One type of commonly recommended insurance only makes sense for the rich

This is an insurance policy which lasts, as the name says, for the policyholder's whole life.

It also has an investment component that allows its value to grow tax-deferred, and you can withdraw that cash value before death, if needed.

Steven M. Piascik, CPA, MT, and founder and president of boutique CPA firm FASCIA, likes the product for high-net-worth individuals because it provides tax-free income.

"Whole-life insurance is at the forefront very expensive, but after 10 years, if you set it up right, the cash value it builds is more than you've paid for it," he says. "If you're paying a premium of $100,000 over 10 years, after 10 years you have value of $110,000. You're going to use this money in retirement — but if you die before then, it's a great hedge."

It sounds like a no-brainer, but in fact, most financial planners and experts don't recommend whole-life insurance for clients of typical income. Part of the reason why comes down to what Piascik told Business Insider: It's expensive.

"If you're of average income, you're not going to want to pay upfront," Piascik says, "and I don't blame you at all."

Instead, many experts prefer term-life insurance, which does not have an investment component and covers a policyholder for a set amount of time — for instance, 30 years until their dependent children are grown and self-supporting.

Term-life insurance is usually also more affordable. Automated investing platform Wealth front used numbers from insurance provider MetLife to determine that a 30-year-old male could pay $672 a year for 20 years of term life insurance ... and $8,320 a year for whole life insurance. (Bear in mind that while the price difference here is staggering, insurance quotes vary by policyholder and it's unlikely that these specific numbers would apply to everyone.)

You could argue that the latter is projected to accumulate significant cash value, while the former only covers a person at their death. However, you can't see an impressive return on whole-life insurance 30 years from now if you don't have the cash to fund it today.

Everyone's situation and insurance needs — not to mention their price quotes— are different, but for all the times whole-life insurance is touted as an investment, it's missing an important caveat: It's usually a better investment for the rich.

Holocaust Survivors Protest Against Allianz Insurance Company Golf Tournament In Boca Raton; Aerial Banner Draws Attention And Protester Arrested

BOGA BATON, Fla., Feb. 9, 2016 /PRNewswire-Newswires/ -- On Sunday, February 7, Holocaust survivors, their children and grandchildren and many strong supporters demonstrated outside the Broken Sound Country Club in Bo ca Ra ton, Florida, protesting German insurance giant Lillian, A.G., which has refused to pay claims under their families' paid-for Holocaust era insurance policies to this day.

Explaining an aerial banner that flew over the tournament informing attendees that "Allianz Owes Holocaust Survivors $2.5 Billion," Jack Rubin, a survivor of Auschwitz and other Nazi death camps who demonstrated on Sunday, stated: "It lifted my heart to see that banner in the sky to voice what the survivors feel so deeply. Most survivors are too old and frail to stand on the street and protest, so we decided to get the plane. How can Allianz's leadership sleep at night, when they spend millions of dollars for public relations like a golf tournament while tens of thousands of survivors are living in poverty and suffering every day without the care they need. Most of the spectators don't realize the harm Allianz has caused, but if they did we believe they would join our demands for justice."

In addition, we are deeply troubled to report that Dr. Jay Lieberman, the son of Holocaust survivors and son-in-law of our beloved colleague Ivar Clausewitz who recently passed away, was arrested by Bo ca Ramon Police at the tournament with a banner about Alliance's dishonored policies. According to Dr. Lieberman: "Most of my father's family was murdered in Treblinka. My father-in-law Ivar Segalowitz was the sole survivor of a wealthy Lithuanian family. He survived Dachau, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Buchenwald, and served in the U.S. military after emigrating to this country. Despite his mother, grandmother, aunt, and uncle's names listed among German insurance holders, U.S. law barred him from going to court to reclaim his family legacy. Ivar's daughter, Genie Lieberman, testified about Ivar in Congress before Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Ted Deutch in 2014. I bought a ticket to the event and was merely exercising my free speech rights to show how unfair it is that Allianz is prospering, but so many survivors are living in poverty."    

"Allianz has refused to honor tens of thousands of insurance policies it had sold to Holocaust victims – demanding original policies, death certificates, and other documents no survivors could provide after the horrors of the expulsions, ghettos, killing fields, and death camps. Today those policies are worth over $2.5 billion."

