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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 
Mr.  Holla  Hayes 


Gen. Agent-Los  Angeles  | 


WHAT  LIFE  INSURANCE  IS 

AND 

WHAT  IT  DOES 


A  PRIMER  FOR  LAYMEN 
AND  STUDENTS 


BY 

William  Alexander 


THE    SPECTATOR   COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  CHICAGO 


Copyright  1917 

By  the  National  Association  of  Life  Underwriters 
1 1  West  42nd  Street,  New  York 


Seventh  Edition — $M — 2-29 


Bus.  Admin. 
Library 


HG 

8773 
A37w 
PREFACE 


There  are  no  mysteries  about  life  insur- 
ance, and  the  facts  regarding  it  are  exceed- 
ingly interesting.  But  the  subject  has  been 
befogged  and  made  dull  by  stupid  and  in- 
adequate explanations. 

The  aim  of  this  little  book  is — 

1.  To  tell  what   Life   Insurance  is  and 
what  it  does  in  so  simple  a  manner  that  any 
intelligent  person  may  understand  all  that 
the  average  layman  wants  to  know,  or  needs 
to  know  on  the  subject. 

2.  To  provide  a  preliminary  text  book  for 
those  who  wish  to  make  a  thorough  study 
of  Life  Insurance. 

3.  To  furnish  a  simple,  but  comprehen- 
sive guide  to  those  who  are  identified,  or  ex- 
pect to  be  identified,  with  insurance  work  in 
the  office  or  in  the  field. 

W.A. 


s 

775682 


In  this  book  Life  Insurance  will  be  explained  on 
the  "participating"  ("mutual")  basis,  as  conducted 
under  the  Insurance  Laws  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  After  that  the  "non-participating"  and 
"mixed"  plans  will  be  described. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


X  FIRST  PART— LIFE  INSURANCE  EXPLAINED 

What  it  accomplishes. 


jji  Why  people  insure. 

II.  Insurance  defined. 

III.  Bed-rock  foundations. 

IV.  Object  of  life  insurance. 

V.  Insurance  a  necessity. 

VI.  Evolution  of  insurance. 

VII.  Technical    knowledge    es- 

sential. 

VIII.  Law  of  Average. 

IX.  Law  of  Mortality. 

X.  Summary. 

XI.  What  to  charge. 


XII.  Three  methods  of  charg- 

ing. 

XIII.  The  Reserve. 

XIV.  Assets,     Liabilities,     Re- 

serve, Surplus. 

XV.  Dividends  (Refunds). 

XVI.  Sources    of    Saving    and 

profit. 

XVII.  Taxation. 

XVIII.  Importance  of  low  death 

rate. 

XIX.  Three  methods  of  conduct- 

ing the  business. 

XX.  Recapitulation. 


SECOND  PART— THE  LIFE  INSURANCE  COM- 
PANY. 

How  its  business  is  conducted. 


XXIII.  The  most  popular   kinds 
of  insurance. 


XXI.  What  a  life  company  is. 

XXII.  How  conducted. 


Ordinary  Life  Policy . .  §49 
Limited  Payment  Life  §62 
Term  Life  Insurance . .  §63 

Pure  Endowment §64 

Endowment  Policy  . . .  §65 


XXIV    Life  Income  insurance.      |  XXV.     The  Survivorship  Annuity. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

(Continued) 


THIRD  PART— INDUSTRIAL    COMPANIES 

XXVI — Insurance  for  the  industrial  classes. 

FOURTH  PART— OTHER    KINDS  OF   INSUR- 
ANCE. 

XXVII.  Other  forms  and  plans  of  insurance. 

Business  Insurance  ....  §70 
Child 's  Endowment  ...  §71 

Group  Insurance §72 

Instalment  Policy §73 

Joint  Life  Policy §74 

Return  Premium  Policy  §75 

XXVIII.  An  experiment  that  failed. 

(Illustrating   the    fact  that    a  company,   even   if  soundly     based,     cannot   hope 
for  permanent  success  if  it  adopts  "assessment"  methods.) 

XXIX.  Fraternal  and  Assessment  Insurance. 

FIFTH  PART— ANNUITIES. 

XXX.  An  Annuity  the  converse  of  an  Insurance  Policy. 

SIXTH  PART— VALUE  OF  LIFE  INSURANCE. 

XXXI.  Its  development  and  scope. 

XXXII.  Popular  fallacies. 

XXXIII.  How  to  select  a  company. 

SEVENTH  PART— TECHNICAL  WORDS  AND 
PHRASES. 

XXXIV.  Definitions  and  explanations. 

8 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

(Continued) 


SUPPLEMENTARY   CHAPTER 
THE  INSURANCE  SALESMAN. 


APPENDIX 
HOW  TO  DISCOVER  CORRECT  PREMIUM  CHARGES. 


Natural  Premium 
Single  Premium 


Level  Premium 
Annuity  charges 


FOR    FURTHER     DETAILS 
SEE    INDEX,    PAGE    161 


In  the  following  pages  a  few  passages,  in  condensed 
form,  from  the  following  books  by  the  author  have 
been  utilized  with  the  consent  of  the  publishers. 

The    Life    Insurance    Company — Copyrighted   and   published 
by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  35  West  32nd  St.,  New  York. 

The  Successful  Agent — Copyrighted  and    published    by  The 
Spectator  Company,  135  William  St.,  New  York. 

The  author  has  also  drawn  to  some  extent  upon  his 
Correspondence  Course  on  Life  Insurance. 


FIRST   PART 


LIFE  INSURANCE   EXPLAINED 


WHAT  IT  ACCOMPLISHES 


ii 


Life  Insurance  is  based 
on  the  axiom  that  "In 
union  there  is  strength" 

-  on  the  old    fable    of 
"The  Bundle  of  Sticks" 

-  on  the    truth    that  a 
burden  which  would  crush 
the   individual    may    be 
borne  with  ease  by  a  mul- 
titude of  individuals. 


