Personal Financial Management 

Assignment Content

Using the internet, journals or newspaper, research an article related to Insuring Your Life, and answer the critical thinking question that follows:

Summarize the key points from the article in terms of what you have learned regarding Life Insurance. In your summary, reflect on, and explain, what new information your learned, and how you will apply this new information in a real-world context.  

Minimum of 1 page. APA Format.

Required Text(s): PFIN 7Author(s): Gitman, Joehnk, and BillingsleyEdition: 7thYear: 2016ISBN:Digital/electronic Option ISBN:97803570336099780357033692

MG 105 Personal Financial Management

Week 9: Insurance
Overview

Welcome to Week 9: This week we will cover Chapters 8, 9 as we review how insurance affects
your life.

After reading Chapter 8 and 9, the student should be able to:
? Explain the concept of risk and the basics of insurance underwriting
? Discuss the primary reasons for life insurance and identify those who need coverage
? Calculate how much life insurance you need
? Distinguish among the various types of life insurance policies and describe their advantages

and disadvantages
? Choose the best life insurance policy for your needs at the lowest cost
? Become familiar with the key features of life insurance policies
? Discuss why having adequate health insurance is important, and identify the factors

contributing to the growing cost of health insurance
? Differentiate among the major types of health insurance plans, and identify major private and

public health insurance providers and their programs
? Analyze your own health insurance needs and explain how to shop for appropriate coverage
? Explain the basic types of medical expenses covered by the policy provisions of health

insurance plans
? Assess the need for and features of long-term care insurance
? Discuss the features of disability income insurance and how to determine your need for it

Week 9 Checklist

? Read chapters 8, 9 in your textbook and review resources
? Read the lecture notes
? Complete week assignment by Sunday – 5 PM
? Complete week 9 (chapters 8 and 9) quiz by Sunday – 5 PM

MG 105 Personal Financial Management
Week 9: Insurance

Overview
Week 9 Checklist

MG105 – PERSONAL FINANCE
Chapter 8-Insuring Your Life
Chapter 9-Insuring Your Health

PROFESSOR’S CHAPTER INTRODUCTION:

Insurance is one of many financial tools that enable you to protect yourself from the unknown.
Specifically speaking, the two Chapters discuss the importance of life insurance and health
insurance. While insurance does not prevent an event from occurring, it protects you financially
if that event occurs. For example, life insurance will not prevent death; however, it will protect
our loved ones financially in case we die. If you think of the responsibilities you take care of
while alive, you will find that you pay for the mortgage/or rent, make car payments, school
payments, etc. Now imagine if your loved ones who depend on you have to make those
payments on their own and without your help. Not all of us are lucky enough to have the ability
to continue on our lives without having any financial impact resulting from the death of a loved
one who was a major financial supporter of the family. The same goes for health insurance. With
the cost of healthcare and emergency care rising, any sudden, unexpected health problem could
wipe out years of savings and investing. As a result, health insurance is not just a wise decision
to make; it is a necessary part of our financial plans. Read on for more…

CHAPTER 8 OUTLINE

Why Is This Chapter Important for you?

A key ingredient of every successful personal financial plan is adequate life insurance coverage.
The overriding purpose of life insurance is to protect the family from financial loss in the event
of the untimely death of an income earner. Additionally, some types of life insurance also
possess attractive investment characteristics which can further enhance a financial plan if they
are chosen correctly. In essence, life insurance is an umbrella for a personal financial plan. The
major topics covered in this chapter include:

1. Adequate life insurance acts as protection for the financial goals you have already
achieved, and it can also help to attain unfulfilled financial goals.

2. Insurance is based on the idea of recognizing and sharing risk, which includes ways of
decreasing risk through loss prevention and control and risk avoidance.

3. The amount of life insurance coverage needed can be determined by assessing your
family’s needs, subtracting from that amount the resources that will be available after
death, and funding the difference.

4. There are three basic types of life insurance policies, which differ from each other by the
amount of insurance coverage versus savings element per dollar of premium: term, whole
life, and universal.

5. Policy provisions in life insurance policies are very flexible and provide many options to
the policyholder and policy beneficiaries.

Page 1 of 19

6. The best c

Welcome to Money Online!

Money Online is a set of links to relevant Web sites and companion exercises that will help you
use the Web effectively in financial planning. By bookmarking (saving) the URLs, you will build
a valuable library of personal finance Web sites.

