A home inspection is a critical part of any home sale. It assesses the house based on functionality. Do the major components such as the roof, appliances and plumbing perform properly? Home inspectors are trained professionals who visually inspect everything and provide a detailed, written log of every aspect of the home that is deficient, hazardous, or nearing the end of its life.
Unless you are buying a brand new home, your home inspector will likely find problem areas. Don’t stress. This doesn’t mean the house of your dreams is unlivable. It means you need to be aware of key areas. Maybe the roof is good for now, but old enough that it will likely need to be replaced within a few years. Or perhaps the water heater is broken. Think how important this information is to you and the people funding your purchase—your bank. The home needs to be kept in good shape so that it maintains the value your bank loaned you.
If the inspection finds that significant money will be required for home maintenance immediately or in the near future, one of two things happen.
Most frequently, you will renegotiate the details of the home purchase. For example, imagine you bid $200,000 on a home and your offer is accepted. A few days later, the home inspection reveals an electrical problem in the kitchen that would cost $500 to fix. A logical next step is to ask the seller to fix the electrical problem before closing. A second option is to require the seller to knock $500 off the sale price, making it $199,500, and then you would be responsible to fix the electrical problem. If the seller doesn’t agree to fix the issues discovered during the inspection or renegotiate the price, you can get your earnest money back and no longer have to buy the home.
A less common option is that you, along with your bank, ensure that you are able and willing to take on the financial burden of all repairs. This allows you to purchase the home as-is.
The home inspection is likely to introduce a list of items that need to be negotiated. If you are taking advantage of Homie’s free Buy Any Home program, you will have the assistance of a Homie attorney who draws up all paperwork for you as you negotiate. Amazing!
When you sign a sales agreement, that’s a great start on buying a home. But what really “seals the deal” is keeping a calm, reasonable approach during the negotiation over repairs. Be willing to listen to what the sellers want. State clearly what you want. Listen to the advice of your real estate attorney. Think outside the box to come up with possible solutions. Remember that both parties want the deal to go through. Once you’ve gathered all your data, make your decisions based on what is best for you and be firm with that decision. If a seller refuses to pay for a repair, feel free to shop elsewhere for a house. A sale that falls through is often better than a sale that isn’t right for you. You can always make a different decision the next time around.
Before wrapping up this post, let me throw out a few final tips:
A home inspection is not a Magic 8 Ball. It helps identify what’s wrong with the home right now, but it doesn’t predict the home’s future. Stuff breaks, and that’s very sad. Buyers should always budget routine home repairs into the cost of owning a home.
Tackle problems uncovered in the home inspection before closing. Don’t wait until after you own the house to see how much the plumbing repairs will cost! Get repair estimates for everything and know exactly what you are buying.
Please, please, please. No matter what you do. Don’t forget to sign up for Homie’s Buy Any Home Program, a service with no cost to you and no catch. Our goal is to create a seamless marketplace where buyers and sellers can connect and save big money as they buy and sell homes. By offering these services for free to buyers, we’re helping our sellers who pay us a small fee to advertise their homes for sale and buyers benefit big!
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The knee-jerk answer is, “it doesn’t,” but that leaves too much meat on the bone. Credit card inactivity CAN have an impact on your credit, but it would be indirect.
It’s strange, but from time to time, I get a small pop in the volume of the same question. It happened to me last week. I was asked four times on the same day about the impact of credit card account inactivity on your credit reports and credit scores. In this post, we’ll discuss what it means to have an inactive credit card, how credit card inactivity affects your credit score, and delve into some strategies for finding the right balance for your credit card usage.
For quick answers regarding credit card inactivity, use the links below to navigate to specific sections or read end to end for a greater scope on the subject.
What is Credit Card Inactivity?
Credit card inactivity is when your credit card has a zero balance over an extended period of time. The catch with credit card inactivity is that if you stop using your credit card for several months or years, your card issuer could decide to close your account, which could indirectly impact your credit score. We’ll discuss more about what happens when your credit card account is closed due to inactivity a little later on in this post.
It may seem pretty straightforward to determine whether your credit card is active or not, but credit reporting is very flat, meaning your credit reports only show you a snapshot in time of what your credit history looks like. There is no chronology of balances, which means it’s hard to determine from a credit report if an account is active or inactive.
