Insurance Matters: Focus on Life Insurance

By H. Darrell Watson

Life Insurance is the cornerstone of a person or family’s planned protection portfolio. It is designed to cover debt, replace income, pay for final expenses, provide a tax-free legacy gift, and potentially be used to help offset the cost of longterm care.

Below are five types of life insurance and the primary purpose each type can play in your planned protection portfolio.

Group Life: Offered by the employer and often tied to one’s employment. Group life insurance is by far the most straightforward life insurance to get as the underwriting requirements are far less stringent. The cost of these policies is also far less expensive than personal policies. However, when you leave your employment, group policies are most often discontinued, leaving you without any protection.

Term Life: Initially less expensive, term life benefits a beneficiary only upon the death of the insured. Term life insurance is great for covering debt such as a mortgage, but there is no living benefit as term life insurance does not accumulate cash value.

Return of Premium: Similar to the term, return of premium has a savings component. If you do not die during the specified term, every penny you paid in the premium is returned to you. These policies are more expensive than the term policies but less expensive than a permanent life policy with some of the same benefits of both.

Permanent: Whole Life and Universal Life

Permanent life policies offer a stable premium with both a life and death benefit. Cash value and death benefit increase over the policy’s life and the cash value can be borrowed against tax free. If the loan is not repaid, then the loan is subtracted from the death benefit upon the insured’s death.

Personally, I have or have had all of the above. Be sure to talk to your agent and design a life insurance plan that is right for you and your family.

More information at Darrell.watson.e3u6@statefarm.com or call 770-910-3399.

Thanksgiving Tips: How to Practice Gratitude

By Tana Poncsak

There’s a lot of chatter about how being thankful and practicing gratitude can help one live a healthier and a happier life. We hear about it in inspirational quotes on social media, discussed on podcasts, and we even read about it in various articles in magazines and on the web.

It’s November and the month of Thanksgiving, and while many will be reminded to give thanks as a result of the holiday, let’s look at some ways we can practice gratitude all year.

1. Take a look at your values and how you spend your time. Perhaps those values have shifted along the way. Think about the things you value most and why you value them. Are you missing some special people in your life? Perhaps you need more time to yourself. Whatever it may be, time to yourself or more time for the special people in your life, think about ways to spend more time on the things you value in your life.

2. We’ve all heard it before, but it bears repeating. Stop comparing yourself to others. It’s easy to do, especially with social media 24 hours a day, but it’s counterproductive. You’re unique, so be thankful for your uniqueness and learn to lean into it.

3. Keep a gratitude journal. You don’t have to write a page every day. A few lines will do because being consistent is important. Just the act of writing something down can have a positive impact.

4. Be generous about saying “thank you” when you’re out and about in the community. In a world filled with road rage and other bouts

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