It may seem hard to believe, but life insurance salesmen are a hot commodity. Lots of companies are adding thousands of them to their payroll including an additional 3,618 agents at New York Life Insurance Co. and 2,340 agents at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Why the sudden run on jobs that so often are the punchline of jokes? With the economic crises, many people are now wary of the stock market and they’re looking for another investment with more and more turning to whole life insurance policies.

With many people out of work, selling insurance is a job they can begin fairly easily even though a few years ago they may not have considered it as an option. But it’s definitely not a get-rich-quick job. Statistics from research firm Limra show that 70% of agents earn less than $35,000 in their second year on the job. And sticking with it isn’t very common. Fewer than one out of five new agents are still selling insurance four years later. “You have to step a little out of your comfort zone,” says 48-year-old Catherine Calise, who started selling insurance for New York Life after ending her 18-year real estate career. “I’ll be in line at the grocery store, picking up dry cleaning, grabbing an iced tea at Starbucks, and I’ll be prospecting the person next to me” by striking up a chat.”

While selling life insurance is largely a commission-based job, companies do spend lots of money investing in new agents. Insurance companies spend thousands of dollars on income subsidies, medical benefits, and training.  “We know investing in agents takes a while to pay off,” says Mark Pfaff, a New York Life executive.

Wondering if you might make a good life insurance salesperson? Here are some important qualifications to have according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

• A State License: requirements vary by state, but typically you must pass several exams in order to qualify for selling insurance.
• Education: while a college degree isn’t required, some companies may prefer applicants with education in business, finance or economics.
• Continuing Education: Employers are finding continuing education more important as products offered change. Agents must stay up-to-date on tax laws and changes to government benefits programs in order to provide the best service to customers. Most states also require continuing education every two years in order for agents to keep their license.
• High Energy: To sell life insurance, agents need to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm in order to find new clients and meet their needs.

Did you know that your credit score can impact what your insurance company charges you? Many companies review your credit report to determine the rate you’ll pay. If your less-than-perfect credit is causing you to pay more for car insurance, here are some steps to take.

Review Your Credit Report: Make sure your credit report is accurate. Every consumers in the US is allowed free access to their credit report every twelve months from each of the three main credit reporting agencies. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com for access to yours. Look for any inaccuracies that could be forcing your credit score to be lower than it should be. Make sure there are no signs of identity theft.

Pay Delinquent Accounts: Eliminating any outstanding debts that are in collection will help improve your credit score. Make sure to pay your bills by the due date to avoid an even lower credit score.

Ask for Proof: If your insurance company charges you  higher rates based on your poor credit score they are required to tell you based on the Fair Credit Reporting Act. If they tell you that be sure to ask for proof. They must give you a copy of the credit report they used to obtain the information about your credit score.

Check Around: Quotes vary with different insurance companies. If you’re not pleased with the quote you receive from one company, check around. You may get a better rate for car insurance from someone else.

With guests to entertain, a reception space to decorate and programs to fold, I never bothered to check the weather report for my honeymoon. It wasn’t until I got to the Atlanta airport hours after getting hitched and noticed my gate was abnormally empty that I wondered what was up. A CNN weather report blared, “there’s a category three hurricane heading to Belize.” I pushed my worries aside and my new husband and I boarded the plane. It was us, and a handful of other people including a crew from The Weather Channel. Weather Channel host Jim Cantore sat to our right. “What are you guys doing here?” he asked. “Going on our honeymoon,” we gushed. Cantore proceeded to tell us that we should have driven to Charleston instead. He warned us about impending mud slides in the mountains of  Belize, but we weren’t going to let anything stop us from our dream honeymoon. Perhaps if we’d had travel insurance we wouldn’t have been so set on heading into the eye of the storm.