For example, if you have a credit card with a $0 balance on a current copy of your credit report, it appears that the account is inactive. The problem is that the balance is from last month’s statement and the card may have been used since the last month’s statement was cut, thus the account is now “active.”
Because you can’t determine activity from a credit report, credit scoring models cannot be harmed or helped by your past usage activity. However, the credit card issuer’s reaction to your usage patterns can make its way to your credit reports, and that’s where the game changes. In other words, if your credit card issuer decides to close your account due to credit card inactivity, it could impact your credit score.
How Long Can a Credit Card be Inactive Before Closing?
It’s up to your credit card issuer! Some companies allow users to have a zero balance for a longer period of time, while others require you to maintain a certain balance. Before canceling your credit card or leaving your card open without a balance for too long, get in touch with your credit card company to see what their restrictions are.
Why does my credit card issuer care if I use my card?
If you choose to stop using your credit card account, for whatever reason, the revenue generated by that card dries up, unless that card has a balance or an annual fee. Your card issuer depends on your usage in order to make money. If your card has a $0 balance and no annual fee, then your card issuer won’t make any money from interchange fees (aka “swipe fees”). Add that to the absence of interest, and annual fees and the card becomes a drag to the issuer.
In fact, if there is no usage, no balance, no interchange fees, and no annual fee, then the card drops below the $0 mark on the revenue curve. Credit card issuers incur a cost to maintain your account in their systems. They pay the credit bureaus for periodic credit reports and scores on you as part of their account maintenance practices, along with time and energy spent trying to figure out how to get you active again.
There’s a cost to all of this, which is why you’re a “loss” while you’re inactive.
Will I be notified before my credit account is closed?
Sometimes. Credit card companies are not required to give account holders notice that their credit card account will be closed due to inactivity. However, they must give you 45 days notice when making major changes to your account, which could include closing as a result of inactivity.
How Does a Closed Account Impact Your Credit Score?
When a credit card issuer closes your account, your credit limit could be lowered due to inactivity, which translates to a decrease in available credit. This could also mean your revolving percentage could go up, and it could go up a lot.
As you may know, your credit utilization is one of the many , along with your credit history and age of credit, among other metrics.
How much impact does a closed card have on your credit score? The impact to your credit is going to vary based on a couple of factors. If you carry credit card debt on other cards, the impact could be significant. If the credit limit on the newly closed card was very high, the impact could be significant.
If the credit limit was very low (like on a retail store card) and you don’t have credit card debt elsewhere, the impact is likely to be less, because your utilization won’t shift much and your debt-to-income ratio is still relatively low.
Should I Cancel My Credit Card?
It depends. Each and every financial decision you make should be looked at through the lens of your lifestyle, financial situation, and personal preferences. Before canceling your credit card, you should consider what pros and cons you may see as a result.
Here are a few factors to think about before canceling an inactive credit card:
Pro: Cancelling can save you money on annual fees, preventing extra, unnecessary expenses.
Pro: Closing an inactive credit card account can help you simplify your finances and make it easier to focus on managing other debts while keeping your monthly budget on track.
Con: Your credit card utilization may increase while your available credit decreases.
Con: Closing a credit account could negatively impact your “credit mix,” which can alter your credit score.
Prevention is Key
If this is a concern for you and has you running to check your credit score, there’s a way to prevent all of this. All you have to do is use your credit card from time to time. Now, I’m not suggesting that you get into debt, nor am I suggesting that you use it to buy things you wouldn’t normally buy.
I’m suggesting that you buy a tank of gas or use it to pay this month’s cable bill, which are things you’re going to have to pay for anyway. This way, you’re killing two birds with one stone.
By using the card, and then paying it off immediately, you’re resetting the activity clock and it isn’t costing you a penny in interest. The credit card issuer is happy because they’re making revenue from the swipe fee, which is being paid by the merchant, not by you.
Best of all, you protect—and possibly even improve your credit—because the issuer isn’t likely to close your account if you use it from time to time, even on modest purchases.
John Ulzheimer is the President of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com, the credit blogger for Mint.com, and a contributor for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. He is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft. Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. The opinions expressed in his articles are his and not of Mint.com or Intuit. Follow John on Twitter.