12 


WHAT  LIFE  INSURANCE  IS 

I.     WHY  PEOPLE  INSURE 

1.     Preliminary    Explanation 

If  a  party  of  modern  tourists  should  be  shipwrecked  on  a 
desert  island  they  would  be  forced  to  live  in  a  very  primitive 
way. 

Finding  no  houses,  they  would  build  huts  or  seek  the  shelter 
of  caves. 

In  the  absence  of  roads  and  railways,  they  would  cut  foot- 
paths through  the  jungle. 

Each  man  would  make  his  own  clothes  of  skins,  and  his  own 
sandals  of  grasses  or  hides. 

If  the  natural  protectors  of  any  of  the  women  and  children 
in  the  party  lost  their  lives,  the  men  who  survived  would 
provide  for  them. 

But  as  soon  as  these  people  got  back  to  civilization,  they 
would  hasten  to  the  tailor  and  the  shoemaker.  And,  if  wise, 
they  would  also  abandon  the  primitive  method  of  leaving 
their  widows  and  orphans  dependent  on  the  voluntary  charity 
of  surviving  friends,  and  would  go  to  a  life  insurance  company 
for  the  protection  needed. 

But  why  should  they  wish  to  shift  this  responsibility  to  a 
life  insurance  company? 

;  For  the  same  reason  that  they  would  cease  making  their 
own  clothes  and  shoes — because  they  would  thus  secure  the 
desired  protection  with  far  greater  safety,  economy  and 
efficiency. 

But  what  is  a  life  insurance  company,  and  what  precisely 
are  the  services  it  renders? 

Before  attempting  to  answer  these  questions,  we  must 
understand  what  "insurance"  in  general  is,  and  then  deter- 
mine what  "life  insurance"  in  particular  is. 

13 


II.     INSURANCE  DEFINED 

2.     Insurance  in  General 

I  have  never  seen  a  short  and  satisfactory  definition  of  the 
word  "insurance,"  and  I  am  not  sure  that  a  concise  definition 
can  be  framed.  But  I  am  sure  that  any  intelligent  person  who 
will  study  the  following  explanation  carefully  will  have  a 
clear  understanding  of  what  insurance  is. 

Insurance  is  a  device  or  plan,  by  means  of  which  a  large 
number  of  people  are  associated  together  for  mutual  protection 
in  order  that  when  one  of  their  number  suffers  a  loss,  that 
loss  shall  be  repaired  by  the  contributions  of  his  associates. 

Why  this  scheme,  when  fully  developed  is  best  accomplished 
by  means  of  a  corporation — an  insurance  company — will  be 
explained  hereafter. 

A  simple  illustration  will  make  the  foregoing  statement 
clear. 

ILLUSTRATION 

Consider  the  case  of  a  man  whose  only  possession  is  a  build- 
ing worth  $20,000.  If  he  stands  alone,  and  the  building  burns 
he  will  be  ruined.  But  if  he  has  become  a  member  of  ?.n 
association  of  4,000  house-owners  who  have  agreed  to  share 
their  losses  equally,  his  ruin  will  be  averted;  for  each  of  his 
associates  will  come  to  his  rescue.  His  $20,000  will  be  restored 
at  a  cost  to  him  of  the  nominal  sum  of  $5,  and  at  a  cost  to 
each  one  of  his  associates  of  the  nominal  sum  of  $5. 

Here  we  have  roughly  stated,  the  idea  on  which  fire  insurance 
is  based,  and  what  is  true  of  fire  insurance  is  also  true  of 
other  kinds  of  insurance. 

III.     FOUNDATIONS 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  will  be  seen  that  insurance  of 
all  kinds  is  based  on  the  axiom  that  In  union  there  is  strength 
—on  the  old  fable  of  The  Bundle  of  Sticks — on  the  truth  that 
a  burden  which  would  crush  the  individual  may  be  borne 
with  ease  by  a  multitude  of  individuals. 

14 


Hence,  this  whole  question  may  be  summed  up  by  saying 
that: 

Insurance  in  general  is  a  device  for  repairing 
some  serious  injury,  at  a  moderate  charge,  by 
bringing  together  a  multitude  of  people,  who 
agree  that  if  a  certain  loss  fall  upon  one  of  them 
a/7  shall  unite  in  repairing  that  loss. 

3.  Life  Insurance 

Just  as  men  can  protect  themselves  against  the  pecuniary 
losses  that  result  when  buildings  are  burned  or  when  ships 
are  wrecked,  so  they  can  protect  themselves  against  the 
pecuniary  losses  which  follow  in  the  train  of  death. 

How  this  can  be  done  can  be  indicated  most  clearly  by 
determining  exactly  what  life  insurance  aims  to  accomplish. 

IV.     OBJECT  OF  INSURANCE 

4.  Aim  of  Life  Insurance 

What  is  the  object  of  life  insurance  as  distinguished  from 
other  kinds  of  insurance?  Can  it  restore  a  life  that  has  been 
terminated,  as  a  fire-company  can  rebuild  a  house  that  has 
been  burned?  No.  It  merely  gives  compensation  for  some 
product  of  life.  In  its  simplest  form  it  restores  to  the  family 
the  value  of  something  which  is  lost  at  the  time  the  bread- 
winner dies,  such  as  the  fruits  of  his  labors. 

Other  forms  of  life  insurance  give  protection  against  losses  of 
other  kinds,  but  these  need  not  concern  us  at  present. 

Few  men  accumulate  sufficient  capital  to  support  theii 
families  after  their  death,  and  those  who  rely  altogether  on 
their  own  resources  often  leave  their  dependents  in  straitened 
circumstances. 