But often travel insurance seems silly. I mean, nothing’s going to happen, right? Think of your vacation as an investment. Deciding whether you want to protect that investment is up to you, but here are some points to consider:

The more you spend the more you’ll want to protect your trip. If you’ve only spent a couple hundred dollars on a nearby vacation rental, it may not be a big deal to you if the trip gets canceled. But if you’ve saved up for this vacation for ten years, travel insurance may offer peace of mind that you’ll get the vacation you’ve been dreaming of.

If you have a lot of connecting flights you may want to consider travel insurance. Certain types of travel insurance can help you if one of the legs of your trip is canceled. Anyone who has dealt with airlines knows it can be tough to get answers or find help.

Consider when you are traveling. If your trip is in the middle of an active hurricane season you may want to spring for insurance. If you’re heading to a place where hurricanes aren’t likely you may be OK skipping it.

Are you traveling with or planning to buy anything expensive? Certain types of travel insurance will cover your belongings. If they get lost or stolen your insurance will pay for them to be replaced.

If you prefer to have peace of mind when you travel, then travel insurance can be a great buy. But if you prefer to live life on the edge, then you may want to skip it and see what happens just like we did for our honeymoon.

The health care debate is heating up and even though there are lots of angles to argue– no one can deny that insurance is expensive. According to the Commonwealth Fund it’s going to keep increasing. In the past decade the average annual family premium plan doubled in cost, jumping from $6,958 to $13,436. And some say it could double again in the next ten years, reaching a whopping $24,000 by 2020.

Soaring premiums have forced some healthier Americans to forgo insurance coverage altogether. Delaware’s Daily Times says that’s the case for resident Dequilla Hurt who canceled her insurance and won’t have any coverage until her probationary period ends at her new job. They interviewed Hurt for a recent report on the state’s rising health care costs. “I have this window of time where I have no health insurance. If something happens to me, if I go to the emergency room now, the total cost will be on me. Will I be able to afford the cost of an emergency room visit? That worries me,” said Hurt.

A Gallup poll found that the salary you bring in greatly impacts the likelihood of having insurance. Of young adults making more than $48,000 a year, 86 percent have insurance. But of those who bring in half that annually, less than $24,000, only 58 percent spring for a health plan.

Some are pointing to the insurance industry’s lack of competition as the reason why costs are increasing at such a fast rate. In just over a dozen years the industry has experienced more than 400 mergers and the number of choices for consumers has dropped by 20 percent which means fewer options for employers looking for the best deal. The Government Accountability Office says that the five largest providers of small group insurance control 75 percent or more of the market share in 34 states. In fact, one out of every nine Americans has insurance with WellPoint, which is the parent company of Blue Cross Blue Shield and Anthem.

Some say that while insurance companies can carry part of the blame for rising premiums, there are other sectors of the health care industry that are driving up costs for Americans. The Journal Sentinel in Wisconsin talked to a Harvard professor who believes part of the problem lies with consumers themselves. “The primary reason that health care costs and health insurance premiums are rising so rapidly is the amount of health care that we consume,” said Katherine Baicker, a professor of health economics at the Harvard School of Public Health. “Now, that is not to say there are no problems with the insurance industry.”

It’s not always fun to prepare for the worst, but sometimes it’s the best way to go. What if your house burns down, a burglar breaks in or a flood destroys everything in your basement. Getting money from the insurance company to replace the damage will be much easier if you have a home inventory. Creating a home inventory for insurance purposes doesn’t have to be complicated, but when the worst happens you’ll be glad you did. Here are a few simple steps for creating a home inventory.

Find Help: There are plenty of resources out there that will help you create your home inventory. Check out downloadable inventory sheets like this one from freedownloadscenter.com. Here is another 15-page home inventory PDF that will guide you through the process. You could also try this free online version from KnowYourStuff.org. While the software is free, storing it will cost you $15 a year.

Grab Your Camera: Take pictures of your valuables like TVs, jewelry and antiques. If items have serial numbers, make sure you take photos of those as well. Take close up shots of identifying markers that would help law enforcement officials know that something belongs to you. You could also just shoot a video of your home for a room-by-room record of your possessions.