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Is it time to worry? Home prices are surging, affordability is becoming a concern, and home flippers are back out in droves. Surely that’s a recipe for disaster, right?
A new report from RealtyTrac revealed that the number of “active home flippers” in 2015 was the highest it has been since 2007, around the time things came crashing down, partly due to those very flippers.
Last year, some 179,778 single-family homes and condos were flipped by flippers, with flips accounting for 5.5% of total U.S. home sales.
That was up marginally from the 5.3% share in 2014, but it marked the first annual increase in the share of house flips after four consecutive yearly declines.
And in 83 of 110 metros nationwide (75%) flipped homes increased from a year earlier. So it’s not just some markets seeing increased flip activity. California is the only noticeably cold state.
For the record, RealtyTrac defines a “home flip” as a property sold a second time within a 12-month period. But if I had it my way, I’d expand that definition slightly seeing that some folks wait just over a year due to tax purposes.
So the number of flips could be even higher if you move the definition to say 13 months, which is still clearly a fast turnaround intended to make a quick profit.
110,008 Flippers Flipped in 2015
Sorry for having fun with the word flipper. I can’t help myself. I think we need a new word for it, personally. Anyway, a total of 110,008 investors/entities flipped at least one property last year.
That was the highest number since 2007 when a slightly higher 130,603 home flippers existed. Still, it’s nowhere close to the peak seen in 2005 when 259,192 flippers were out doing their thing. Back then flips made up 8.2% of total home sales.
The share of flipped homes was actually above 2005 levels in 12 metros, including Pittsburgh, Memphis, Buffalo, San Diego, and Seattle.
The states with the highest share of flips included Nevada (8.8%), Florida (8.0%), Alabama (7.4%), Arizona (7.1%) and Tennessee (6.9%).
As far as metros go, Memphis (11.1%) Fresno (9.2%), and Las Vegas (9.2%) led the way.
Interestingly, despite the numbers inching up again, the number of home flips per investor (1.63) was the lowest since 2008.
So it appears as if today’s flipper is a bit more discerning, possibly because they have no choice. We know inventory is limited, and it’s already more difficult to obtain financing for several properties at once.
That could limit some of the bad things surrounding house flipping, but it doesn’t mean noobs aren’t still buying homes for double the price the previous buyer purchased them for.
Tip: Look at the property history at the bottom of Redfin/Zillow listing pages to see what the previous buyer paid to determine if you should pay double that!
Flipped Homes Purchased at 26% Discount
RealtyTrac said flipped homes were on average purchased for 26% below market value and later resold for a five percent premium above the estimated market value.
The average gross flipping profit, defined as the difference in purchase price and sale price, hit a 10-year high in 2015 of $55,000, not far from the $58,750 seen in 2015.
This figure doesn’t include the costs of rehabbing the property, which is typically anywhere from 20-33% of the property’s after repair value.
The best return on investment (ROI) was in the $100,000 to $200,000 home price range, with Pittsburgh (129.5%), New Orleans (99.2%), and Philadelphia (98.4%) the leaders nationwide.
Unfortunately, this return to flipping means less opportunity for traditional home buyers who rely on mortgage financing to get the deal done.
This competition, coupled with a continued lack of housing inventory, will make it increasingly difficult for first-timers and others with limited cash reserves to buy homes. Additionally, it could be yet another sign of the formation of another bubble.
By Peter AndersonLeave a Comment – The content of this website often contains affiliate links and I may be compensated if you buy through those links (at no cost to you!). Learn more about how we make money. Last edited April 28, 2009.
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
The lesson I get from this verse is that we need to be content in the circumstances that we’re in, whether we have a lot of money, or a little. We need to remember that as long as we don’t forsake him, Jesus will never leave or forsake us. He is faithful, and we need to be as well.
By Peter Anderson1 Comment – The content of this website often contains affiliate links and I may be compensated if you buy through those links (at no cost to you!). Learn more about how we make money. Last edited April 28, 2009.
I was recently on twitter.com and I found a user on there called “Money Confessions“. Basically it is a channel for Geezeo.com, an online personal finance manager, where people who use their service can make confessions about things they’ve done with their money that they’re either ashamed about, or wouldn’t tell anyone else.