"It is historical fact that Allianz closely collaborated with the German Nazi regime, as its CEO Kurt Schmitt was Hitler's second Minister of Economics. Allianz insured Reich factories, barracks, motor pools, ghettos, and death camps -- including Auschwitz and Dachau – while Allianz was selling life insurance policies to Jewish families in Europe. Instead of honoring its insurance policies, Allianz has cynically paid millions of dollars in a massive public relations effort for this golf tournament, sponsorship of Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, CNBC, MSNBC, Marketplace Morning Report, and "partnerships" with AAA, the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, and others."  

"Allianz was in secret talks to pay $300 million bid for naming rights to the new Meadowlands stadium in 2008 which were halted by the outrage of New York citizens after the negotiations were revealed. Outrageously, Allianz continues to spend millions of dollars on Washington lobbyists to block our basic constitutional right to go to federal court to recover for paid up insurance policies of our families which are after all legal contracts our loved ones paid for in good faith." 

"What other Americans are denied these basic rights? Why is the Obama Administration, not helping us Holocaust survivors get our insurance money back, and instead slamming the doors of the courthouse in our face and supporting Allianz and other insurance profiteers such as Italy's Generali against us? Congress must enact legislation this session restoring our full legal rights as U.S. citizens to force these insurance companies to pay their bargained-for debts.

"How can it be that the tragedy continues that half of the Holocaust survivors in the United States and worldwide live in poverty, unable to afford food, medicine, dental care, eyeglasses, hearing aids, and home care. Germany is responsible to care for all survivors, but is forcing survivors to live in misery and protecting Allianz's Holocaust profits at the same time. For shame!" 

WE Holocaust survivors' demand that Allianz and their affiliates:

1. Publish the names of all Allianz and affiliates' insurance policy holders between 1920 and 1945 on the internet.
2. Publish all insurance records of Nazi German institutions including, the SS, concentration and death camp, and personnel and all other war related business between 1933 and 1945.
3. Immediately cease any lobbying against Holocaust survivors and heirs to bring legal action in U.S. courts.
4. Disgorge $2.5 billion, representing its unjust enrichment from unpaid insurance policies from the Holocaust, to be paid to beneficiaries and heirs and to fund social services for Holocaust survivors in need worldwide. 

We believe we will receive justice from the American People now to stop these horrible tragedies now.

Lewisporte to make insurance claims on all car fires

The Town of Sportswriter plans to become more vigilant in filing insurance claims relating to any car fires in the community.

Car fires are particularly expensive, according to the town, because they often need to be put out with firefighting foam, not just water.

Lewisporte only had one car fire last year, but it cost roughly $600 in foam to extinguish it.

Mayor Brian Sceviour said the town has been making insurance claims on car fires for a while, but has sometimes been lax on following through.

"It's a legitimate claim. Several other communities are doing it anyway, so at least [this policy] puts us on the same footing as other towns," said Sceviour

​Other communities doing the same

Duane Antle, president of Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Fire Services, says communities have been recovering costs on car fires since the early 2000s.

He said that given the economic situation, more communities are going to have to consider making it a policy to file insurance claims on car fires.

"For a small community, I think it's only reasonable to expect that they'd have to try to recover some of their costs, given the level of service that they provide to somebody," he said.

"Especially rural communities, it's very expensive to keep a fire department going these days."

The insurance marketplace is ever changing and continued training is the rule of the day. The high cost of off-site training can be prohibitive for a lot of agencies. Today, that all changes thanks to a new partnership between Insurance Journal’s Academy of Insurance and the Professional Insurance Agents of Florida (PIA of Florida).

“We’re excited to be adding this important tool to our benefits as we continue to strive for excellence in our industry,” says Corey Mathews, CEO of PIA of Florida.

A word from our sponsor:

Now all insurance agencies, agents, Cs Rs and office support staff can take courses taught by more than 60 expert instructors from the Academy of Insurance directly from their desk or mobile device. The Academy offers both live and on-demand webinars covering a wide range of property and casualty topics with new courses added monthly.

No longer will employees be required to travel to seminars to ensure they have the knowledge needed to keep their firm safe. Plus, the Academy of Insurance will help train the top talent already hired.

