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It is a good time to start shopping around for your Term Life Insurance, because life insurance rates are declining rapidly.

According to the Insurance Information Institute's forecast the cost of term life insurance policies will drop by an estimated four percent in 2007. Term life insurance rates are dropping largely as a result of increased competition among insurance companies.

We can find better policy with better coverage and less premium.

Term Life Insurance Now Less Expensive

Term insurance has a lot of choices in Canada. The following is some coverages provided by Manulife Insurance.

Manulife offers several types of term life insurance coverage to meet your needs.

Family Term is the ideal choice for both temporary and life-time needs of families. It gives you assurance that your entire family will be taken care of when you die. It can provide an ongoing income to maintain your family's current lifestyle, pay off your mortgage or debts and provide money for your children's education.

Business Term is the ideal term choice for business owners. It offers low-cost life insurance protection that can be customized for your company's specific needs and fit within your business’s cash flow. If you or a key person were to die unexpectedly, insurance can ensure that your business continues to provide enough funds for your beneficiaries to cover potential capital gains taxes and the collateral needed for debt financing.

In Canada, the number of applications for individual life insurance policies decilined by 1.9% in 2005 compared to 2004, according to the MIB Life Index, whereas in the United States, application activity was down by 3.4%.

In total, North American applications were down by 3.3% for all ages compared to 2004. When combined with the downturn in activity in 04/03 (-2.3%) and 03/02 (-3.0%), the industry is experiencing a three-year decline in applications in excess of 8.0%.

However, while application activity is on the decline, aggregate premiums and average face amounts of new individual life policies are increasing industry-wide, notes the MIB Life Index report.

"Our data show that activity in the 60 plus age demographic is slowly crowding out application activity at the younger ages. This is another manifestation that the middle and lower end of the market continues to remain underserved by current distribution and product designs," says Stacy Gill., MIB's chief knowledge officer.

If unexpected expenses come up and you can’t pay your life insurance premium, you should know the possible consequences. The effect depends on the type of policy and coverage you have and the policy terms and conditions.

Term: If you stop paying premiums, your coverage lapses.

Permanent: If you have this type of policy, you will have the following choices:

Cash out the policy.
This means that you can stop paying the premium and collect the available cash savings. You will no longer be covered by life insurance, but you will at least save some of the proceeds of the policy. You may, however, have to pay taxes on some of the cash value if the sum exceeds what you have paid in premiums.

Non-forfeiture options
There may be a “reduced paid-up” option. This means that you can stop paying premiums completely in return for a reduced death benefit and no cash saving. You may also be able to convert the permanent policy to an extended term policy for a time period based on the accumulated cash savings in the policy.

You should review all of your insurance needs at least once a year. If you have a major life change, you should contact your insurance agent or company representative. The change in your life may have a significant impact on your insurance needs. Life changes may include:

Marriage or divorce

A child or grandchild who is born or adopted

Significant changes in your health or that of your spouse/domestic partner

Taking on the financial responsibility of an aging parent

Purchasing a new home

A loved one who requires long-term care

Refinancing your home

Coming into an inheritance

What's the best life insurance to buy? The simple answer is: it depends on your short- and longer-term needs and preferences for flexibility and risk.

There are two kinds of life insurance - term life insurance and permanent insurance. They are two very different kinds of protection that satisfy very different life insurance needs.

Term (which covers you for a specific period of time) may be all the insurance you ever need, or it may be used as an interim step before purchasing permanent life insurance (which protects you for a lifetime). Possibly a combination of term and permanent in the same policy may be the best solution for you.

Let's look at the strengths of each, and their differences.

Many financial experts consider life insurance to be the cornerstone of sound financial planning. It is generally a cost-effective way to provide for your loved ones after you are gone. It can be an important tool in the following ways:

1) Income replacement
For most people, their key economic asset is their ability to earn a living. If you have dependents, then you need to consider what would happen to them if they no longer have your income to rely on. Proceeds from a life insurance policy can help supplement retirement income. This can be especially useful if the benefits of your surviving spouse or domestic partner will be reduced after your death.

2) Pay outstanding debts and long-term obligations
Consider life insurance so that your loved ones have the money to offset burial costs, credit card debts and medical expenses not covered by health insurance. In addition, life insurance can be used to pay off the mortgage, supplement retirement savings and help pay college tuition.

3) Estate planning
The proceeds of a life insurance policy can be structured to pay estate taxes so that your heirs will not have to liquidate other assets.

4) Charitable contributions
If you have a favorite charity, you can designate some of the proceeds from your life insurance to go to this organization.