This twitter channel made me think. Money has a strange effect on people, it makes them happy, it makes them sad. It makes them do things that they would never what anyone else to know, and makes them do things they never thought they would. So what are some of the secrets that people were keeping? Here is a sampling of anonymous confessions found on the Twitter Money confessions:
I don’t know what’s worse, being 90 thousand in debt or you finding out that your husband put you in that debt
Im 23 somehow making 6 figures, cant keep my lifestyle in check. spent about $60k in the past 5 months on cars, home theater, etc.
My wife always talks about how poor we are. I hate that she thinks that – we have no debt except a mortgage. We have over 65k in savings.
Ripped through my bonus. No savings. But debt cut in half 50%. Still, I feel guilty
none of my coworkers or friends know that I’m sitting on $300k of savings at 28 years old
I use ATM cash like it’s candy.
Every time I build up my savings, I end up doing something stupid requiring me to drain the account, ie tickets, overdrafts etc.
i have to cut my credit cards to keep from using them, i cant just keep them in the drawer
I’ve already spent my tax refund and I’m not sure how much I’m getting back yet.
i love the feeling of saving money, but i love the feeling of spending it… i usually like the instant gratification of spending it more!
I just spent over $1000 on a surprise party for my husband
So have you ever done anything related to money that you’re ashamed of? Do you have any money secrets do you keep from your spouse, your friends, or people you know?
LINKS: Money Confessions on Twitter
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By Peter AndersonLeave a Comment – The content of this website often contains affiliate links and I may be compensated if you buy through those links (at no cost to you!). Learn more about how we make money. Last edited April 28, 2009.
Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom? Proverbs 17:16
This speaks to some of the things we were talking about in yesterday’s post. Sometimes you can become blinded by greed, and make decisions that aren’t really in your own best interests. We spend money blindly on things that aren’t really a safe bet. As the verse says, if we play the part of the fool and don’t use God’s wisdom, then that money is of no use to us in the first place. We need to make sure that we’re doing things that aren’t foolish, and that aren’t guided by a blind desire for money.
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By Contributing Author11 Comments – The content of this website often contains affiliate links and I may be compensated if you buy through those links (at no cost to you!). Learn more about how we make money. Last edited January 5, 2018.
Gold is probably one of the most misunderstood areas of investing and economics. Investors typically are split down into one of two irrational groups — those who always think gold is worthless and in a bubble, and those who always think gold is on a permanent one-way trip to the moon. The truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Let’s look at the facts about gold, without ignoring a basic understanding of economics principles and economic history. Hint: both pop-investors and gold bugs are often wrong.
In this article, we’ll look specifically at how gold behaves in the long-term, and what kind of portfolio adequately has gold without going too far to an extreme.
A Few Basic Pro-Gold Facts
Anyone familiar with gold probably knows that plenty of “experts” look down their noses at gold. Many often see it as a barbaric investment. Even Warren Buffett — famous for using high-leveraged equity plays to build a fortune — mocks buying gold, saying that it’s nuts.
Unfortunately, being really good at making money via stocks often makes people blind to the alternatives — like land, gold, and silver. Here are a few undeniable facts that the pro-gold crowd should be familiar with.
1. Gold is safer than TIPS, bonds, and stocks. There is absolutely no way around this — gold doesn’t go bankrupt, doesn’t ever become completely worthless, and over time will beat inflation. TIPS, bonds, stocks — they can’t say this. While a diversified portfolio will out-earn gold over time, gold mixed with a portfolio makes it more secure, and acts as a type of financial insurance. Any of the investment “experts” who might disagree just needs to brush up on economic history.
Of course, by “safer” I don’t mean “more likely to earn money”, I mean “more likely to not become worthless.”
2. Gold is a fantastic diversification tool. When people lose faith in the system, gold goes up. People claim this is because of “fear”. I think it should be more appropriately seen as a measure of the general uncertainty about the system which is often extremely understandable. Stock crash of the 80s? Made gold go through the room. Stock crash of 2008-2009? Well, that’s also put gold through the roof.
As a diversification tool, gold mixed with stocks can make a portfolio much stronger over time, much less volatile, and even much more lucrative if rebalanced correctly.