“We’re passionate about providing high-quality education and to be partnering with the PIA of Florida community,” says Romeo Valdez, Sales Manager for the Academy. “In our 5 year history, we’ve had a 97% satisfaction rate from our customers, which include carriers, agents, and service providers.”

The Academy’s courses will be offered at special savings to PIA of Florida members by visiting the education section of pilaf.org.

About PIA of Florida
The Professional Insurance Agents of Florida has helped agents in Florida succeed for over 65 years. We pride ourselves in our ability to provide the best value in advocacy, education and information, all designed to help agents succeed. The insurance industry in Florida has become so unique and subject to constant, unpredictable changes; PIA is positioned to help our members meet these challenges. For more information, visit.pilaf.org or call 850-893-8245.

About the Academy of Insurance
The Academy of Insurance is an Insurance Journal company and a member of Wells Media Group. Established 2010, the Academy includes a library of over 230 on-demand webinars and 300+ hours of training videos covering all P/C topics. For more information, please visit academy.com or call 800-897-9965

Province lifts limitation on pasture insurance

Producers who graze their cattle have a new option for protecting themselves from under performing pastures.

Ron Kostyshyn, minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, announced January 19 that the province has lifted limitations on the pasture days insurance program.

The program is designed to compensate producers who have had to remove livestock from pasture and start supplemental feeding earlier than expected.

“We really encourage producers to take advantage of things like the pasture, price or forage insurance. These are important tools for producers to be able to utilize and mitigate some of that risk, so we were really pleased to see that program open up,” said Melinda German, general manager of Manitoba Beef Producers.

Administered through the Manitoba Agricultural Service Corporation (MASC), the program was initiated last year as a pilot project with a limit of 90 producers. It will run for the next three years with no limitation on participation.

“This is the first year we can promote it province-wide,” said Craig Thomson, vice-president of insurance operations with MASC. “We should find out if it will catch on or not.”

MASC has 18 crop insurance offices throughout the province but only promoted the pilot out of two of its offices in 2015.

“We think we’ve paid out around $600,000 in 2015, which is pretty substantial. The program is working,” said Thomson.

MASC assesses the acres entering the program and calculates how many cattle the pasture should handle for ‘X’ number of days. Over time, coverage is based on the cattle producer’s history.

Removing participation restrictions will give the province an idea of how widely used the program will be and whether it is a tool it should continue to offer.

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“We have seen insurance be a real hit and miss and I think that usage really depends on the demographic of the producer in the industry. For so long this industry has been self-insuring and taking care of their own business needs, so it is a big change for some producers,” said German. “But, when these tools become available to producers and the industry has the chance to provide feedback into government to improve the programs, it is a win-win in my mind.”

MASC is offering a one-time 0.25 per cent interest rate cut on its sticker loan program for producers who also purchase Western Livestock Price Insurance.

“This (interest rate cut) is an effort on our part to get people to think about the Western Livestock Price Insurance Program. It’s a good combination,” said Thomson.

American Family Insurance ALL-USA Arizona top boys basketball performances of January

No. 1 B.J. Burris, Globe, 5-9, G, Fr.

It's hard to top 68 points – the second-most by a player in Arizona prep basketball history – in a game. Burris scored that much in a 105-103 overtime win over Florence, making 22 shots, seven 3-pointers and 17 free throws. On back-to-back-to-back nights last week, Burris had games of 30, 24 and 26 points, all wins.

No. 2 Tommy Kuhn, Mesa Mountain View, 6-1, G, Sr.

Had one of the greatest single months by an individual in Mountain View's rich history. He averaged 23 points and six rebounds. He made 87 percent of his free throws. He broke the single-game scoring record with 42 points in a game. He also had 10 3-pointers in a game.

No. 3 Michael Bibby, Phoenix Shadow Mountain, 6-1, G, Sr.

He had six games of more than 20 points, including 21 points in three quarters against a two-loss Paradise Valley team and 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting against Phoenix Arcadia. He made 22 3-pointers and averaged six assists for the state's top-ranked team in any division.

No. 4 Andrew Earmark, Phoenix Country Day, 6-2, G, Sr.

In eight games, he averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.7 steals for the Division IV team that is 18-4. He had individual games of 49, 42 and 32 points.

No. 5 Brendan Rumel, Tucson Rincon, 6-10, C, Sr.