In  such  a  case,  if  the  breadwinner  has  failed  to  accumulate 
a  capital  sufficient  to  produce  an  income  adequate  for  the 
support  of  his  dependents  after  his  death,  he  should  turn  to 

15 


the  insurance  company.  He  knows  that  he  can  provide  for 
his  family  as  long  as  he  lives,  but  he  also  knows  that  he  will 
be  powerless  to  do  so  thereafter.  It  is  true  that  he  could  ask 
a  relative  or  friend  to  look  out  for  them,  but  it  might  not  be 
possible  to  discover  anyone  sufficiently  benevolent  to  assume 
so  heavy  a  burden.  Moreover,  the  idea  would  be  repugnant  to 
any  independent,  self-respecting  man.  Besides  this,  he  would 
know  that  such  charitable  aid  would  be  indefinite  and  un- 
certain, and  might  prove  altogether  inadequate.  In  such  a 
case,  the  safest  and  best — usually  the  only — resource  is  to 
take  advantage  of  the  protection  thac  life  insurance  offers. 

V.     LIFE  INSURANCE  A   NECESSITY 

5.     The  Need  for  Life    Insurance 


Life  insurance  is  not  a  luxury  like  a  painting,  a  statue,  or 
a  precious  stone.  It  is  a  necessity.  And  the  need  for  it  is 
widespread  and  constant. 

Nor  is  this  need  a  modern  development:  it  is  as  old  as 
civilization  itself. 

In  the  early  days,  before  there  were  life  insurance  companies, 
surviving  relatives  provided  after  a  fashion  for  destitute 
widows  and  orphans;  or  the  hat  was  passed  round  among 
friends  and  acquaintances;  or  the  municipality,  through  the 
poorhouse  and  the  asylum,  offered  an  inadequate  substitute 
for  insurance  protection. 

But  the  life  insurance  company  now  does  with  efficiency  and 
economy  what  all  right-thinking  people  wish  to  have  done, 
but  cannot  do  themselves  except  in  an  inadequate  or  blunder- 
ing fasion. 

6.     What  is  a  Life  Insurance  Company 

A  life  insurance  company  is  simply  a  business  organization, 
established  to  furnish  the  people  with  the  protection  of  life 
insurance  of  all  varieties,  in  a  thoroughly  efficient  manner. 

16 


But  every  such  company  is  sustained  by  the  money  con- 
tributed by  the  people  who  avail  themselves  of  its  services. 
And  although  it  may  not  be  managed  by  them,  it  is,  if  properly 
managed,  conducted  strictly  in  their  interests. 

VI.     EVOLUTION  OF  INSURANCE 

7.  Evolution  of  Life   Insurance. 

Life  insurance  as  a  business  had  its  earliest  beginnings  in 
Great  Britain.  But  that  kind  of  Insurance  did  not  come  first. 
Other  kinds,  including  the  insurance  of  ships  and  their  cargoes, 
preceded  it.  The  earliest  experiments  in  life  insurance,  more- 
over, were  crude  and  defective.  And  the  life  insurance  business 
can  hardly  be  said  to  have  been  established  on  a  sound  and 
efficient  basis  until  The  Equitable  Life  Assurance  Society 
of  London*  organized  its  business,  a  century  and  a  half  ago, 
on  a  scientific  foundation,  by  introducing  the  practice  of 
grading  its  charges  according  to  the  age  of  each  customer. 

Since  then  "the  development  of  the  life  insurance  business 
has  been  continuous — especially  in  the  United  States — and 
may  now  be  said  to  have  become  a  perfected  system. 

VII.     TECHNICAL  KNOWLEDGE 

But  what  is  the  scientific  basis  on  which  this  business  rests? 
Perhaps  this  question  may  be  answered  most  clearly  by  the 
employment  of  a  few  simple  illustrations: 

8.  A  Novice  Could  Not  Succeed 

Forty  years  ago,  Tony  Moreno  left  the  village  of  Hudson 
with  a  capital  of  $4.50  in  his  pocket.  He  worked  his  way  down 
to  the  city  on  board  a  sloop,  and  landed  at  a  dock  where  a 
vessel  from  the  West  Indies  was  discharging  a  cargo  of  fruit. 

That  gave  him  an  idea :  he  bought  some  bananas  and  oranges 
and  set  up  a  fruit  stand. 

The  "Old  Equitable ' '  of  London  was  incorporated  in  1762. 

17 


He  knew  nothing  about  the  fruit  business,  but  he  did  know 
what  his  bananas  and  oranges  had  cost  him,  and  he  sold 
them  at  a  profit,  and  invested  the  proceeds  in  a  larger  supply. 

Today  he  is  at  the  head  of  the  firm  of  Moreno,  Lorenzo  & 
Co.,  the  famous  wholesale  grocers  and  fruit  dealers. 

Now,  let  us  suppose  that  you  are  as  ignorant  about  the 
insurance  business  as  Tony  was  about  the  fruit  business.  If 
that  were  the  case,  could  you  start  an  insurance  company  as 
he  started  his  fruit  business? 

AN  ILLUSTRATION. 

Let  us  suppose  that  you  have  opened  an  office,  and  that 
Mrs.  Richard  Roe  invites  you  to  call  on  her,  for  the  purpose 
of  insuring  her  husband's  life  for  $5,000,  the  money  to  be 
paid  to  her  after  his  death. 

On  calling  you  find  Mr.  Roe  in  bed,  and  ask  the  doctor  who 
is  standing  by,  if  his  patient  is  seriously  ill.  You  learn  that 
the  man  is  dying — may  be  dead  in  an  hour,  and  cannot 
possibly  last  through  the  day. 

What,  in  such  a  case,  must  you  charge?  The  answer  is 
obvious:  you  know  that  if  you  grant  this  insurance  you  will 
assume  an  obligation  to  pay  $5,000  almost  immediately. 
Consequently,  your  charge  cannot  be  less  than  that  amount 
($5,000). 

It  is  not  conceivable  that  you  would  suggest  so  preposterous 
a  transaction  as  this;  and,  as  it  would  undoubtedly  occur  to  you 
that  it  is  not  customary  to  insure  the  lives  of  invalids,  you 
would  probably  say  that  on  account  of  Mr.  Roe's  illness  you 
would  not  be  able  to  issue  a  policy. 

But  what  has  enabled  you  to  discover  the  proper  charge  in 
this  case?  Can  you  tell?  Certainly.  It  is  the  fact  that  you  have 
discovered  just  when  Mr.  Roe  will  die. 

ANOTHER  ILLUSTRATION. 