3. Gold beats inflation over time, period. This is essentially unavoidable. Even though the price of gold is often manipulated by central banks and large financial institutions, it’s always been worth something — enough to sit up and take notice if you see a gold coin on the ground.
If you had 1000 ounces of gold back when Jesus walked the Earth, then you would have been a rich person. The same is true now — you’d have a million and a half dollars. No publicly traded company, no bond, no Treasury Bill, no [fill in the blank] comes close to such a record. Land is sometimes worthless, companies go under over time, governments collapse, currencies dissolve, silver prices have been essentially worthless before… but gold has always been worth a subtantial amount.
Of course, that gold is such a great inflation hedge is also a strike against it in a sense — if your investment just keeps up with inflation over time, then you can’t exactly claim that it’s a way to generate wealth in and of itself over time — the entire appeal is that it’s charts should look relatively flat over the course of a thousand or so years. The only way to actually get “wealthy” with gold is through speculating through the different gold market cycles.
Because of this, gold is best invested by the average person not as a way to make money, but as a way to hold on to one’s money. A “doomsday” insurance policy, in a sense. Because it often counteracts stock-market drops, it can also be used as a good way to make money via rebalancing over time — as a type of stabalizer of your portfolio in case of bear markets for stocks.
What do you think about gold? Do you own any Gold? Do you think it’s old fashioned? Is our current gold market about to collapse or go higher?
Your broker might not have your best interest in mind when they make recommendations to you.
In fact, brokers can legally put their interests ahead of yours.
Did you catch that?
Translated that means that your broker can get a speeding ticket for going 75 mph on the interstate, but won’t get punished for selling you a crap investment that makes them a bunch of money.
This is because most brokers operate under what’s called the suitability standard, which simply means the securities they recommend must be appropriate for you given your financial profile; however, many of the securities that can be considered suitable may be far from the best investment options available at a particular time.
How do you like them apples?
You may be surprised to learn that brokers working under the suitability standard are not legally obligated to find the best prices or the best investment options available at a particular time. As a result, your broker may offer you securities that provide lower returns and carry more significant risks than other alternatives as this may be more profitable for the broker. The suitability standard can apply to brokers that sell insurance, stocks, annuities, or other investment types.
1. Brokers Make Money Even if You Don’t.
This is because of the commissions-based compensation model presently used by many brokerage firms. Let’s say your broker convinces you to buy into XYZ stock at $50 per share. If the price subsequently increases to $60, than your broker may call you and advise you to buy more of the same security because of the 20% appreciation in price. This transaction would then generate a commission for your broker.
On the other hand, let’s say that the same investment in XYZ stock instead dropped to $40 per share. In this case the same broker might call you and still tell you to buy more of the same security because it is now less expensive than it once was and should therefore be considered a bargain. This transaction would also generate a commission for your broker.
Great for them. Not so much for you.
As you can see your broker’s success can have little relation to your own. This represents a misalignment of interests that may cause your broker to benefit at your expense.
2. High commissions are a good thing right?
Brokers may choose to offer you only those investments which pay the highest commissions. To illustrate this point let’s consider another example. Let’s say that investment 1 is the best investment for you, but it offers no commissions to your broker.
On the other hand investment 2 is a worse investment, which pays 5% commission. Under the suitability standard your broker is not obligated to offer you investment 1 and may instead sell you investment 2 in order to collect the commission on the transaction. This conflict of interest is currently permitted under the suitability standard, which is applicable to many brokerage firms.
Isn’t that special?
3. Looks good on paper.
Your broker may sell you an investments that is illiquid or highly risky. This is due to the fact that brokers are often associated with particular issuers of securities or certain investment companies.
As a result they may be limited to offering only the proprietary products sold by their affiliates even though other more attractive investment options may be available in the market. They may also be restricted to particular list of securities and may be compensated to offer one investment over another at any time.
One of the worst examples that I witnessed this was with a portfolio of a friends mom. Her broker had sold her what he called a “safe investment” which was a limited partnership. While some limited partnerships could be considered good investments, this particular one was Medical Capital Holdings.
What’s the big deal about that? Well, this particular limited partnership ended up being a fraud and most investors lost everything that they invested into it. What makes the story even worse, is that this particular broker thought it was “suitable” to put over 1/3 of her portfolio into it.