Store It: Common sense will tell you it’s not a great idea to store your home inventory in your home because as your home goes up in flames, so will all of your hard work. Find a way to store your data online or in a safe deposit box.

Update Regularly: Chances are you’re buying new stuff regularly. Make sure your home inventory is updated as you invest in new belongings. Pick a date every year or twice a year and put it on  your calendar. That way you’ll be ready when the worst happens.

Wondering what the best minds in money are tweeting about? Every other Tuesday we’ll fill you in on the conversation with Tuesday Money Tweets. You’ll get the 140 characters (or less!) of the financial wisdom you crave from around the Twitterverse.

@ramseyshow: Blake: Grown-ups who spend everything they make are called LOSERS…and Congress. – Dave Ramsey

@tradethecycles: Steve Forbes: “Government spending has never worked as a trigger for sustained and vibrant economic growth. Ever.”

@moneydesktop:  Turn down the thermostat on your water heater. 120 deg F is hot enough & you save a lot by not heating the water to 140

@K_dot_RE: Do you believe in prenuptial agreements? they’re not only for rich folks

@JohnCMaxwell: Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why. -Bernard Baruch.

@nancytrejos: Said a friend: “You can afford anything on Fridays.” Um, not sure about that.

@Deliverawaydebt: 10 deliveries, 3 stiffs, and crappy tips make for an unhappy pizza dude tonight.

@financialsamura: All I’ve gotta say is this: You’ve got to differentiate between opportunity & REAL opportunity. When it’s staring you in the face KISS IT!

@MoneyCrashers: Self indulgence makes us slaves to our egos while self discipline and restraint are portals to real freedom. – Daniel Lapin

@TodaysEconomy: Economist:”It looks like we’ll have to wait until 2011 to see as many Canadians working as before the recession.”

A panel of CEOs reported to the White House at the request of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Sebelius wanted to know why insurance premiums were increasing so rapidly in recent months. Attending the meeting were CEOs of United Health Group, Inc, WellPoint Inc, Aetna Inc, Health Care Service Corp, CIGNA HealthCare Inc, as well as representatives from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. President Obama also visited the meeting and read a letter from a 50-year old cancer survivor from Ohio who had experienced a 25% hike in insurance premiums since 2009.

According to reports, Sebelius wanted to hear from the executives as to why there was a recent jump in premium rates in several states. “I asked them to explain why these crushing burdens are being placed on middle-class families and what we can do to lower costs,” Sebelius said in a report on Insurance Networking News. “I also asked the CEOs to post the actuarial justification for these stunning rate increases online in an easy-to-understand manner, so that consumers can see why premiums are skyrocketing to the point that some people in the individual market can no longer afford coverage. I hope they will act quickly and make this information available to all of us. If insurance companies are going to raise rates, the least they can do is tell us why.”

The report says that Aetna CEO Ron Williams defended the increases, saying they were reflective of costs that insurance companies were paying to drug makers, hospitals and other health-care companies that were forcing increases to the cost of medical care. “The rate is really reflective of our other parts of the health-care delivery system,” said  Williams in a Wall Street Journal report. They said that trying to lower premiums without addressing those costs was destined to fail.

NAIC’s President says the hikes are another example of why all states need to be allowed to regulate their own insurance premiums. “State regulators are best positioned to perform rate review and many of us do so with great success,” said Jane L. Cline, NAIC President and West Virginia Insurance Commissioner. “Some, however, have not been given the authority by their state legislatures to review and deny unjustified increases. We believe that a federal backstop could help encourage these legislatures to provide that authority.”

Sebelius asked the CEOs to post information online that explains their breakdown of revenue including how much goes towards administrative costs, how much is spent on marketing and what goes towards actual care. She said making that information easy to access by consumers would increase transparency about what is happening in the health care industry and why rates are increasing.