Now  let  us  suppose  that  on  your  return  to  your  office  you 
find  there  a  man  who  wants  $1,000  of  insurance.  What  will 
you  do?  You  will  have  him  examined  by  a  physician,  and  if 
he  is  given  a  clean  bill  of  health  you  will  be  ready  to  proceed. 

18 


But  when  he  asks  you  to  name  your  charge  you  will  be  all 
at  sea,  for  you  will  have  no  means  of  knowing  how  long  he 
will  live.  Of  course,  you  may  make  a  wild  guess  and  tell  him 
that  he  must  pay,  say,  $100  down,  and  the  same  sum  annually 
thereafter. 

Assuming  that  you  have  fixed  this  rate,  let  us  see  how  it  will 
work: 

If  the  man  is  run  over  by  an  automobile  and  is  killed  on 
his  way  home,  you  will  be  out  $900.  Your  charge  will  have 
been  altogether  inadequate. 

But  if  he  meets  with  no  accident  and  lives  for  forty  years, 
you  will  take  in  $4,000,and  make  a  profit  of  $3,000 plus  interest. 
You  will  have  grossly  overcharged  the  man. 

Let  us  now  drop  these  illustrations,  which  have  served  their 
purpose,  and  see  if  we  can  find  out  what  really  ought  to  be 
charged. 


We  must  discover  the  cost  of  insuring  a  large 
number  of  people  before  we  can  determine  the 
share  which  each  person  must  pay. 


9.     The  Cost   of  Insuring   Lives. 

The  proper  charges  to  make  for  life  insurance  cannot  be 
discovered  if  we  attempt  to  deal  with  single  cases.  It  can 
only  be  done  if  we  deal  with  a  multitude  of  cases. 

Why  is  this? 

It  is  because  we  cannot  know  how  long  an  individual  will 
live,  while  the  average  length  of  life  of  a  large  body  of  people 
can  be  determined  with  substantial  accuracy,  in  accordance 
with  the  scientific  principle  called  the  Law  of  Average. 

Let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  this  law. 

19 


VIII.  LAW  OF  AVERAGE 

i 

10.  Law  of  Average 

If  you  pitch  a  penny  three  times  it  may  come  up  heads 
every  time.  But  you  will  make  a  mistake  if  you  conclude 
from  this  that  a  tossed  penny  will  always  come  up  heads. 
Everyone  knows  that  if  we  toss  a  coin  a  number  of  times 
tails  are  likely  to  come  up  as  often  as  heads.  And  if  we  toss 
it  a  sufficient  number  of  times  to  give  the  Law  of  Average  the 
opportunity  of  working  smoothly,  the  uniformity  of  the  result 
will  be  remarkable.  For  example,  if  we  toss  the  coin  20,000 
times,  the  result  will  be  approximately  as  follows: 
Heads  10,000  times.  Tails  10,000  times. 

These  are  familiar  truths,  but  it  is  not  so  well  known  that 
the  Law  of  Average  applies  also  with  substantial  accuracy  to 
what  are  seemingly  the  most  eccentric  of  happenings.  Some- 
times, for  example,  the  sender  of  a  letter  forgets  to  put  a 
postage  stamp  on  the  envelope.  At  first  blush,  the  attempt 
to  apply  any  fixed  law  to  such  an  accident  would  seem  prepos- 
terous, but  experience  proves  that  in  a  great  central  office 
where  millions  of  letters  are  posted,  the  proportion  that  will 
be  unstamped  in  a  given  year  can  be  predicted  with  some 
degree  of  accuracy. 

IX.  LAW  OF  MORTALITY 

11.  Law  of  Mortality 

Thus  it  is  with  life.  Charles  Babbage,  who  wrote  with 
authority  more  than  a  century  ago,  said  "Nothing  is  more 
proverbially  uncertain  than  the  duration  of  human  life  when 
the  maxim  is  applied  to  an  individual,  but  there  are  few 
things  less  subject  to  fluctuation  than  the  average  duration 
of  life  in  a  multitude  of  individuals. ' '  And  Dr.  Southwood 
Smith,  another  authority,  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  "Mortality 
is  subject  to  a  law  the  operation  of  which  is  as  regular  as  that 
of  gravitation. ' ' 


20 


The  uncertainty  regarding  the  life  of  the  individual  makes 
life  insurance  necessary.  The  certainty  regarding  the  life  of  a 
multitude  of  individuals  makes  it  possible  and  safe. 

By  carefully  studying  the  Law  of  Average  as  applied  to 
the  duration  of  human  life,  statistics  were  gradually  gathered 
and  tabulated,  and  finally  what  are  called  tables  of  mortality 
were  successfully  constructed. 

Every  such  table  was  based  at  first  on  the  recorded  death 
rate  of  some  city.  Every  modern  table  is  based  on  more 
accurate  statistics,  such  as  the  experience  of  some  insurance 
company  or  group  of  companies. 

X.     SUMMARY 

Let  us  pause  for  a  moment  to  bring  together  the  truths 
that  have  been  established,  and  to  determine  what  problems 
remain  to  be  solved. 

We  have  seen  that  a  life  insurance  company  is  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  a  large  body  of  people  banded  together  for 
mutual  protection,  and  that  the  interests  of  those  who  die 
are  thus  safeguarded  by  the  contributions  of  those  who  survive. 

How  this  is  possible  has  been  shown  in  §  2  by  means  of  a 
simple  illustration. 

But  everyone  knows  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  the  man 
who  wants  protection  to  form  an  independent  organization.  He 
can  go  as  an  individual  to  a  company  already  established, 
and  can  obtain  the  amount  and  kind  of  insurance  desired. 

But  how  is  the  company  to  know  what  charge  to  make? 
We  have  seen  that  the  answer  to  this  question  is  that  the 
only  way  is  to  find  out  first  what  the  cost  will  be  for  a  large 
body  of  people.  After  that,  by  applying  the  Law  of  Average 
the  share  which  each  individual  should  pay  can  be  determined. 

