How to Find the Right Life Insurance Policy for You

Ryan Ermey: If you're considering adding a life insurance policy, you should know that not all policies or indeed types of life insurance are created equal. Jennifer Fitzgerald, CEO and co-founder of online insurance broker Policygenius.com, breaks down the nuances in a main segment interview.

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Ryan Ermey: On today's show, Sandy tells us about new fees that have cropped up since the pandemic, and I break down changes to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. That's all ahead on this episode of Your Money's Worth. Stick around.

Ryan Ermey: Welcome to Your Money's Worth. I'm Kiplinger's associate editor Ryan Ermey, joined as always by senior editor Sandy Block. Sandy, how are you?

Sandy Block: I'm good, Ryan. How are you?

Ryan Ermey: Not too bad. Headed back to Jersey this weekend, which is always a treat. In the meantime, we're talking about something a bit less nice and that is fees. And we've seen some trends of fees cropping up that are specifically related to the pandemic. So what are we talking about Sandy?

Sandy Block: Well, the biggest one that's really shaken a lot of people up, because interest rates are so low that a lot of people are refinancing their mortgages to save money. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently announced that they're going to attach what they call an adverse market fee of 0.5% to any mortgages refinanced through them. And they originally said it was going to take effect September 1st. Now they're saying it's going to take effect December 1st, which means people have time to refinance before then. But they are basically citing additional risks related to the pandemic in refinancing mortgages in announcing this fee.

Sandy Block: Again, people are refinancing to save money. This fee is going to mean that they won't save as much as they thought. And the Mortgage Bankers Association, which really had a big problem with this fee, is saying that it would cost the average refinancer about $1,400 in fees. So it's something to be aware of. If you're planning to refinance your mortgage, you might want to try and time it. And that's just one of several.

Sandy Block: Another one that will really annoy some people, is some colleges are attaching a fee to the cost of lab fees, testing, screening for the pandemic. And these fees can run anywhere from . . . Ryan, it hasn't been all that long since you were in college, but you may remember these annoying fees that they would tack on to your tuition, right?

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