Author: AgentInsure

Certain life insurance policies are designed to pay death benefits to the beneficiaries and to be an investment vehicle for the policyholder. Work with your agent at AFI Insurance, serving Denver, CO and the surrounding area, to get more of the details because there are many options in these products that can be customized for your life goals and financial planning. 

To get an overview, let’s consider a basic explanation of two types of life insurance, which are Universal Life (UL) and Indexed Universal Life (IUL) to understand how these life insurance policies work.

Universal Life

Universal life insurance is available in many types that include fixed-rate models and variable-rate versions. For a UL policy, you make selections of equity accounts for the associated investments. Cash values are allocated to build up a fixed account.

Indexed Universal Life

If a UL policy is tied to the performance of a stock market index, then it is an IUL policy. The stock market index used may be the S&P 500, the NASDAQ 100, or others. No money is directly invested in any equity positions, only the overall index performance is used to calculate the financial performance of the IUL policy. This makes an IUL policy have more risk than a UL policy.

A Comparison of UL and IUL Policies

Both UL and IUL policies have a death benefit. Both have investment characteristics. An IUL policy can offer a cash accumulation that is tax-deferred for use in retirement. These IUL policies are used to insure a business owner as key-person insurance. They are also used for estate planning and have some upside potential if the equity index performs well over time.

Summary

UL and IUL products are very complex financial instruments and have specific uses that are not always good for everyone but can be effective for others. Work carefully with your tax advisor, investment advisor, and your agent at AFI Insurance in Denver, CO to get the information you need for considering these products as part of your long-term financial planning.

The Denver, CO area is a fast-growing city and metro area that offers a lot of opportunity to anyone that would like to invest in their own business. Those that are looking to start their own company still need to consider all of the risks that could impact their operations. One way that you can mitigate many of these risks is by getting a new commercial insurance policy, which can benefit a business owner in many ways.

Gives Protection for Liability

One risk that all business owners need to continue to be aware of is the risk of being sued for liability. No matter how careful you are and how diligent you are with your practices, there is still a risk that you could be found at fault for a customer’s injury or illness. If this occurs and there are damages, it could jeopardize the financial strength of your company. Fortunately, a good commercial insurance policy can mitigate these risks through liability insurance.

Protects Your Company Assets

No matter what type of company you start, there will become a sort of upfront investment to buy equipment and inventory. If you happen to be a victim of a fire, water damage, or even theft or vandalism, this entire investment could be wiped out. Because of this risk, you should make sure that you always have a good commercial insurance policy in place as the property protection could keep you solvent if an accident occurs.

Ultimately, having commercial insurance can protect your company in a lot of ways. Those that are in the Denver, CO area should contact the team at AFI Insurance to discuss their insurance needs and options. AFI Insurance could provide you with a lot of insight into your insurance needs and options for your company. 

Are you traveling to Mexico on vacation sometime soon? Unfortunately, your existing car insurance doesn’t cover you once you cross the border. Thankfully, you have a secondary option–a special kind of insurance designed specifically for international travel. Here are three tips from our AFI Insurance in Denver, CO team for purchasing Mexican specialty insurance.

Tip #1: Read Your Coverage Options Carefully

The insurance process in a foreign country like Mexico is much different than the one you are probably used to. That’s why it is so important to read your coverage options carefully. Make sure you select a high enough limit to cover you in the event of a serious incident and know whether your policy covers theft and vandalism, as not all do. Also, recognize that Mexican insurance deductibles are often listed as a percentage of the vehicle’s value instead of a set amount.

Tip #2: Consider Purchasing Legal Aid and Travel Assistance Coverage

Similar to purchasing car insurance in the United States, there are multiple different add-ons to consider buying. The two most important are legal aid and travel assistance coverage. Legal aid helps pay for any defense costs if you are arrested or detained while in Mexico. Travel assistance helps you continue the trip or return home if your vehicle is unrepairable or stolen.