But  how  can  this  be  done?  How  is  it  possible  to  frame 
price  lists  (tables  of  premium  rates)  for  different  kinds  of 
insurance,  some  kinds  costing  more  to  grant  than  others, 
and  all  varying  according  to  the  age  of  each  individual? 

The  answer  is  that  correct  charges  are  determined  by 
means  of  a  Mortality  Table. 

21 


XI.     HOW  TO  DISCOVER  WHAT   TO 
CHARGE 


12.  Mortality    Table 

One  of  these  tables,  the  American  Experience  Table,  is  the 
one  used  by  the  Insurance  Department  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  by  most  of  the  companies. 

This  table  starts  with 
100,000  persons,  all  10 
years  of  age;  and  ac- 
cording to  the  table,  749 
of  them  will  die  before 
the  end  of  the  year; 
leaving  99,251  to  reach 
the  age  of  11. 

During  the  following 
year,  746  will  die,  leav- 
ing 98,505  to  attain  the 
age  of  12. 

Thus  a  definite  num- 
ber will  die  from  year  to 
year  until  at  age  95  only 
3  will  remain.  And  pre- 
sumably these  three  will 
die  before  reaching  the 
age  of  96. 

13.  Natural  Method 

Now,  let  us  see  how 
this  table  can  be  utilized 
in  determining  the  cost 
of  insuiing  the  lives  of  a 
body  of  men.  (Ignor- 
ing interest  and  expenses 
temporarily.) 


THE  AMERICAN  EXPERIENCE 

TABLE  OF  MORTALITY 

No.  Sur- 

Deaths 

No.  Sur- 

Deaths 

Age 

viving  at 

Each 

Age 

viving  at 

Each 

Each  Age 

Year 

Each  Age 

Year 

10 

100,000 

749 

54 

65,706 

1,143 

11 

99,251 

746 

55 

64,563 

1,199 

12 

98,505 

743 

56 

63,364 

1,260 

13 

97,762 

740 

57 

62,104 

1,325 

14 

97,022 

737 

58 

60,779 

1,394 

15 

96,285 

735 

59 

59,385 

1,468 

16 

95,550 

732 

60 

57,917 

1,546 

17 

94,818 

729 

61 

56,371 

1,628 

18 

94,089 

797 

62 

54,743 

1,713 

19 

93,362 

725 

63 

53,030 

1,800 

20 

92,637 

773 

64 

51,230 

1,889 

21 

91,914 

7?2 

65 

49,341 

1,980 

22 

91,192 

70! 

66 

47,361 

2,070 

23 

90,471 

790 

67 

45,291 

2,158 

24 

89,751 

7i9 

68 

43,133 

2,243 

25 

89,032 

718 

69 

40,890 

2,321 

26 

88,314 

718 

70 

38,569 

2,391 

27 

87,596 

718 

71 

36,178 

2,448 

28 

86,878 

718 

72 

33,730 

2,487 

29 

86,160 

719 

73 

31,243 

2,505 

30 

85,441 

720 

74 

28,738 

2,501 

31 

84,721 

7°1 

75 

26,237 

2,476 

32 

84,000 

7?3 

76 

23,761 

2,431 

33 

83,277 

7% 

77 

21,330 

2,369 

34 

82,551 

729 

78 

18,961 

2,291 

35 

81,822 

732 

79 

16,670 

2,196 

36 

81,090 

737 

80 

14,474 

2,091 

37 

80,353 

742 

81 

12,383 

1,964 

38 

79,611 

749 

82 

10,419 

1,816 

39 

78,862 

756 

83 

8,603 

1,648 

40 

78,106 

765 

84 

6,955 

1,470 

41 

77,341 

774 

85 

5,485 

1,292 

42 

76,567 

785 

86 

4,193 

1,114 

43 

75,782 

797 

87 

3,079 

933 

44 

74,985 

812 

88 

2,146 

744 

45 

74,173 

828 

89 

1,402 

555 

46 

73,345 

848 

90 

847 

385 

47 

72,497 

870 

91 

462 

246 

48 

71,627 

896 

92 

216 

137 

49 

70,731 

927 

93 

79 

58 

50 

69,804 

962 

94 

21 

18 

51 

68,842 

1,001 

95 

3 

3 

52 

67,841 

1,044 

96 

0 

0 

53 

66,797 

1,091 

22 


In  order  that  the  explanation  shall  be  clear  and  simple 
let  us  assume  that  the  members  of  this  body  are  all  of  the 
same  age  (50),  that  the  amount  of  insurance  in  each  case  is 
to  be  $1,000,  and  that  the  number  forming  the  body  corres- 
ponds with  the  number  of  survivors  in  the  Table  at  age  50; 
namely  69,804  persons. 

Let  us  now  see  what  it  will  cost  (disregarding  interest  and 
expense)  to  insure  these  persons,  for  $1,000  each  for  one  year. 

A  glance  at  the  Table  will  show  that  there  will  be  962 
deaths  during  the  year.  Hence,  these  people  would  find 
it  necessary  to  contribute  a  fund  amounting  to  $962,000 
($1,000  x  962).  And  the  sum  which  each  contributor  would 
have  to  pay  would  be  $13.78;  for  $962,000  (the  sum  required) 
divided  equally  among  69,804  persons  (the  number  contribut- 
ing) is  $13.78. 

($962,000  •*•  69,804  =  $13.78.) 

If  it  should  be  desired  to  insure  the  surviving  members  of 
this  body  for  another  year,  would  the  charge  in  each  case  be 
the  same  as  for  the  previous  year? 

No.  The  charge  must  be  higher,  the  contributors  will  be 
fewer  and  there  will  be  a  larger  number  of  death  claims  to 
pay. 

The  charge  for  each  person  for  the  second  year  must  there- 
fore be  $14.54;  for  $1,001,000  must  be  paid,  and  that  sum 
divided  among  68,842  persons  would  make  the  contribution 
of  each  $14.54. 

For  a  third  year,  $1,044,000  would  be  needed,  and  the 
charge  against  each  person  would  be  still  higher  ($15.39)  for 
there  would  only  be  67,841  contributors  and  the  number  of 
deaths  would  be  1,044. 