4. Their commissions can eat away your returns.
If you’re paying commissions on a per-trade basis, you may be spending more than you might expect.
For example, if you’re charged 2% per trade, then making just three trades per year could result in you paying 6% of your overall portfolio in commissions annually.
5. Alphabet jumbo soup.
Brokers may be using deceptive titles to give you the wrong impression about their compensation model and qualifications. Currently, the shear abundance of professional designations being used within the financial services industry is confusing even to the most experienced investors. However, understanding the differences between these titles could have a dramatic effect on your long-term investment results and overall satisfaction.
As an example, the term financial advisor is one of the most used terms in the industry; however, many of the individuals using this title are sales people looking to meet quotas by selling financial products. They may in some cases sell non-marketable securities, which include long-term commitments, excessive fees, and a high level of risk.
Titles with the word “senior” — Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) and Certified Senior Consultant (CSC), for instance — have come under a great deal of scrutiny. I get offers in the mail all the time to buy designations. Don’t let the alphabet soup impress you. The only one that should in the financial planning profession is the CFP® designation. Other notables are the CFA and CPA designation.
6. I have a sales quota.
I love when I get a statement from a competitor that is sponsored by a mutual fund or insurance company. The broker claims to them that they have their clients best interest at heart and can utilize all types of investment choices, except that they only investments I see are from that companies proprietary products.
Hmmm……now whose best interest is first? I assure you not the client.
7. My records clean….kind of
Your broker is not obligated to tell you if there’s anything on his or her record. And why they should they? It’s reported that 70% of prospective clients do not do a background check on the broker before hiring them.
Want to make sure that your broker doesn’t have a record like Bernie Madoff? Head over to FINRA BrokerCheck to see what’s on your brokers record.
8. It could be better somewhere else.
With a broker you’re dealing with a sales person who may or may not have your best interest in mind. On the other hand, registered investment advisors, also known as RIAs are firms which operate under the fiduciary standard, which means that they are legally obligated to put their client’s interests first at all times.
As an independent registered investment advisor, Alliance Wealth Management, LLC was founded as a welcome alternative to the traditional brokerage model so many investors have become accustom to. We are compensated only by management fees paid directly by our clients.
How do you pay you broker? If you don’t know, maybe it’s time to find out.
If your family was responsible for all of your bills, it could be a mountain of debt and would they have any way of paying off any of those expenses? This is how viewing life insurance as an investment makes it vital that you have some financial protection in case you were to pass away.
Life Insurance with Autism
Do you or a loved one suffer from autism or Asperger’s? Qualifying for life insurance is not impossible. We’ve helped several people get an effective policy before and we’re confident we can do it again.
The insurance company won’t just look at your condition and automatically shove it aside with a decline stamped on it. They know that normally you’re an insurable candidate, but once you apply you’ll have to give them more information about your diagnosis and any other issues that you might also have. The good thing is we’ve compiled some information below and we hope you find it helpful as you go through the process of securing your finances for the future.
Life Insurance Underwriting for Autism/Asperger’s
When you apply for life insurance with autism or Asperger’s, the insurance agent will need to ask several questions about the condition. Applicants need to answer:
Where do you fall on that autism spectrum?
Are there any intellectual or psychiatric limitations that you deal with?
Do you suffer from any muscular ailments?
How does the applicant get by doing daily activities?
Does the applicant have any other major health problems?
What medications is the applicant currently taking?
While there are no medications that apply directly for autism/Asperger’s, applicants may be taking medications for other mental conditions like antidepressants, anxiety medications, and antipsychotic drugs. These medications could be insurable depending on an applicant’s situation.
Insurance companies ask many questions about these conditions because they need lots of information to make a decision. Be sure to provide all this information as insurance companies are more likely to reject an application that looks incomplete.
Life Insurance Quotes with Autism/Asperger’s
Life insurance companies rate applicants with autism or Asperger’s on a few different factors. First, they consider whether an applicant just has autism/Asperger’s or if they have other more serious issues like Rett syndrome or other physical/mental impairments.
Beyond considering these factors, insurance companies will also review an applicant’s overall health to make a decision. I’ve put together a guideline on how an underwriter might end up rating you.
Preferred Plus: With problems in the future likely to arise chances are slim for this category.
Preferred: Another situation where the risk is simply too high for the insurance company to rate you in this section.
