“I choose to be a plain New Hampshire farmer with an income in cash of say a thousand
(From say a publisher in New York City).”
– New Hampshire – Robert Frost
Robert Frost is not the only admirer down the years of New Hampshire, which is one of the smaller US states both in terms of its physical size (46th), and population (42nd), but which nevertheless has had a formidable history down the years.
In this article I am going to talk about how you can get New Hampshire Life Insurance Quotes that are right for you, talk about the life insurance industry in New Hampshire, and the different factors you should be looking out for in order to get the best possible deal on your life insurance.
To begin let’s take a look at some background information about ‘The Granite State’.
New Hampshire – A Little Background…
New Hampshire is approximately 68 miles wide by 190 miles long, and as of 2010 had 1,316,470 people. It has one of the highest median household incomes of any of the states at $60,567, putting it in 7th place, and $10,346 above the national average household income of $50,221 in 2010.
Despite this it has one of the lowest State GDPs of $61.6 billion in 2010, placing it 42nd out of the 50 states. Nevertheless, if you compare New Hampshire to countries outside of the United States then it becomes clearer that it still packs a significant economic punch.
For example, according to 2010 figures from the International Monetary Fund it has a higher GDP then all of the following countries:
The largest City in New Hampshire is called Manchester (after its counterpart in the North of England) which had an estimated population of 109,395 in 2009; and its Capital City is Concord with an estimated population of 42,463 in 2009.
The main industries in New Hampshire are agriculture and farming, industrial production and tourism.
New Hampshire seems to be weathering economic storms better than many other states, and the unemployment rate of 5.6% in March 2011 was the 4th lowest of any of the states.
New Hampshire Life Insurance – The Facts…
Life Insurance in New Hampshire is big business, and there are 344 New Hampshire Life Insurance companies who are licensed to sell life insurance in New Hampshire, of which just 1 is actually domiciled in the state.
Looked at in terms of job creation the life insurance industry is important to the state, with 4,000 people employed directly by Life Insurance Companies in New Hampshire, and a further 5,000 non-insurance jobs being supported by the life insurance industry through financing, mortgages, loans and the like.
Despite its relatively small population the residents still have 580,000 individual New Hampshire Life Insurance Policies, of which each policy holder has an average of $140,000 of life cover and cumulative death benefit cover of $120 billion.
Additionally, in 2009, there was $6 billion of individual life insurance cover purchased according to the American Council of Life Insurers.
A similar story is true of New Hampshire Group Life Insurance where there is cover of $40 billion currently active.
All this amounts to considerable cash flow year on year, and this translates back into $2 billion paid out in 2009 on matured endowments, death benefits, policy dividends and surrender values and a further $360 million paid out in Annuity benefits to residents of New Hampshire.
Moreover it means that the asset accumulation of the New Hampshire Life Insurance Companies has been considerable, and that about $20 billion of the assets they have accumulated have been invested in the economy of New Hampshire, mainly in stocks and bonds, but also through mortgages, real estate and business developments.
Why Getting Great New Hampshire Life Insurance Quotes Is Just The Start…
One of the first things that you should do when you are looking to get life insurance in New Hampshire is to look to get some New Hampshire Life Insurance Quotes quite quickly so that you can immediately gauge a couple of things:
1/ Approximate cost of the policy. 2/ The different types of life insurance that are available, and which of them may be most suitable for you. 3/ The kind of terms and conditions that you will have to abide to.
The truth is that often times checking out New Hampshire Life Insurance Quotes should really be the start of the process and not the end, because in many ways getting the right life cover is about compiling different information sources together, and only when you have reached a critical mass of information and carefully assessed all the various options should you finally purchase the cover.
Let’s consider each of those three factors mentioned above in turn:
1/ Approximate cost of the policy
In order for this to be meaningful you have to first calculate how much life insurance you should buy. This is not a scientific process because everyone’s needs are different, and so what Ivana Trump might spend on flowers in a week could well be the same amount as most peoples mortgage payment! So it really depends.
Nevertheless, most of us have a broad idea of how much money we spend out in an average month, and hence it doesn’t take a dramatic leap of mathematical genius to multiply that amount by 36 to arrive at a figure that might support our families for say three years.
Remember of course that payments such as funeral expenses, time your spouse has to take off work, moving costs or childcare expenses could also be factors that will bump that final figure up. So try to be as thorough as possible, but nevertheless you should be able to come up with a ball park figure of what you might need in the way of New Hampshire Life Insurance. And in reality, how high that figure needs to be may surprise you.
2/ Once you have that figure then you are well on the way to getting covered, but you still need to make an assessment about the type of life insurance that you need to buy.
Generally this comes down to a choice between New Hampshire Term Life Insurance or New Hampshire Whole Life Insurance.
The differences between the two come down to this:
Term Life Insurance
Fixed Term
No Savings Element
Tends to be cheaper
Whole Life Insurance
Covers you on an on-going basis i.e ‘Whole’ Life
Savings element
Tends to be more expensive
If you are unsure about which to go for then a good first step would be to get some New Hampshire Life Insurance Quotes and compare the costs of the two. In that way any decision you ultimately make will be based on real numbers, and not simply on speculation or internet hearsay.
3/ The kind of terms and conditions that you will have to abide to.
Clearly having a good idea about how much cover you need, and the type of life insurance that you would prefer to buy puts you well ahead of most people. But you nevertheless you need to make sure to read ALL of the terms and conditions of any New Hampshire Life Insurance Quotes that you get, so that you are fully conversant with exactly what you are and (just as importantly) are not covered for on your policy.
Some policies may be cheaper for example if they don’t cover you for death as a result of a hazardous sport like skiing, but if you are a keen skier or snowboarder in the mountains of New Hampshire, then that is NOT what you need!
So be sure before you proceed with any policy that you are totally clear about what the life insurance policy covers you for exactly.
If you follow those three pieces of advice then you can rest easier knowing that you have at least followed a logical process in getting the best New Hampshire Life Insurance Quotes possible.
New Hampshire Life Insurance – The Details…
The laws and regulations under which New Hampshire regulates the insurance industry is described in The State Insurance Code of New Hampshire.
You can find a copy of the New Hampshire Insurance Code here (This is ‘Title 37’):
There is a great deal of detail here, but if you find yourself in a complaint with an insurance company in New Hampshire (unlikely, but possible), then it is useful to be able to quote them the exact regulations of how they have wronged you!
New Hampshire Life Insurance Resources
New Hampshire Insurance Department
It is the job of the insurance department in New Hampshire to regulate how insurance business is conducted in the state both with a mind to consumers, and also the regulatory framework for insurance companies and insurance agents.
New Hampshire actually has one of the better (and more useful) State Insurance Department websites, so it is worth a visit.
New Hampshire Insurance Department - Life Insurance Information
There is a specific section on the New Hampshire Insurance Departments website which deals with (amongst other things) Life Insurance in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association
This is a statutory body which steps in should a New Hampshire Life Insurance Company become insolvent. It is set down by statute how it behaves to assist New Hampshire policy holders ((See Chapter 404-D at the link above) in the event of an insolvency, but is essentially designed to act as a kind of parachute net, and provide some statutory financial support.