For  the  fourth  year  the  rate  would  be  $16.33,  and  for  the 
fifth  year,  $17.40. 

23 


XII.     THREE  WAYS  OF  CHARGING 

14.  Natural  Premium 

From  the  above,  it  will  be  seen  that  if  insurance  is  paid 
for  from  year  to  year,  the  cost  will  necessarily  increase  from 
year  to  year. 

When  insurance  is  charged  for  in  this  way,  we  have  what 
is  called  the  "natural ' '  method  of  charging.  And  each  payment 
which  the  policyholder  must  make  is  called  the  "natural" 
premium.* 

15.  Single     Premium 

But  experience  proves  that  people  do  not  like  to  pay  for 
their  insurance  on  the  "natural ' '  basis,  because  of  the  steadily 
increasing  charge.  Consequently  other  methods  have  been 
devised.  One  of  these  is  to  charge  a  single  premium,  so  that 
one  sum  payable  in  advance  shall  be  sufficient  to  carry  the 
insurance  until  its  maturity. 

The  correct  single  premium  is  that  sum  which  if  paid  in 
advance  will  be  equivalent  to  the  series  of  payments  provided 
for  under  the  "natural"  plan. 

While  all  the  companies  are  ready  to  issue  insurance  on  the 
single  premium  plan,  few  people  are  able  or  willing  to  thus 
pay  a  large  sum  in  advance.** 

16.  Level  Premium 

So  the  companies  have  devised  a  third  plan.  This  is  called 
the  "level  premium"  plan.  It  is  so  called  because  a  rate 
equivalent  to  the  "natural ' '  rate,  and  to  the  "single  premium, ' ' 

*Further  explanations  regarding  this  method  of  charging  will  be 
found  in  §  304,  but  need  not  be  considered  at  this  time. 

**Further  explanations  of  the  single  premium  are  given  in  §  305,  but 
need  not  be  considered  at  this  time. 

24 


is  framed  in  such  a  way  that  a  uniform  charge  shall  be 
made — so  that  the  premium  shall  be  for  the  same  amount 
from  year  to  year. 

17.  Popularity  of  the  Level  Premium 

Substantially  all  the  "regular"  *  life  insurance  companies 
transact  their  business  on  the  level  premium  basis.  Con- 
sequently, we  must  go  more  into  detail  in  describing  it.  To 
this  end,  the  question  of  interest  must  now  be  taken  up. 

18.  Interest 


Even  if  the  business  could  be  conducted  without  expense 
the  mortality  table  would  not  by  itself  show  the  rates  which 
ought  to  be  charged.  This  is  because  the  table  takes  no 
account  of  interest.  But  the  premiums  paid  to  the  company 
are  invested  and  earn  interest',  so  the  company  gives  the 
policyholder  the  benefit  of  interest.  This  slightly  reduces  the 
rates  derived  from  the  Mortality  Table. 

Just  here  it  should  be  noted  that  in  computations  of  this 
kind  the  actuaries  assume  that  all  premiums  are  paid  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year,  and  that  death  claims  are  not  paid  until 
the  end  of  the  year.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  claims  are  paid  from 
time  to  time  during  the  year  as  the  policies  mature.  But  in 
computing  premiums  the  policyholder  is  given  the  benefit  of 
the  foregoing  assumption.  Any  small  deficiencies  resulting 
from  this  course  are  taken  care  of  in  providing  for  expenses. 

But  the  exact  amount  of  interest  which  the  company  will 
earn  in  the  future  cannot  be  known  in  advance.  Hence  a 
rate  must  be  assumed.  And  as  this  assumed  rate  will  apply 
to  contracts  that  may  extend  for  many  years  into  the  future, 
the  rate  must  be  conservative.  There  was  a  time  when  5% 
was  assumed;  at  later  dates,  4>^%,  4%  and  3#%  were  employ- 
ed. At  present  the  rate  most  frequently  adopted  is  3%. 

The  "regular"  companies  are  sometimes  called  "legal  reserve" 
companies  or  "old  line"  companies. 

25 


19.  Pure    Premium 

As  soon  as  interest  has  been  deducted  from  the  rate  derived 
from  the  Mortality  Table  we  have  what  is  called  the  Pure 
Premium. 

This  is  often  called  the  net  premium.  But  the  word  net  is 
ambiguous;  for  the  policyholder  regards  the  premium  he  pays, 
less  his  dividend  (refund)  as  the  net  rate.  Hence,  in  this  con- 
nection, it  is  better  to  use  the  word  "pure"  than  the  word  "net." 

20.  Gross  Premium 

Does  the  pure  premium  represent  the  sum  a  man  must  pay 
who  goes  to  a  life  insurance  company  for  insurance?  By  no 
means.  No  business  of  any  kind  can  be  transacted  without 
expense;  consequently,  the  pure  premium  must  be  increased 
by  a  "loading"  to  provide  for  expenses  and  contingencies. 
When  thus  increased,  we  have  the  GROSS  PREMIUM— the  actual 
sum  which  the  policyholder  must  pay. 

21.  How  is   the   Loading  Determined? 

Just  as  an  insurance  company  cannot  tell  in  advance  what 
rate  of  interest  it  will  earn,  so  it  cannot  tell  in  advance  exactly 
what  its  expenses  will  be.  But  years  of  observation  and 
experience  enable  it  to  make  a  close  estimate,  in  order  that 
the  loading  shall  be  adequate  without  being  excessive.  And 
when  the  business  is  conducted  on  the  "participating" 
("mutual")  basis,  the  policyholders  suffer  no  permanent 
injury  even  if  the  loading  should  be  larger  than  is  necessary, 
for  after  they  have  received  their  dividends  (refunds)  they  will 
have  obtained  their  insurance  substantially  at  cost. 

