If you’re like most people, paying for insurance seems like money for old rope. You pay a premium regularly but when you need to cash in, do you really get what you pay for?

Any car driver who suffered the shock of a car crash has probably had that sinking feeling of calling an insurance company hoping that penalty fees won’t be applied to future bills. Yet time after time, customers are disappointed.

The reason people often assume buying insurance is a waste of money is because insurance companies have a philosophy of enforcing penalties. You pay high premiums when everything is going well, and you frequently get penalized when you need insurance.

But what if the insurance paradigm was flipped on its head? Instead of being penalized by insurance companies, what if you were rewarded? In car insurance, some companies now reward drivers for good driving records. And in health insurance, the same paradigm shift has occurred. For example, Health IQ, charges health conscious individuals lower life insurance costs than most other companies.

It’s not a slam dunk getting approved. To get access to the holy grail of lower insurance costs, you need to live a truly health conscious lifestyle, which means eating better, exercising more and taking better care of yourself. It starts with a quick health quiz and thereafter you take a physical and voila, you are evaluated and get access to better life insurance.

Even if you don’t have the best history of diet and exercise, you may qualify for lower life insurance rates in general. It’s important especially if you have loved ones who you know would be left in a difficult spot should anything happen to you. Obviously, life insurance is one of those things that you can’t get when you need it, so you have to get it ahead of time to protect your family or loved ones.

If you don’t have the money to pay for life insurance at this time, it might be time to squirrel away some extra nuts each month. There are lots of ways to save more. For example, you can use one of the many financial apps, such as Stash, to automate your savings, move your money to an investment account, and grow it virtually hands-off. Stash is great for your taxable accounts and even Roth IRA accounts but if you want to optimize a 401(k), checkout Blooom, which is designed to save you paying higher fees and help you get to a better retirement.

Categories: Insurance