There are plenty of sources offering information on various life insurance policies, but do you know what actually happens when you buy it? This week my husband finalized a new life insurance policy and had to undergo some simple testing– which turned out to be a little more traumatic than he expected. He was told not to eat for six to seven hours before the testing and a nurse would come to his office to take a blood and urine sample. While attempting to draw blood, the nurse had a little trouble. After several attempts she wasn’t able to draw blood, but the entire process caused my husband to pass out– not once, but twice! Don’t worry, the nurse said this doesn’t happen very often, but in case you’re wondering what to expect when buying life insurance, here are some guidelines.

You will be asked to provide personal information such as:

• height
• weight
• date of birth
• habits such as smoking or drinking
• financial information

Telling the truth is important because if you lie and the company discovers it, you may be forced to pay a higher premium, or worse yet, they could cancel your policy. Most companies also require an in-person medical exam. During the exam you can expect the following tests or procedures:

• Blood Pressure
• Heartbeat check
• Record of height and weight
• Blood sample
• Urine sample

The medical professional will also probably ask you questions about your family medical history and your lifestyle habits. They’ll want to know about any activities you engage in that may affect your health like exercise, smoking, drinking, or even dangerous hobbies. All of this information helps the company to determine what type of a risk you are to the company and what they should charge you for life insurance coverage.

The health insurance market is flooded with options. You have health insurance from employers, insurance for the self-employed, insurance that covers everything, and insurance that provides minimal coverage. Many people sign up for the best policy they can find or just whatever their employer offers.

The government is back at it, with the ‘it’ being health insurance negotiations. After a short breather and a regrouping of pro and con forces, President Obama has proposed a new health insurance bill that will cost $950 billion over 10 years. There are a lot of questions, of course, concerning how to pay for the almost trillion dollars of expense, but that will need a lot more debate. In the meantime, consumers want to know what this bill means for their families and their household expenses.

In other words, consumers want to talk about the nitty gritty of how these proposals are going to impact their ability to get and/or keep health insurance and how much it will cost. All the partisan bickering is getting tiresome for many consumers, but they will have to listen to a lot more before a health care bill ever makes it to the Obama’s desk.

In the meantime, the same consumer question remains: what will it cost ME? The new Obama plan remains as ambitious as the old plan. The White House says the new Obama plan makes health insurance more affordable for those Americans in the lower to middle income tax bracket. The plan would add approximately 31 million people to health insurance plans by offering tax credits to offset the cost of the policy. In addition, the Medicaid program would be expanded. Medicaid is funded with both federal and state funds.

The Obama plan also includes new taxes. One of the taxes is on high value insurance plans often called “Cadillac Plans”. A 40 percent tax would be charged on insurance plans that cost more than $27,500 a year and would start in 2018. Fees are placed on drug makers too.

In addition, there is a mandate ordering all Americans to carry health insurance. This particular provision in the bill is highly unpopular with some consumers. People who refuse to get health insurance would have to pay the higher of a 2.5 percent income tax as a penalty or a flat annual fine of $695. There is an exemption for lower income people. The purpose of the mandate is to force healthy people into the insurance pool so that health insurance premiums do not have to go significantly higher.

Yet those who have interpreted the financial impact of the Obama plan say that health insurance premiums will increase by as much as 39 percent.

Another provision in the bill is that employers with more than 50 people on the payroll are required to offer health insurance to employees. If the employer fails to offer insurance then the workers will get a government subsidy to purchase insurance elsewhere and the employer must pay a $2,000 fine per worker.

Senior citizens would see cuts in Medicare Advantage too. This is a program that offers Medicare benefits through private insurance.

There is no public option in the Obama plan.

What happens now? That is the big question. The President convened a bipartisan summit but most do not expect much bipartisan support to come out of it. But President Obama has made one thing clear: He expects some kind of health care overhaul bill to be passed in the near future.

There is so much going on in a single health insurance policy that it can be overwhelming to compare two separate policies. You may not know which points to look at or which points should get more weight in your decision than others.

Health insurance is an investment in your future. Health problems spring up at the unlikeliest and most inconvenient times so you need to be financially ready to deal with them.