2  2 .     Amount  of  the  Gross  Premium  not  all  Important 

The  gross  premium  is  usually  obtained  by  adding  a  certain 

percentage  of  the  pure  premium  to  the  pure  premium — that 

* 
26 


is,  to  itself;  (See  §306  and  §307).  But  the  members  of  a  "par- 
ticipating' '  company  should  not  be  chiefly  interested  in  getting 
their  insurance  at  the  lowest  possible  rate.  Their  chief  anxiety 
should  be  to  satisfy  themselves  that  their  company  is  charging 
rates  which  are  sufficiently  high.  This  is  because  safety  should 
be  their  first  consideration.  And,  as  they  are  more  like  partners 
than  mere  customers,  it  is  better  that  the  rate  should  be  too 
high  than  too  low,  since  any  excess  payments  will  ultimately 
be  returned  in  the  shape  of  REFUNDS. 

23.     Premiums  Graded  According  to  Age 

All  companies  conducted  on  sound  principles  grade  their 
charges  strictly  according  to  age,  as  follows: 

When  premiums  are  paid  on  the  "natural"  basis 
the  amount  of  the  first  premium  is  determined  by  the 
age  of  the  policyholder  at  the  time  the  insurance  is 
taken,  and  all  subsequent  premiums  will  increase 
from  year  to  year. 

When  the  insurance  is  on  the  single  premium  plan, 
the  amount  of  the  one  payment  is  determined  by  the 
age  of  the  policyholder  at  the  time  the  insurance  is 
taken,  and  that  will  end  the  transaction  as  far  as 
premium  payments  are  concerned. 

When  the  insurance  is  taken  on  the  "level"  basis, 
the  rate  is  determined  by  the  age  of  the  policyholder 
when  the  insurance  is  taken,  and  the  rate  will  remain 
the  same  thereafter  throughout  the  history  of  the 
policy. 

SECTIONS  IN  THE  APPENDIX  DEALING  WITH  PREMIUM  RATES 

The  Natural  Premium . .  §  304. 
The  Single  Premium ...  §  305. 
The  Level  Premium  ...  §  306. 

27 


XIII.     THE  RESERVE 


24.     Reserve. 

We  have  seen  that  if  insurance  is  paid  for  on  the  "natural" 
basis  the  premium  will  necessarily  increase  from  year  to  year. 
It  follows  from  this  that  if  an  equivalent  level  rate  is  charged, 
that  rate  will  necessarily  be  higher  than  the  "natural"  rate 
during  the  policy's  earlier  years,  and  lower  than  the  "natural" 
rate  later  on.  This  being  so,  it  is  obvious  that  under  the 
level  premium  plan,  the  overpayments  during  the  earlier 
years  must  be  held  for  the  purpose  of  making  up  the  deficiencies 
in  the  later  years.  This  is  shown  by  the  following  table: 

TABLE 

The  history  of  1,000  Policies  for  $1,000  each,  issued  at  Age  40,  and  extending  over  a 
Period  of  60  Years. 


6  Periods 
of 
10  Years 
each 

Pure 
Level 
Premiums 
Age  40 

Death 
Claims 

Excess  of 
Premiums 
over 
Claims 

Excess  of 
Claims 
over 
Premiums 

Interest 
earned 

3% 

Reserve 
at  end  of 
each 
Period 

1st  period.  .  . 

$236,106 

$106,000 

$130,106 

$28,311 

$158,417 

2d  period  .  .  . 

205,745 

152,000 

53,745 

72,373 

284,535 

3d  period  .  .  . 

158,245 

248,000 

$89,755 

95,193 

289,973 

4th  period. 

87,287 

309,000 

221,713 

71,929 

14  0,189 

5th  period 

21,904 

174,000 

152,096 

21,792 

9,885 

6th  period  . 

520 

11,000 

10,480 

595 

0 

Based  on  the  American  Experience  Table  and  3%  interest 

EXPLANATION  OF  FOREGOING  TABLE 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  table  that  during  the  first 
period  of  ten  years  the  premiums  have  been  sufficient  to 
pay  all  the  death  claims,  leaving  a  surplus  of  $130,106.  As 
this  surplus  has  not  been  needed  to  pay  the  death  claims  it 
is  obvious  that  it  could  be  lost  or  wasted  without  resulting 
in  any  immediate  injury. 

During  the  second  period  of  ten  years,  the  premiums  have 
also  been  sufficient  to  pay  all  the  death  claims,  leaving  a 
surplus  of  $53,745.  This  surplus  might  also  be  lost  or  wasted 
without  immediate  injury. 

flB 


But  if  this  money  should  thus  be  wasted,  disaster  would 
inevitably  follow  before  the  end  of  the  third  period;  for  the 
premiums  for  that  period  are  less  than  the  death  claims. 

And  during  the  three  subsequent  periods  the  premiums  are 
also  less  than  the  death  claims. 

From  all  this  it  is  obvious  that  although  the  surplus  funds 
accumulated  during  the  earlier  years  are  not  needed  for  the 
time  being,  they  will  be  needed  later  on.  When,  therefore, 
the  business  is  conducted  on  the  level  premium  basis,  the 
company  must  accumulate  a  reserve  fund,  in  order  that  it  may 
be  able  to  meet  its  future,  as  well  as  its  present,  obligations. 
This  fund  is  called  the  "Insurance  Reserve,"  or  simply  the 
RESERVE. 

The  absolute  necessity  for  an  adequate  RESERVE  is  illus- 
trated in  another  way  by  the  following  diagram. 


The  reserve  is  a  sacred  fund  which  must  be 
guarded  with  the  utmost  vigilance;  for  if  the 
resources  of  a  Company  are  so  impaired  as  to  eat 
into  the  reserve,  the  Company  will  necessarily 
become  insolvent. 


< 
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F  DIAGRAM 

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XIV.     ASSETS,  LIABILITIES,   RESERVE, 
SURPLUS 

25.  Reserve    Illustrated 

To  show  just  what  the  RESERVE  is,  let  us  examine  some 
of  the  items  in  the  balance  sheet  issued  at  the  end  of  the 
year,  by  a  company  of  moderate  size,  such  as  the  Typical 
Company. 