Web site addresses may change over time, so if you have difficulty linking to a URL, please try using key words in
your preferred search engine.

CHAPTER 9 – Insuring Your Health

1. http://www.insure.com/
How do you judge the quality of a health insurance plan? What if your insurance claim is denied? How
does divorce affect your health insurance coverage? Insure.com’s Web site provides help, advice, and lots
of information about health insurance.

2. http://reportcard.ncqa.org/plan/external/
How does your health plan rate? Look at your company’s “Health Plan Report Card” prepared by the
National Committee for Quality Assurance. View the specifics on your company or find a list of all
NCQA-Accredited Plans.

3. http://www.actuary.com
Need to find your health insurance company’s Web site? The Actuary.com Web site provides an
extensive listing of links to various health insurance companies. Under “Actuarial Resources” click on
“Health, Managed Care, Medical Insurance Companies,” and search for your company.

4. http://www.nmfn.com
How likely are you to be affected by a long-term disability? Is your current disability insurance plan
adequate? Find information on disability insurance at Northwestern Mutual’s Web site by clicking on
“Products ; Services” and then on “Disability Insurance.” Use their calculators to find the odds that you
will become disabled before age 65 or to see if you have a gap in your coverage.

5. http://www.ssa.gov/disability
Learn about Social Security’s two disability programs at the Social Security Administration Web site.
Find the eligibility requirements, read about the services and benefits provided, or use their “Benefits
Eligibility Screening Tool” at http://www.benefits.gov/ssa to find out which programs may be able to pay
you benefits.

6. http://www.medicare.gov
Learn all about Medicare at the official U.S. government site for Medicare information. Find information
on coverage, eligibility, and enrollment. Use their search tools to help you compare health plan options or
to find prescription drug or other assistance programs.

7. http://www.usa.gov/directory/stateconsumer/index.shtml
Need to find the office responsible for enforcing your state’s insurance laws? Scroll through the list of
state consumer agencies at the Web site of the Federal Citizen Information Center. Find information to
help you choose an insurance policy or learn how to file an insurance-related complaint.

Just for Fun!
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or i

Welcome to Money Online!

Money Online is a set of links to relevant Web sites and companion exercises that will help you
use the Web effectively in financial planning. By bookmarking (saving) the URLs, you will build
a valuable library of personal finance Web sites.

Web site addresses may change over time, so if you have difficulty linking to a URL, please try using key words in
your preferred search engine.

CHAPTER 8 – Insuring Your Life
1. https://www.usaaedfoundation.org/
Who needs life insurance? Click on “Insurance” at the USAA Educational Foundation’s Web site, and
scroll down to “Life Insurance” to find out. Other topics to explore include “How Insurable Are You?”
“Should You Replace an Existing Policy?” and “Military Insurance Options.”

2. http://www.nmfn.com
How much life insurance do you need? At the “Learning Center” of Northwestern Mutual’s Web site,
click on “Calculators” and scroll down to “Life Insurance.” Work through this interactive calculator to
determine the amount of protection you may need to provide for your loved ones.

3. http://www.actuary.com
Interested in a career as an actuary? Actuary.com’s Web site is an excellent resource for anyone who is
considering or is actually in the insurance business. Or you can use this site to find a link to your own
insurance company’s Web site by scrolling to the bottom and clicking on one of the insurance company
links under the “Actuarial Resources” section.

4. http://www.leadfusion.com/products/researching-solutions/calculator-showcase
Learn all about term life insurance. The “Calculator Showcase” provides information and calculators to
help you with almost every aspect of insurance. Select “Insurance,” then “Life Insurance” to find out how
term life insurance works, the features of other types of life insurance, or to compare term insurance to
permanent life insurance.

5. http://www.insure.com/articles/interactivetools
Find the top-rated life insurance companies that sell policies in your state at Insure.com’s Web site. Select
“Insurance Company Ratings,” to find the Standard ; Poor’s Ratings for your company. Select “Rating”
and “AAA (extremely strong)” in the drop-down boxes, and begin your search.

Just for Fun!
http://www.northwesternmutual.com/
Play the Longevity Game! Click on “Learning Center” on Northwestern Mutual’s Web site, and scroll
down to “The Longevity Game.” Work your way through this interactive quiz to get a general idea of
how long you may live past retirement. Then work through the “Retirement Savings” calculator to make
sure you’ll have enough to retire.

© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as
permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom
use.