California lawmakers have made it a priority to protect citizens’ personal information. Upon seeing the lack-luster job the federal government was doing in keeping individual financial information safe the state came up with tough privacy protection laws.

Anyone who runs a business needs to prepare for every eventuality. Unforeseen events in the business world can prove to be cataclysmic. One possible occurrence that must be considered is that of the death of individuals who are indispensable to your business. People die and business executives are no exception.

After you have taken all the time to get the right health insurance policy, do you know the correct way to go about filing a claim?

Sometimes your medical provider does not take on the burden of filling out the claim form on your behalf so you have to figure out how to do it.

Here are the steps you will want to take to do this successfully and well as some tips to make sure that your claim is successful.

High deductible insurance plans are presented as the answer to those who cannot afford high insurance premiums. With so many people currently uninsured or who have trouble paying for their health insurance, these high deductible plans seem like the answer.

Everyone knows that going without health insurance is unacceptable so perhaps this is the workable alternative.

Any way to save money on health care costs is worth looking into. Health savings accounts allow you to plan ahead and set aside money that will be spent on health care costs in the coming year.

Health insurance for the self-employed is always a dicey topic. How do you get good health insurance when you are self-employed? How do you get good health insurance and still be able to afford it?

Worker’s compensation insurance is a mystery to most. Most people are aware that if they get hurt at work that this will come into play and take care of them but too often they do not know more than that.

The truth is that worker’s compensation insurance is not always the best choice for everyone. You should know about it just in case it is ever your choice to make.

Everyone should have life insurance. This has become one of those widely held beliefs that is not even thought to need any additional reasoning behind it. You should just know why life insurance is an essential part of life. But life insurance has many benefits of which you may not be aware.

A second look at the benefits of life insurance may show you why everyone says you need to have it.

You know that you need life insurance if you have kids. If something happens to you or your spouse then you will need to replace the income that was lost.

There are many truths in the insurance world that the average person is not aware of. The problem is that not knowing the ins and outs of various types of insurance can cost you. What you don’t know about insurance could hurt you so start learning everything you need to know.

Travel insurance is one type of insurance that many people gloss over. They make sure that they have enough clothes and enough money for activities during their vacation and then they travel without another thought to what could go wrong.

Domestic partner health insurance is an insurance that can be shared by an unmarried couple who have a committed relationship. When you think of couples sharing insurance plans you usually think of married couples but this type of insurance extends to unmarried opposite sex and same sex couples.

Every year companies pass out insurance open enrollment packets to their employees and every year many employees do not take the time to look these materials over. This is a mistake. Your open enrollment period is your time to look over your insurance choices.

Health insurance is an investment in your future. Health problems spring up at the unlikeliest and most inconvenient times so you need to be financially ready to deal with them. Unless you have endless amounts of money stashed away and want to risk spending it all on some health problem, you will want to invest in health insurance.

Everyone is seeking new and less expensive ways to get health insurance. The costs of having health insurance are often too taxing but the risks of not having health insurance are so potentially devastating that not having health insurance is inconceivable.

When you look for a new job then insurance matters are probably not the foremost thoughts on your mind. While you will be thinking about maintaining your health insurance coverage, you will be more focused on advancing your career, trying something new, or just enjoying gainful employment.

In this time of pinching pennies you want to look for absolutely every way you can cut back, but this does not mean that you want to use every method of saving money that you find. Some methods come with more risk than you should take on.

The sea of health insurance options seems endless. There are types of health insurance that are slight variations on the norm and others that are radically different. The fact that they exist indicates that they are plans that a sufficient number of individuals think are worthwhile. One such unique plan is known as temporary insurance. It may not be for everyone but it might be for you.

The constantly rising costs of health insurance are a burden to many. Even worse, many people go without health insurance because of these high costs. This dire situation has led many to seek out cheaper versions of health care coverage or cost effective alternatives. One possible alternative is the idea of medical sharing.