Tip #3: Remember to Report Accidents Before Leaving Mexico

If you’ve encountered a situation that warrants using your policy, make sure you file a claim before leaving Mexico. An adjuster must see the damage before you return to the United States or it might void the policy.

Ready to learn more about Mexican specialty insurance or other types of coverage? Contact our AFI Insurance team today to schedule your appointment. We proudly serve the Denver, CO area.

Financial planners are very important professionals that help to ensure their customers are able to reach their financial goals. While financial planners do provide amazing service, the profession also comes with some risks. For those that are in the Denver, CO area, getting financial planner insurance is extremely helpful as it will protect you a number of different ways.

Liability Insurance 

When you get financial planner insurance it will provide you with extensive liability insurance. First, you will receive standard liability insurance that will provide you with protection for any accidents that occur on your premises. Additionally, you can receive professional liability insurance that could provide you with protection against any legal claims. This will prove to be very beneficial in the event you are found liable for any type of mistake or accident.

Property Protection 

A financial planner may also on a significant amount of business assets. Some common assets that can be owned by a financial planner can include computers and other electronics, office furniture, a company car, and a variety of other assets. Additionally, you will need to protect your place of business whether you own the property or lease it. A full financial planner insurance policy will provide you with coverage for all these business assets.

There are clearly many different benefits that come when you get a financial planner and insurance for your business. When you are looking for this type of insurance in the Denver, CO area, AFI Insurance is a great resource and organization to contact. When you reach out to AFI Insurance, the company will spend time with you to better explain the risks that come with being a financial planner. They will then get you into a policy that protects against these risks as much as possible.

Insurance can cover more than houses, boats, and cars in Denver, CO. If you can put a dollar value on your risk, you can insure it. Here are some interesting examples of specialty insurance:

Alien Abduction Insurance

A small insurance company in Orlando actually sells protection against alien abduction. You pay a one-time premium of just $9.95, and you’re protected for up to ten million dollars in damages and medical care. Of course, it’s a long shot that anyone’s going to file a claim, but if you’re worried about getting scooped up by a tractor beam, it’s nice to have options.

Lottery Insurance

Something you don’t really think about as a business owner: What if one of your employees wins the lottery and quits without notice? Well, a number of UK insurers have you covered for all of the expenses involved in restaffing the position.

Body Parts Insurance

You’ve probably heard of this one: More than a few celebrities have insured their trademark bodies parts, such as Heidi Klum covering her legs for $2.2 million and Gene Simmons covering his tongue for one million. It sounds silly, but it makes sense if you think about it. A celebrity has so much riding on their image, so Bruce Springsteen insuring his voice isn’t much different from a delivery driver insuring their car.

Specialty insurance doesn’t just cover "unusual" risks, it’s really about covering anything exceptional. In Denver, CO commercial buildings and homes that are worth well above typical market, values are often covered on specialty policies.

If you need something protected and your current provider won’t meet your needs, get in touch with AFI Insurance and see what we can do for you.

Financial planning is the road map that we use to get through life. When to buy a new car, when to start that business, which house to buy in Denver, CO. It all comes down to the financial plan. Unfortunately, many people fail to work insurance into their financial plan.

A number of things need to be considered when working insurance into that plan, including the expense of insuring everything that needs to be insured, and consideration of the safety net that it provides.

Simply put: what can you not afford to not insure?

Certainly we need to cover the basics. Home, car and recreational vehicles like boats, RV’s and so on, health insurance, life insurance and so on. We also need to consider the special needs associated with the risks specific to our own lifestyles and careers. Someone with an expensive home may need to consider their higher-than-usual liability risks, for instance.

As a general rule, any time a significant amount of money is changing hands, whether we’re buying a summer home, getting that promotion or Christmas bonus at work or building an addition to the house, we need to take insurance into consideration: Does this need to be insured, will this require renegotiating our current insurance plan, and what are we putting at risk if we don’t? As we upgrade our lives, we also need to upgrade our insurance.

If you’re not sure of how to work insurance into your financial planning, get in touch with AFI Insurance. We can help to guide you to the right plan for your life, your career, your assets, and your risk.