Kaper Insurance Group, LLC

02/26/2026

WILL YOUR INSURANCE PREMIUM GO UP IF YOU FILE A CLAIM?

The answer to this question depends on the type of claim and how many you file. The short answer is yes…your home and auto premiums can go up if you make certain types of claims. Auto insurance companies can raise your premium if you've had accidents or get traffic tickets. And your home insurance can go up after claims like a fire or theft. It should be noted that your home insurance should NOT go up for weather related claims.

Before you file a claim, find out the dollar amount of your deductible and then get a few repair estimates. If the cost of repairs is about the same or less than your deductible, you might decide it's not worth filing a claim to protect yourself against an increase in your premium.

Insurance companies use your claims history to decide if they want to sell you a policy and how much to charge you. That record of your past claims is called a CLUE report (Consumer Loss Underwriting Exchange). You can get a free copy of your CLUE report to make sure it's accurate by going to https://consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/request.

If you have questions about insurance claims or insurance premiums, feel free to message me.

02/25/2026

IS LIFE INSURANCE TAXABLE?

Life insurance death benefit proceeds are generally designed to be federal income tax free. That’s what makes life policies such common tools for people seeking to protect their families, pass along wealth, and minimize potential tax obligations.

For example, instead of paying a gift tax for giving money to your loved ones while living, life insurance can avoid that tax when a death benefit is paid as lump sum payouts are federal income tax free. The "cash value" in a permanent life policy grows tax deferred. And loans against an in-force life policy with a cash value are also tax free (unless the policy is a modified endowment contract). But there are a few exceptions to these tax-free and tax-deferred benefits, so, it's important to know a few common ways where life insurance payouts can actually turn into a taxable event.

One event would be if you’re receiving money that hasn’t been taxed before...for example, if your beneficiary chooses to receive the payout in installments and the money grows in value then that growth is taxable. Some people choose to have their beneficiary receive the benefit in installments because it's easier to manage smaller amounts or to help to prevent the beneficiary from overspending. Similarly, if you choose to make a withdrawal against, or surrender, your policy, a similar taxable opportunity applies to any portion of your withdrawal that comes from interest earned or gains. This happens when your policy’s cash value is more than the amount of premiums paid. You won’t be taxed on the money you paid toward premiums, just the amount of gains your policy realized over time.

Another event would be if your beneficiary is no longer alive. If there is no one to accept the policy benefit, it goes to your estate. When an estate receives a life insurance payout, the death benefit first goes through the probate process in court, where the money is subject to paying off debt and taxes before money can be dispersed according to the deceased’s wishes. The federal estate tax threshold kicks in at $13.99 million in 2025 and $15 million in 2026. If the life insurance payout causes the estate’s value to exceed that threshold, taxes will be owed. States that impose estate taxes typically have lower estate tax thresholds, down to $1 million. It should be noted that having "contingent" beneficiaries and multiple primary beneficiaries are a great way to avoid the payout going to an estate.

Another event would be your death benefit is taxed as a gift instead. This structural mistake happens when there are three different people filling three roles within the policy...the owner, the insured, and the beneficiary. Here’s an example of what can happen if more than two are chosen: A father (policy owner) bought a policy for his wife (the insured) and listed their daughter as a beneficiary. When the wife died, the IRS taxed the death benefit because it saw the $100,000 benefit as a gift from the father to his daughter. This could happen if the benefit is more than $19,000 (the IRS gift tax threshold). One way to avoid this taxable event could be to name the insured as the owner.

The best way to avoid these tax implications is to...

Review your beneficiaries regularly.
Explain to your beneficiaries the federal income tax-free benefits of a lump sum payment.
Consider if you should transfer the ownership to the insured if there is a third person on the policy other than the insured or the beneficiary.
Monitor your policy to make sure you’re not borrowing an amount that could cause your policy to lapse.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

02/16/2026

WHAT IS A "BENEFICIARY"

A beneficiary is a person (or a trust or charity) that you name as the recipient of your assets or property when you pass away. The benefits of naming a beneficiary are two-fold: you can be assured your wishes are carried out and it can save your loved ones from costly and drawn-out court proceedings through Probate Court when you are gone.

And don't assume an heir is automatically deemed a beneficiary. Even if you have heirs who would inherit your assets via a will or estate documents, if you do not name them as a beneficiary, an account could go to probate to determine who rightfully would receive the balance of the account.

