Do I have to buy insurance only from the company my financial planner works for

No. And if that's what your financial planner tells you, I'd fire him/ her immediately.

Fire him regartdless. Financial planners are of no value whatsoever. Do your own planning.

When you buy life insurance, you want coverage that fits your needs.First, decide how much you need - and for how long - and what you can afford to pay. Keep in mind the major reason you buy life insurance is to cover financial effects of unexpected or untimely death. Life insurance can also be one of many ways to plan for the future.Next, learn what kinds of policies will meet your needs and pick the one that best suits you. Then, choose the combination of policy premium and benefits that emphasizes protection in case of early death, or benefits in case of long life, or a combination of both.It makes good sense to ask a life insurance agent or company to help you. An agent can help you review your insurance needs and give you information about the available policies. If one kind of policy doesn't seem to fit your needs, ask about others

Jeff McLeod, LUTC

I should think one very important point should be added to the list: Learn about differences in costs of insurance products offered by different companies. Then shop around, being careful to compare equivalent products and not apples to oranges. Examine closely the costs of the indexing feature of annuities in comparison to growth possibiities of other financial products. Make good use of the internet. Ask many, many questions and do much research before you buy.

The short answer is "no". You may buy insurance from anyone who sells it. Just like you may buy securities from any other broker, even if you already have a brokerage account in one place.

The real questions, though, are more complicated.

What kind of insurance are you talking about? Are you sure you need it?

Be wary of anyone who calls himself a "financial planner" yet who is actually an insurance salesperson. It's possible to get good financial planning advice from a salesperson, but bear in mind that such a salesperson has an inherent conflict of interest - the policies which may make him the most money may not be in your best interest. There are certainly some situations where complex insurance products (ie. VULs, VAs, etc) may make sense, but they are relatively few -- unless you are asking someone whose primary job is selling those things.

Before committing to a huge, long-term ongoing cost (ie. almost any life insurance policy - especially those which build cash value and have huge surrender charges and expensive and/or mediocre investment options within them), you may want to consult with a fee-only advisor who has nothing to gain from whether you buy that expensive policy or not.

Or at a minimum, post here with a bit more detail (you don't have to reveal any specific personal information).

snipped-for-privacy@fractious.net wrote: you may want to

What credentials should I look for in a "fee-only" adviser? What is a reasonable rate for the fee? How do they bill? /investment or /hr or /day or /session? How do I find them? How can I tell they are not pimping some product?

Besides this Bernie Madoff guy who I hear is really good for a steady return.

Chip