You probably don’t think much about life insurance– after all, cashing in a policy usually means someone close to you has passed away. But it’s important to know a little bit about how you can use life insurance proceeds. Most people know that life insurance proceeds can pay for funeral expenses or to pay off a home mortgage. But here are some lesser-known ways to use a life insurance policy according to Life Quotes, Inc:

Medical expenses due to terminal illness: According to Life Quotes, Inc, if you are battling a terminal illness you can take a portion of the death benefits to fund medical expenses involving treatment and care. This means your family will be stuck with less of a bill after you pass.

Children from a former marriage: Insurance proceeds can be used to pay for expenses involving any children left behind. It’s important to purchase enough insurance to care for your youngest child, a reason to reevaluate your coverage regularly. As your children grow your needs likely change.

Charitable donations: Your life insurance proceeds don’t have to go to a person– they can also be given to a cause. You can set up for your insurance money to go to a charity as the beneficiary.

Your business partner or long-term girlfriend or boyfriend: Your life insurance beneficiary doesn’t necessarily have to be a relative. You can also designate a business partner or long-term girlfriend or boyfriend as long as they meet certain criteria.

Hurricane season has arrived and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is expecting three to six major hurricanes. The season officially started June 1 and experts say there’s a good chance of some big storms. “The United States was fortunate last year. Winds steered most of the season’s tropical storms and all hurricanes away from our coastlines,” Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., NOAA administrator, said in a statement. “However we can’t count on luck to get us through this season. We need to be prepared, especially with this above-normal outlook.”

Now is the time for homeowners to reevaluate their coverage. According to the Insurance Information Institute (III) homeowners need more than standard home insurance. While wind damage may be covered, flood insurance probably isn’t. You’ll need to purchase that policy separately from the National Flood Insurance Plan. It’s also a good idea to review auto insurance policies. Most comprehensive policies do cover wind damage to autos, but you’ll need to review your coverage to make sure.

III says homeowners should take additional steps as well. These preparation moves include researching flood risk, updating your home inventories and making sure you and your family have an evacuation plan just in case a major storm does blow your way this hurricane season.

If your pet is like a family member, you may want to consider getting them some insurance. According to a recent survey from the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association there are 77.5 million dogs and 93.6 million cats owned in the US. In fact, 39% of households own a dog and 33% of households own a cat. These pets cost their owners$45.5 billion each year, much of which covers veterinary costs. Over the last three decades, the veterinary industry has enjoyed 10% gains

But despite the potential savings, most pet owners don’t have insurance. They don’t know how it works and they don’t know what it costs. According to CTWatchdog.com, most pet insurance companies let you see whatever vet you want. The pet owner is required to pay the bill and then is reimbursed by the insurance company. According to experts, here are some questions to ask when shopping for pet insurance:

• How are reimbursements calculated?
• What is the deductible?
• Is the deductible annual?
• Are their yearly or lifetime maximums?
• How are reimbursements distributed?
• When will my coverage kick in?
• What don’t you cover?

These are just examples of some of the questions you should ask before deciding on an insurance company to make sure your pet is covered. Most experts agree that you should start insurance coverage at a young age because you never know when something can happen. However, keep in mind that no companies will cover pre-existing conditions and what they deem as pre-existing could vary. So do your research and keep your pet covered.

Divorce can be messy, heartbreaking and incredibly expensive. But now an entrepreneurial divorcee has developed divorce insurance, according to the New York Daily News. The WedLock policyholder gets a nice chunk of change when the marriage ends. The product was developed by John Logan, a North Carolina man who lost his savings when he and his wife broke up. The coverage costs $16 a month for $1250 worth of insurance.

In order to prevent fraud, WedLock requires couples to pay into the policy for four years before receiving any kind of payout. According to the New York Daily News there’s also an additional $250 premium for each additional year of marriage beyond the fourth year. According to an example provided by the paper, someone who buys ten units from WedLock who gets divorced after being married for ten years would have invest $19,188 for the coverage, but would receive $27,500. “The best insurance against a painful, financially devastating divorce is to find a way to be happy in your marriage,” relationship coach Mimi Daniel told Time Magazine. “Divorce insurance implies from the beginning that divorce is already an option.”

However Logan expects his company to be popular. It may even become a good gift option for those who want to buy the couple something other than china or pillow cases. “Mom or Dad could buy this for their son or daughter without them knowing about it,” he told the newspaper. The company launched in early August and although Logan won’t say how business has been he says some policyholders are purchasing lots of divorce insurance with monthly premiums over $1,000 a month.

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.

We often think of so many things important to us in life; our jobs, our families, the direction we take with our investments and life goals.

Are your life insurance premiums getting more and more expensive? There are some factors, which may be attributed to the costs of life insurance premiums. In many cases, you can expect to have lower premiums if you live a low risk lifestyle and are in reasonably decent health. A change in either one of these conditions can cause your insurance premiums to go up. You should know that there are certain factors that need to be taken into account when considering life insurance and you need to know how they affect your insurance premiums and whether you can do anything to control these effects.

Many people have never heard of short term health insurance. It is similar in quite a few ways to COBRA insurance, but is less expensive. Short term health insurance is different from regular health insurance in that you can choose how long that you want the policy to last, anywhere from thirty days to as long as two years. It is an easily affordable choice when you find yourself in need of temporary insurance to make sure the costs of your health care will be taken care of.