Standard: If you are otherwise healthy, and functioning on the top level this is the best rating you can hope to receive.
Table Rating (substandard): Most applicants in the spectrum will be rated here. This isn’t a bad thing, but be aware when looking for quotes that give you a preferred or standard rating that you’re price will end up being higher.
Declines: Do you have Rett syndrome or childhood disintegrative disorder? Then that will be a decline for most if not all carriers. And if you also suffer from muscular or cognitive impairments then you will also most likely have difficulty getting an application approved.
Autism/Asperger’s Insurance Case Studies
Here are two examples of how to navigate the stress of filling out a life insurance application.
Case Study: 23 year old female was diagnosed at the age of 8, parents tried purchasing life insurance for her right away and she was denied, no other physical or mental problems
When this applicant was diagnosed with autism at eight, her parents thought it would be a good idea to buy her life insurance right away before anything else happened. When her application was denied, her parents believed she wouldn’t have a policy approved. After reading our site, they understood her chances right after diagnosis weren’t as good if they would’ve waited for her condition to stable. By trying again this time, the applicant received a Standard rating as her autism hadn’t developed into any other problems.
Case Study #2: Male, 25, had Asperger’s since 10, suffered from depression at 20, starting taking antidepressants at 22 and recovered.
This applicant had Asperger’s since he was 10 and was also diagnosed with depression at 20 partially due to his mental condition. After taking antidepressants for a year, this applicant recovered from his depression and was in better overall health. His rating though was substandard when he first applied. His past history of depression and were worried that this was too much on top of his Asperger’s. We recommended he see his therapist and get a note vouching that due to medication and therapy, this client had his depression under control. With this new information, the applicant applied and received a better rating than before.
If you are looking for life insurance for someone with autism or Asperger’s, it might be a good idea to get some professional help with your application. Agents have the knowledge to let you know when an application should be submitted and which carrier views your condition more favorably.
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Affordable Life Insurance with Autism or Aspergers
Click here for information and free insurance quotes, or complete the form to the right side of the page. Each carrier has different algorithms that help them with their risk classes and who gets put in each one. To find the plan that best fits your budget you’ll need to receive many quotes before picking the one that works best for you.
Unlike traditional life insurance agents, we are independent agents, and we can represent as many insurers as we want! With tons of life insurance companies in America, we can narrow down the ones that fit your goals best all while saving you valuable time and saving you hard-earned money.
Let us help you get approved for a plan that works with an applicant who has autism or Asperger’s. Even if you’ve been declined in the past, we can help you get affordable life insurance protection through a no medical exam life insurance plan.
These no medical exam plans mean you can have financial protection and you don’t have to answer medical questions or go through an exam. Everyone deserves to have the insurance protection that their family needs and your health shouldn’t stop you.
Every year, we get dozens and dozens of different questions from applicants about life insurance. All of the questions that we get are very important and we are happy to answer those questions. We’ve noticed that we continue to get very similar questions, which led us to create this article which will answer all of the most common questions that we get.
Here’s a look at some of the common life insurance questions that will come up when it comes to purchasing term life insurance.
1. How Much Life Insurance Should You Buy?
This is a common question that I get all the time. If somebody asks me if they’re concerned about buying too much life insurance, that’s typically only an issue if they just flat out can’t afford it. It’s pretty hard to have too much life insurance. There are several rules of thumb that you can follow and probably the most common is to take ten times your annual salary. For some individuals this might not be enough, but at least it’s somewhere to get going. Another way to look at it is to think of how much you expect to be making in the next five years, especially for the Gen X or Gen Y generation.
To get started, add up your unpaid expenses. Combine your mortgage, student loans, car loans, and any other major expenses. All of those big bills are going straight to your family. The total is your starting block.
The next number that you should account for is your paycheck. Not only will your loved ones have to pay off your debts, If you’re the source of income in your home, make sure they can replace your paycheck with the insurance policy.
