Chris McMahon

Life combination products grew 56% in 2011, according to LIMRA’s “2011 Individual Life Combination Products Annual Review.” This was the third consecutive year of double-digit growth.

Financial advisers are so uncomfortable speaking about life insurance that more than half (56%) simply don’t do it, according to a recent survey by consultancy Saybrus Partners Inc.

There’s no question that driving is getting safer. Collision avoidance and other safety features in automobiles are becoming more sophisticated and ubiquitous, having worked their way down from high-end luxury vehicles to family sedans and subcompacts. Now automated traffic law enforcement and telematics could further reduce fatalities and insured losses, and the promise of Google’s self-driving car could remove driver error as the primary cause of collisions and injuries.

Health insurers are on the hook for an estimated $1.3 billion in rebates by August of this year, if they were not in compliance with the Medical Loss Ratio provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for 2011, according to analysis by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

With age comes wisdom supposedly, but even as more Americans are living longer they are not financially prepared for their retirement years and also lack life insurance.