Globe Life Review
Let’s talk about Globe Life and you can make the decision on whether you should or should not do business with them. When I am working with a senior that is looking for final expense life insurance and they have a Globe Life policy it is normally term insurance about 99% of the time. They do massive mailings and marketing across the United States. We all have ended up with advertising from Globe in our mailboxes. All the mailings create brand recognition for them.
Is all of Globe Life insurance term? No it isn’t, but what is predominantly marketed to seniors looking for final expense insurance is TERM. That is not the type of insurance needed to pay for burial insurance. These types of plans end at a specified time and the price increases dramatically. Term Life insurance is not for seniors looking for protection until they pass. Most seniors are on a fixed income and their health is not always the best. The increasing price and the possibility of needing to re-quality for immediate coverage in the future after a term policy expires is not a good plan.
The marking is very misleading stating things like $1 buys $50,000. The big flashy numbers lure people in who have the best on intentions by trying to protect their families.
Life insurance policies can help with funeral and burial costs, pay off left-behind debt, or even leave a little extra cash for your loved ones. But it’s hard to figure out which life insurance policy is best for your particular needs, and easy to fall prey to false claims.
Funeral costs average about $7,000 in Georgia, but can easily top $10,000 once the extras are added into the total. Most people simply don’t have that kind of cash laying around to pay for a loved one’s burial, which is why insurance can be so important to a family.
When getting ready to buy a policy, one of the first issues to think about is the difference in a whole life insurance policy, which never expires, and a term policy, which may expire before your death and still leave heirs saddled with the whole bill.
In a nutshell, a whole life policy is guaranteed for the entirety of your life and generally pays benefits of $2,000 to $50,000, though some policies can offer higher amounts. Policies can usually be purchased up until age 89.
A term life policy like those sold by Globe Life has a predetermined expiration and is worth nothing to your heirs unless you die before the expiration date. These type of temporary policies also go up in price every five years, normally. Companies like Globe Life and AARP do mass marketing attempting to sell term plans to seniors who truly need whole life insurance.
While most companies will allow customers to convert a term policy to a whole life policy at some point, Globe does not and a new policy would have to be purchased to continue benefits after the expiration date.
While Globe claims to require no medical exams for its policies, a few simple health questions on the application form can cause you to be denied coverage. In addition, that no-exam policy practice can end up costing healthy people more than the standard life insurance policies that do sometimes require medical exams, according to NerdWallet.com, which reviews insurance, loans, banking, investing and credit card services. The website also reports that Globe had “significantly more” than the median number of complaints to state regulators in 2017 for a company of its size.
NerdWallet recommends whole life policies for those concerned about their own funeral expenses as well as those in the following positions;
- Want to provide money for your heirs to pay estate taxes
- Have heirs who might be forced to sell off parts of your estate to pay the tax bill
- Have a lifelong dependent, such as a child with special needs.
- Want to spend your retirement savings and still leave an inheritance or money for final expenses, such as funeral costs.
- Want to equalize inheritances. If you plan to leave a business or property to one child, whole life insurance could compensate your other children.
The best advice, though, is to find an agent who can spend some time answering questions and will walk you through the choices so you know exactly what you’re buying.
