A life settlement is where the owner of a life insurance policy sells it to a third party. In general, the owner will sell it for more than its cash value, which the owner can get from the insurance company, but less than its payout at death. It sounds a little creepy, to be buying life insurance policies, but it’s something that can make sense for both the buyer and the seller. In many cases, the seller may not want to continue the policy or may not be able to make the payments on those policies. They can get cash from the life insurance company or they can sell it to a third party, who would become the new owner and continue making payments on the policy. By making a life settlement with a third party, they can extract more of the value out of the life insurance policy after years of premiums.

As you’d expect, this business is loosely regulated and I only happened upon it because the SEC was considering classifying life settlements as securities, which would put them under more scrutiny. Right now there is little and inconsistent regulation of life settlements, which makes many people, both in and out of the life insurance business, uneasy.

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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed by President Obama in March made a bunch of major changes to health care in America and one of them was to flexible spending accounts. Starting in 2011, over-the-counter products will not be eligible for flexible spending accounts. In fact, they will not be reimbursable under FSAs, health savings accounts (HSA), or health reimbursement arrangements (HRA) unless they are prescribed by a physician. There is only one exception and that’s for insulin.

This means that the days of loading up on band-aids, Tylenol and Advil, and other products you pick up in the drug section of your supermarket are no longer eligible unless your doctor prescribes it. While the rules on what is necessary documentation for reimbursement have yet to be introduced, this might start introducing additional paperwork at the doctor’s office. Advising to take two aspirin and calling it a day might have to come with a prescription.

Also, annual contribution limits to your FSA will be limited to $2,500 a year.

Here’s the rule of thumb I use on whether or not an insurance policy is worth getting – if they are willing to sell you insurance without knowing anything about you, don’t buy it.

Think about how much information you have to provide if you’re buying any kind of “traditional insurance.” With life insurance, you have to submit yourself to a physical. For auto insurance you have to offer up your car’s history, your credit history and your driving history, which is being tracked by a third party. For homeowners insurance, you have to provide a history of claims on your home (don’t worry, it’s tracked by a third party), your own credit history, and home details.

When you buy travel or trip cancellation insurance, they don’t need anything except your money. When you buy cell phone insurance, they don’t need anything except your money. Extended warranties? Just send in a check.

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When it comes to saving money in this economy, it appears that many people are dropping or lowering their auto insurance policies. It’s a bit of a gamble but adjusting your insurances, whether it’s homeowners or auto or anything else, can be a way to save a few more dollars if things are looking tight. However, the subject of how to lower your auto insurance costs has been covered a near infinite number of times already and everyone knows the basics – shop for alternatives, increase your deductibles, drop comprehensive and collision on older vehicles, package together policies for a discount, etc.

I would like to that think you all know that you should shop around for insurance, just as you would shop around for anything else. I would also hope that you understand the relationship between your premium payments and your deductible. Hitting those points really just smashes the some tired old ideas back into your brain and, honestly, wastes your time. So, this post will be about the more novel ways to lower your car insurance costs. Chances are you may not use any of these ideas but it may spur you to think of some clever ideas of your own (that you can share!).

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Last week, as I was research the “catch” on a return of premium life insurance policy, I wondered if it was possible for you to self-insure your life. The idea behind self insuring is that you take a lower level of insurance protection and save the difference into an account. With auto insurance, you could take away comprehensive insurance coverage, rental car coverage, or raise your deductible and put the savings into a high interest savings account.

I do this today with my auto insurance. For my Acura Integra, I didn’t carry comprehensive insurance and was able to saving hundreds of dollars a year. When it was totaled, through no fault of my own, I rolled the savings over to do the same thing with my current car, a Toyota Celica. As I’ve gotten older and the premium on excluding comprehensive insurance decreases, I’m tempted to add comprehensive again and pay for it with the fund. I’m able to because of good driving and good fortune, but I think that self-insurance is something everyone should consider.

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Life insurance sucks. If you outlive your policy, you spent a lot of money for not much of anything. If you don’t outlive your policy, well shucks you didn’t waste your money on premiums… but you’re dead.

So when my insurance company sent me a package detailing one of their newest offers, a “return of premium life insurance” policy, I was intrigued. The basics of the policy are simple – you pay premiums for term life insurance and if you outlive your policy, your premiums are returned to you. If you outlive your policy, you haven’t wasted your premiums. If you don’t, then the premiums were “worth” it.

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I was poking around on the internet the other day when I saw one of those morbid life insurance policy ads. You’ve probably seen them before too. They usually have someone kneeling at a grave or a kid wearing all black at a funeral. They ask you the pointed question of – “If you died today, who would take care of your family?” I suspect they’re trying to tap into your fear of the unknown, how your kids won’t be able to fend for themselves or how your husband or wife is going to be lost without your financial support.

First of all, my lovely wife is quite capable and she can take care of herself. I bet she’d miss my sparkling personality but after a while she’d probably be OK with it.

Second, our dog Tobey is the fiercest beagle in all the land. He’d do fine finding his own rawhide cow ears and kibble. Just the other day we left some food on the table and he managed to to jury-rig a Rube Goldberg-contraption just to get at it.

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I remember a few years ago when credit card companies would send out $5 checks to customers. The catch with the $5 check was that it enrolled you in some sort of service, usually identity theft or employment related, that was free for a month. After a month, there was a monthly fee that was either flat, in the case of the identity theft service, or a percentage of your balance, in the case of the employment related service.

Last week, I received two letters from two banks reminding me of their complimentary offer of Accidental Death & Dismemberment AD&D insurance. It’s clear in both cases they’re marketing promotions trying to get you to buy AD&D insurance from their partners. However, the two offers are very different in how they approach the customer.

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