2. How Long Of A Term Should You Purchase On Your Life Insurance?
If you are in your mid-30s or younger, then I think you absolutely should purchase a 30 Year Term life insurance at the bare minimum. Some could argue that you only need it for as long as you have your home mortgage and if you pay your house off early, then life insurance is an unneeded expense. If that’s the case and you really do think that you don’t need it, then just stop making the payments. For myself, even though I plan on having my house paid off well before 30 years, it still made since for me to buy a 30 year term policy. Why? For what I’m paying per month, it won’t be that much of an expense in my later 50 or early 60s so that in the event something does happen to me, my family is still taken care of, even more so.
3. Where Should You Buy Your Life Insurance From?
There are so many different options nowadays on where to buy your term life insurance. Many people buy directly from their life insurance agent. Some people buy it online. The one piece of advice I can give you is to make sure to shop around. You can even use the free quote engine on this site that will give you a quick and accurate life insurance quote so you can see how much out of pocket expense you’re looking forward to.
Each insurance company is different, and every company is going to give you drastically different rates depending on how they view your health and their rating system.
Instead of having to wade through all the weeds of the life insurance world, let us do the dirty work for you. Work can bring over 50 insurance quotes to you directly.
4. How Difficult Is It To Pass A Life Insurance Exam?
If you’re in good health, then you should have no worries whatsoever. Make sure to drink plenty of water a few days before the medical exam and follow the nurse’s instructions, especially if they tell you not to eat the morning of.
If you just cannot go through with it then there is always no medical exam policies. You will pay more for these than if you qualify under standard underwriting but the process is faster and can be a good option for the right person.
If you’ve heard that the medical exams are difficult to pass, or if you’ve ever been declined in the past. Don’t assume that a no medical exam plan is your only option.
Each company is going to have different hoops to jump through. If one insurance company declines you, it doesn’t mean that every company is going to. It’s important that you find a company that is going to accept your plan.
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5. Should You Buy Term Or Whole Life?
This is a common question that I often get from people who are not sure about how the two different types of insurance policies work. If you’re more concerned about protecting your family with the right amount of coverage, the term life insurance policy is going to be the most affordable. A whole life policy will continue to cover you for the rest of your life, but the cost of whole life insurance is much more than term and you probably won’t be able to afford a whole life policy that gives you the amount of coverage you really need.
6. Should You Buy Return Of Premium Life Insurance?
From what I can tell return of premium insurance seems like it’s much more expensive than what it’s worth. That being said, I am a believer in the markets and that someone could take the difference, invest it and make much more over the next 20 or 30 years. For people that aren’t as confident in the market as I may be, then the return of premium insurance might make sense for them.
7. Should You Buy Life Insurance On Your Child?
Personally I don’t see the value of buying life insurance for your child. I think your child could have much more money if you opened up a custodial account that is invested into good mutual funds. That being said, there are many policies out there that only cost about $7 a month. If it’s not a huge out of pocket expense, then it’s hard for me to argue that you’re wasting your money, but if you’re putting in several hundred dollars a month into the life insurance policy for your child you might want to consider other options.
8. How Can You Check The Ratings On Your Life Insurance Company?
When you’re deciding what carrier to purchase your life insurance from, it’s best to know if they have a solid rating. You can go to websites like Moody’s or AM BEST that will show you the ratings of the life insurance company that makes sure that they are in good standing with the creditors. If you use the form on this page we will make sure you are only working with the top life insurance carriers. It will cut your time and allow you to focus on the type of policy you want instead of the company reliability.
9. What Happens When A Life Insurance Policy Lapses?
A few years ago I had made the mistake of letting one of my term life insurance policies lapse. I had three separate term policies and having a conversation with my wife, I had told her that we were going to let one lapse. Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication and the wrong policy lapsed. It had already been over a month since we realized our error and I was fearful that I’d have to go through the entire life insurance exam process. After making a quick call to life insurance company realized that that was not the case. All we had to do was send a check for the next year and the policy was back in force.
10. When Is A Good Idea To Purchase More Life Insurance?
You always think that you might have enough life insurance until another life event happens. For me, this has happened on three occasions, after I got married, after I had my first son and then after I had my second son. After each life event, I questioned myself whether I had taken out enough life insurance on myself and each time I wasn’t confident in my feeling so, I decided to up the amount of term coverage that I had.
These are just some of the common life insurance questions that people might have when purchasing it. If you have questions before buying life insurance, be sure to speak to an independent life insurance agent prior to purchasing. Be informed and make sure to take care of your loved ones.