Travel insurance, like other types of insurance, is a necessary expense. Without it you could end up paying a lot more if something goes wrong. Travel insurance includes many different types of coverage, but there are details that you need to know before buying any policy.

Finding health insurance for a small business can be challenging. You need to find affordable plans that provide enough coverage to be worthwhile to your employees. Because health insurance is such a pivotal part of a compensation package, it can directly affect employee job satisfaction. You need the right health insurance package to take care of your employees and your burgeoning business.

How much life insurance do you need? Many people do not give this question the contemplation time that it deserves. This is usually because of the unpleasant thoughts that come along with such a question. Morbid details aside, you need to think about life insurance when things are good and happy so that when the unthinkable happens everyone will be taken care of.

Young drivers are subjected to higher car insurance premiums. This is just the way it is. This is understandable both as these young drivers first start driving and are therefore inexperienced and also as they enter into a demographic that is known for being a bit car accident prone.

Getting the most out of insurance policies means more than just getting the best deal. You need to maintain the coverage levels that you need while seeking out good prices on policies.

Pre-existing conditions can make it difficult or even impossible to get good health insurance or any health insurance at all. Health insurance companies tend to shy away from those with these conditions because these policy owners will cost them more money.

The debate on healthcare in the United States rages on amidst the emergence of a House health bill. Many Americans are simply overwhelmed and polarized by the debate, with so much at stake and a clear dose of partisan politics thrown into the mix. All that can be done is try to make sense of what is currently being proposed and continue to offer counter-solutions until a compromise bill is reached.

While most people think of the poor as not having adequate insurance, there is now growing awareness of a lack of life insurance among middle-income Americans. Of course, “underinsured” is not the same as “uninsured”, but in the event of a catastrophe, that distinction could mean the difference between poverty and a comfortable living for the family members who are left behind.

You need to protect your business from the possibility of lawsuits. With the currently raised rates on liability insurance, you need to make your search for the right small business liability insurance a studious one.

There are many factors that can influence your homeowners insurance rates, and most of them fall into a few general categories. When you are buying a home, you will want to think ahead of time about how much that home will cost to insure.

Making the most of homeowners insurance takes work. Choosing the right homeowners insurance policy is only one of the steps you have to take.

You wouldn’t think that your dog would be such a major consideration when buying homeowners insurance, but it can be. Your dog, and its breed specifically, can affect your insurance premiums just as surely as the age of your house can. You want to go into this situation fully informed of the weight that your dog can carry in your insurance company’s determination of your rates and how you should approach this matter as a whole.

Your business is important to you. It may be more than your livelihood. You may have put great effort into making your business what it is today, and you may have an even greater interest in seeing it succeed.

Motorcycle insurance rates are determined based on a number of factors. Each one helps an insurance company to gauge the risk that you pose. While not an exact measurement, the statistics employed by insurance companies help to give them an idea of what risk category you fall in and help them to determine your rates accordingly. These are the primary determinants.

Motorcycle insurance is just as important as car insurance. You never know when something might happen while you are riding your motorcycle so you have to be prepared. Motorcycle insurance, however, is not always like auto insurance. There are some things you need to know about motorcycle insurance if you ever plan to have a motorcycle or even if you already have one.

Filing an insurance claim can be a pain if you do not know what to do or if you have not taken the proper steps ahead of time. Claims work off of specific information so you need to have that information ready and documented.

Flood insurance is pretty self-explanatory, but who needs it? The answer may surprise you because the answer is almost everyone. Are you aware that flooding is the most expensive natural disaster than can happen to your home?

When you buy a new car the last thing you want to think about is it being damaged, but it happens. The problem is that you have only begun making payments on this car so what if your car is not worth as much as you owe at this point in time? You have heard that cars lose a significant chunk of their value the second you drive them off the lot so what do you do if this happens to you? The answer is gap insurance.

Choosing your medical insurance policy is a complicated matter. Usually, the only advice that you get is to shop around and read the fine print. There is more to the matter. You need a plan that is suited to you.