You can name a beneficiary for many types of accounts, like a retirement plan, an investment account, or a life insurance policy. You can even name beneficiaries for checking and savings accounts. And you can choose more than one by designating a percentage that each receives. Contact the institution where your account is held (either online or in writing) and give them the full name of your beneficiary plus any other required beneficiary information. Just make sure to revisit your designations after major life events such as marriage, divorce, or the birth of a child to ensure they still reflect your wishes.

For the same reason you’re choosing a beneficiary (or a few), you will also want to choose a "contingent" beneficiary in case your primary beneficiary refuses the inheritance, can’t be located, or dies. This will help to avoid the expensive probate process.

An interesting point is that you can choose how your inheritance is paid out. For example, they could receive all the money up front or you can use your will as a companion tool to stipulate how, when, or how often your beneficiary will receive it. You could also include qualifications such as completing college or getting married. Make sure your beneficiary names match — both on your financial accounts and in your will so the people interpreting your last wishes maintain clarity and can avoid delays.

Should you have questions on how or where to designate your beneficiaries, feel free to message me and I can help.

02/09/2026

How To Get Final Expense Insurance With Pre-Existing Conditions

By their nature, funeral insurance plans are built to accept seniors with various health issues, so having pre-existing conditions will not prevent you from qualifying for a new policy. Furthermore, some carriers will provide “first-day” coverage (i.e. no 2-year waiting period) despite having high-risk chronic medical ailments.

How Does Final Expense Insurance Work & What Options Are There?

Final expense life insurance is a small whole life policy with very relaxed underwriting, so seniors with health issues can still qualify. Generally, most life insurance companies will allow you to buy from $2,000 to $50,000 in coverage. “Final expense”, “burial”, and “funeral” insurance are the same.

Whole Life insurance is permanent life insurance that…

1) has a fixed monthly payment that can never increase
2) has a death benefit that will never decrease, and
3) is a policy that can never be cancelled due to age or future health conditions...as long as you pay the policy premiums

Because it’s life insurance, the end result is a tax-free cash payment to your beneficiaries (or funeral home) and they can spend the money on anything.

Most final expense insurance plans are now “simplified issue” meaning there are only a few health questions to answer in order to qualify. No medical exam is required because the carrier will get your medical history electronically with your authorization. As long as you are honest and your conditions do not exclude you from coverage (see below), you should qualify for “day-1” (i.e. immediate) coverage. This means that if you were to die after the policy goes into effect, even on the first day, the insurer must still pay out the full death benefit to your beneficiaries. The backup option is a “graded” plan which would have a “two-year” waiting period before the policy will pay the full death benefit. Death that occurs during those two years will only reimburse the premiums paid plus some interest.

Some of the “knockout” conditions include…

- being bedridden or in a nursing home
- having been diagnosed with…
= cancer with the last treatment having come within the last 2 years
note: exception: skin cancer
= ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
= Huntington’s Disease
= Alzheimer’s or Dimentia
= memory loss or mental incapacity
= Down Syndrome
= Cerebral Palsy
= Cystic or Pulmonary Fibrosis
= AIDS/HIV
= Sickle Cell Anemia
- having any…
= felonies, DUIs, or su***de attempts in the last 2 years
= organ transplants or amputations
= use of a defibrillator
= hospitalization greater than 2 days in the last 12 months
= pending surgeries or diagnoses requiring surgery within the last 6 months

As you can see, even a heart attack and diabetes shouldn’t get you denied.

If you want to qualify, give me a call. It will take less than 15 minutes to get an answer. And, as I am a broker, I have the ability to shop around for the highest coverage at the lowest price.

02/03/2026

5 Reasons Why You May Not Have Enough Life Insurance

If you have dependents or loved ones who you want to take care of after you die, life insurance is critical. This coverage helps ensure your lost income doesn’t translate to tangible material losses for your family once you’re gone.

But how much life insurance is enough? That’s a question whose answer can change significantly over your lifetime, and an important one to answer correctly.