He posted double-doubles in all nine games, ending the month with 37 points and 19 rebounds in an 81-71 win over Tucson. He had 34 points and 15 rebounds in a seven-point win over Sierra Vista Buena.

No. 6 Mitch Light foot, Gilbert Christian, 6-9, F, Sr.

He scored at least 20 points in seven consecutive games with a high of 29 points against both Tucson Catalina Foothills and Tempe Marcos de Niza. The Kansas signee also had 21 rebounds against Marcos de Niza.

No. 7 Jacob Inclan, Tucson Sunnyside, 6-3, G, Sr.

Sunnyside went 8-1 behind Inclan's do-everything play, saving his best for last. In a 53-50 win over surging Vail Cienega, he had 19 points, making four of eight shots, 10 of 11 free throws and pulling down eight rebounds. He had five double-doubles.

No. 8 Wyatt Lowell, Gilbert Williams Field, 6-10, F, Sr.

He started the month with 40 points and 14 rebounds in a win against Gilbert Campo Verde. He ended the month with 39 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Mesa Westwood. He had four 30-plus points games and twice had 16-rebound nights.

No. 9 N'Keal Harry, Chandler, 6-4, G/F, Sr.

He had five consecutive double-double for points and rebounds, including 28 points and 18 rebounds in a 78-72 loss to Phoenix Desert Vista. He scored 20 points or more in five of the seven games he played.

No. 10 Shawn Wilson, Phoenix St. Mary's, 6-6, F, Jr.

St. Mary's won its last five games, behind the all-everything play of Wilson, who averaged 17.4 points and 12 rebounds in the month.

Government health insurance report: Drop in uninsured in 8 states

Eight states saw a significant drop last year in the number of residents going without health insurance, according to a government report out Tuesday that has implications for the presidential campaign.

All but Florida had accepted a Medicaid expansion that is one of two major pathways to coverage under President Barack Obama's health care law. The law's other coverage route is subsidized private insurance, available in all 50 states.
GOP presidential candidates are vowing to repeal "Obamacare," while offering hardly any detail on how they'd replace it without millions losing coverage.
Politically, the eight states with statistically significant coverage gains in the National Health Interview Survey are a mix of red, blue and purple. They are Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, and New York. Five have GOP governors.
As a whole, the nation had an uninsured rate of 9.1 percent during the first nine months of 2015, according to the survey, an ongoing research project by a unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The uninsured rate was 14.4 percent in 2013, before the law's big coverage expansion.
The federal report does not analyze the reasons for the coverage gains, but independent experts say the trend is due to the Obama health care law, boosted by economic recovery.
That poses a dilemma for Republican presidential candidates. Indeed, a recent blueprint from a group of conservative policy experts for replacing the health law said Republicans will need some kind of "grandfathering exemption" to avoid disrupting the lives of people who have gained coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
The new state numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics focus on adults ages 18-64. That's because virtually all seniors have coverage, and fewer than 5 percent of children and teens are uninsured.
In addition to the eight states with statistically significant coverage gains, the report named another 10 with notable reductions in the percentage of uninsured residents. However, the changes in these states did not meet the survey's test for statistical significance.
That second group included Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Rhode Island. Seven of those states have Republican governors.
Kentucky led the way among the states with statistically significant reductions in the share of residents uninsured, with a drop of 6.5 percentage points. The state's new Republican governor, Matt Bevin, ran as a strong critic of Obama's law and is now grappling with how to scale back his state's involvement.
Another Republican-led state, Arizona, had the second-biggest reduction, a drop of 5.9 percentage points. New York followed, with a reduction of 5.6 percentage points.
The health care's law big coverage expansion got under way in 2014, and since then the nation's uninsured rate has fallen to a historically low level. With the 2016 sign-up season recently concluded, the Obama administration is hoping to see continued improvement this year.
The law offers subsidized private health insurance through online markets like Health Care.gov for people who don't have access to employer-based coverage. That's coupled with a Medicaid expansion aimed at low-income adults, now accepted by 31 states. Virtually all Americans are required to have coverage or risk paying fines to the IRS.
Even with Obama's law, nearly 29 million people were still uninsured in the nine months from Jan.-June of 2015. That includes an estimated 11 million immigrants without legal permission to be in the country, who are not entitled to coverage