hill and Concord, we also work extensively in Oakland, Berkeley, Albany and Richmond. But we're not limited to those cities - if you're in California, we would like to compete for your insurance business.
Our mission is to help give you piece of mind knowing you’re backed up by a reputable insurance company like Farmers® and that you have an insurance agent to go to that you can trust.
Contact the Mitch Varhula Agency today at: 925-588-3888 or email us! You may also obtain an Auto Insurance or Renters Insurance quote right on my website.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Life Insurance - what's the right choice?
Like so many things in life, the answer to which life insurance is the right one for you...depends.
First - there are two types of life insurance - "Term" and "Perm" (for permanent life insurance).
Term is the easiest to understand. You purchase a set amount of coverage ($300K, $500K, etc) for a limited time period such as 10, 20 or 30 years. As long as you keep current with the payments, the coverage is in place, but at the end of the term that's it. Coverage is over and there is no cash value left.
Perm has a lot more moving parts. It gets it's name because the coverage period for your insurance is permanent; it's for your whole life (technically age 121). Also, the coverage has a cash value component. To explain this, visualize that each month, your premium goes into a bucket. From the bottom of the bucket, a portion of the premium goes to pay for the life insurance component. The rest stays in the bucket and grows tax-deferred. This is your cash-value. From here there are lots of options depending on your needs. You can get whole life which has set payments and a guaranteed rate of return. Or you can opt for a universal life policy which allows for monthly payment flexibility, and if you can tolerate more risk, you can choose a variable universal life policy, which let's you put your cash value money into select mutual funds of your choosing. As that money grows you can access it by making a near interest-free loan to yourself. Whether you repay that loan is up to you, but realize it affects your cash value's growth rate.
Perm is more expensive than term, but has greater flexibility. Many clients choose a combination of both perm and term policies.
This is just a high-level explanation - for more, please call me at (925) 588-3888.
First - there are two types of life insurance - "Term" and "Perm" (for permanent life insurance).
Term is the easiest to understand. You purchase a set amount of coverage ($300K, $500K, etc) for a limited time period such as 10, 20 or 30 years. As long as you keep current with the payments, the coverage is in place, but at the end of the term that's it. Coverage is over and there is no cash value left.
Perm has a lot more moving parts. It gets it's name because the coverage period for your insurance is permanent; it's for your whole life (technically age 121). Also, the coverage has a cash value component. To explain this, visualize that each month, your premium goes into a bucket. From the bottom of the bucket, a portion of the premium goes to pay for the life insurance component. The rest stays in the bucket and grows tax-deferred. This is your cash-value. From here there are lots of options depending on your needs. You can get whole life which has set payments and a guaranteed rate of return. Or you can opt for a universal life policy which allows for monthly payment flexibility, and if you can tolerate more risk, you can choose a variable universal life policy, which let's you put your cash value money into select mutual funds of your choosing. As that money grows you can access it by making a near interest-free loan to yourself. Whether you repay that loan is up to you, but realize it affects your cash value's growth rate.
Perm is more expensive than term, but has greater flexibility. Many clients choose a combination of both perm and term policies.
This is just a high-level explanation - for more, please call me at (925) 588-3888.
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