Here are five (5) situations that will impact your need to add some extra coverage to your life insurance policy…

1. Your only life insurance coverage is through your employer.
While some life insurance is certainly better than no life insurance, if your only coverage is through your employer, you may not have enough. Work plans generally offer very limited coverage (like a year’s worth of your salary, maybe two), which is unlikely to be enough to meet your family’s needs if you have any significant debts or children whose college educations you’re hoping to help fund.

Furthermore, life insurance offered through your employer is usually contingent on you keeping that job, so if you leave your position for any reason, the coverage disappears.

Finally, buying an individual policy gives you access to different types of life insurance policies, including permanent life insurance, which has living benefits you can use while you’re alive.

2. Your income went up.
Getting a raise is almost always a good thing, but if you’re making significantly more income today than you were when you first bought your life insurance policy, you may find yourself underinsured. A higher income usually comes with associated lifestyle changes, and learning how to live with less is likely the last thing your loved ones will want to do if you depart unexpectedly.

3. Your stay-at-home spouse doesn’t have life insurance.
If your stay-at-home spouse doesn’t have life insurance coverage, you’ll want to consider getting them a policy. Even if they don’t make an income that would need replacing, they perform valuable services like childcare that would need to be paid for if they’re no longer there.

4. You had a child.
As every parent knows, having a child is expensive—in fact, in 2023, raising a child costs more than $21,000 per year on average. (And that’s before you factor in college!)

All of which is to say, if you’re a new parent or you brought an additional child into your family, it’s a good time to review your life insurance coverage and ensure you have enough to meet your dependents’ long-term needs, including food, shelter and education, until they’re of age. Given the high cost of childcare (and the precarious financial position of an underinsured single parent), even one child can increase your life insurance needs significantly.

5. You bought a new home.
Paying the mortgage is one of the most pressing financial needs for any family—and more pressing, still, for a newly widowed spouse. If you purchased a new home since you first got your life insurance policy, you may find that you need more coverage to help ensure your loved ones can successfully pay down that debt. After all, moving is never fun, especially in the face of a tragic loss.

While it can feel overwhelming to determine how much life insurance coverage you need as your financial situation changes over time, it’s also well within your power to ensure you’re sufficiently covered. Feel free to reach out using the button above so we can run a Life Insurance needs calculation. A half hour of work today can translate to years’ worth of financial stability in the future.

10/30/2025

Misconceptions about Life Insurance
https://kaperinsurancegroup.com/post/misconceptions-about-life-insurance

10/29/2025

TIPS TO AVOID INSURANCE SCAMS
https://kaperinsurancegroup.com/post/tips-to-avoid-insurance-scams

12/06/2024

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵'𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 : Death's Hidden Expenses: Top States to Watch

The Financial Burden of Death: Understanding End-of-Life Expenses in the US. A recent survey reveals that nearly one in six Americans incur over $1,000 in debt following a loved one's passing. To mitigate this financial strain, Forbes Advisor examined funeral costs and end-of-life medical expenses across all 50 states

visit: https://www.kaperinsurancegroup.com/blog

08/21/2024

https://www.kaperinsurancegroup.com/blog-3111/b/honest-applications

Some carriers are suing to rescind policies issued to smokers who were dishonest in completing their applications for life insurance. Today, accelerated underwriting procedures may allow for quick approvals on limited health data. But as these carriers acquire more medical data after issuing a polic...

08/13/2024

Confused about life insurance? Let's start with the common misconceptions in my latest blog post. https://bit.ly/3WLfSst

08/02/2024

TIPS TO AVOID INSURANCE SALES SCAMS

Avoid fraudulent sales scams with these tips…

Beware of unexpected calls. Make sure you ask them why they are calling. If it is unclear, ask for a call back phone number and schedule another call after you’ve had time to discuss the call with family or friends.

Never be rushed. Be wary of offers for a “last-chance deal" or other appeals to make a quick decision. Take your time. If someone calls, emails, or mails you an offer, look it up online to see if it’s true and the company is real.

Be wary of people who say they are from Medicare, Social Security, or any government agency. Medicare doesn’t make sales calls. Also, health plans and annuities are never offered at a discount or sale price.

Keep all documents and take notes. Keep any paperwork you get from an insurance company or its agent. Write down the names of people you talk to and details of conversations you have.

Verify agents and companies. Before you buy insurance, call your state’s Bureau of Insurance to make sure the agent and company are licensed. Always ask for an agent’s credentials including a drivers license.