ITEMS    FROM   THE   BALANCE   SHEET  OF 
THE  TYPICAL   LIFE  INSURANCE   COMPANY 

ASSETS,  December  31 $  36,854,327.70 

LIABILITIES 

RESERVE $28,377,832.33 

All   other   liabilities...     1,009,808.59    29,387,640.92 

SURPLUS 7,466.686.78 

INSURANCE  IN  FORCE,  December  31  .$171, 556,895. 00 

It  will  be  inferred  that  the  liabilities  of  an  insurance 
company  will  consist  largely  of  insurance  obligations.  This 
is  true.  And  this  truth  is  illustrated  in  the  case  of  the  Typical 
Company  whose  liabilities  consist  almost  altogether  of  the 
RESERVE  ($28,377,832.)  which  represents  its  insurance 
obligations.  As  will  be  seen,  the  rest  of  its  liabilities  are  a 
comparatively  small  sum  ($1,009,808.) 

26.  The.  Reserve  a  present   liability 

But  the  novice  who  examines  the  foregoing  items  taken 
from  the  balance  sheet  of  the  Typical  Company  will  be 
startled  to  observe  that  its  RESERVE,  ($28,377,832)  increased 
by  its  SURPLUS  ($7,466,686)  is  all  the  money  the  company 
has  to  pay  its  Insurance  in  Force,  which  amounts  to 
$171,556,895. 

32 


Naturally  he  will  wonder  how  a  large  sum  can  be  paid 
out  of  a  small  sum — the  latter  in  this  case  be'ng  only  one- 
fifth  part  of  the  former.  But  the  explanation  is  not  far  to 
seek: 

The  RESERVE  represents  only  the  present  insurance  lia- 
bility of  the  company.  If  all  its  policies  should  mature 
immediately,  this  RESERVE  would  be  altogether  inadequate. 
But  all  its  po  icies  will  not  mature  immediately:  they  will 
fall  due  gradually  as  shown  by  any  reliable  mortality  table. 
Thus  time  will  be  given  for  the  RESERVE  to  be  increased 
by  interest  and  by  the  premiums  policyholders  will  pay. 
And  thus  increased,  the  RESERVE  will  pay  all  these  policies 
as  they  fall  in. 

DEFINITION 

The  RESERVE  is  that  sum  of  money  which, 
increased  by  future  interest  and  future  premiums, 
will  be  sufficient  to  pay  all  the  outstanding 
policies  of  the  company,  as  they  mature.  . 

27.     Reserves  on  individual  policies 

We  must  carefully  distinguish  between  the  total  RESERVE 
and  the  reserves  on  individual  policies.  The  total  RESERVE 
represents  the  fund  needed  to  take  care  of  all  the  policies, 
and  consists  of  the  sum  of  the  reserves  credited  to  the  indivi- 
dual policies. 

Just  here  it  must  be  noted  that  the  reserve  on  any  given 
policy  may  be  either  adequate  or  inadequate  to  take  care 
of  that  particular  contract.  If,  for  example,  the  Insured 
dies  before  any  substantial  amount  has  beert  accumulated, 
the  reserve  in  that  case,  if  viewed  independently  of  other 
cases,  might  seem  inadequate.  But  no  injury  will  result 
to  the  company,  because  the  sum  of  the  reserves  on  all  the 
policies  will  be  adequate  to  take  care  of  all  the  policies 
taken  in  the  mass. 

33 


28.  Amount  of  Reserve 

The  chief  duty  of  the  Actuary  of  every  company  is  to  see 
that  an  adequate  RESERVE  is  maintained  at  all  times,  and  the 
most  important  duty  of  every  Insurance  Department  is  to 
check  off  each  Insurance  company  transacting  business  within 
its  jurisdiction,  so  as  to  be  certain  that  this  has  been  done. 

The  RESERVE  is  discovered  by  "valuing  the  policies"; 
that  is  to  say  actuarial  computations  are  made  to  determine 
the  present  obligations  of  the  company  under  its  outstand- 
ing policies. 

As  long  as  a  company  maintains  an  adequate  RESERVE  its$ 
policyholders  may  be  protected;  for  if  the  company  should 
deem  it  expedient  to  go  out  of  business,  or  should  be  forced 
to  close  its  doors,  the  RESERVE  would  provide  sufficient 
money  to  re-insure  its  risks  in  another  company.  Hence, 
the  RESERVE  has  sometimes  been  called  the  "Re-insurance 
Fund." 

If  the  insurance  company  had  no  obligations  except  its 
insurance  obligations,  the  difference  between  its  ASSETS  and 
its  RESERVE  would  be  its  SURPLUS.  And,  as  we  have  seen, 
this  comes  near  being  the  actual  situation,  because  a  properly 
conducted  company  has,  comparatively  speaking,  very  few 
other  obligations.  Nevertheless,  any  additional  obligations 
must  be  added  to  the  RESERVE  to  determine  the  total  LIA- 
BILITIES. And  if  we  wish  to  determine  the  exact  amount  of 
the  SURPLUS,  we  must  deduct  the  total  LIABILITIES  from  the 
ASSETS. 

29.  Surplus. 

If  you  will  refer  again  to  the  Tytiical  Company  (§25)  you 
will  see  that  if  from  the  ASSETS  amounting  to  $36,854,327.70 
we  deduct  the  LIABILITIES 29,387,640.92 

we  shall  have  the  SURPLUS $7,466,686.78 

34 


Now  all  these  surplus-assets  of  $7,466,686.78  could  be 
swept  away,  and  the  company  would  still  be  solvent — but 
barely  solvent.  Hence  SURPLUS  is  worth  preserving;  for  a 
barely  solvent  insurance  company  would  obviously  be  in  a 
very  precarious  situation. 

30.     The  need  of  surplus. 

It  is  as  essential  for  an  insurance  company  to  have  an 
adequate  Surplus,  as  a  bank,  trust  company,  or  any  other 
business  organization.  And  for  two  reasons: 

(a).  To  insure  the  stability  of  the  company— 
to  guarantee  adequate  protection  to  its  policy- 
holders. 

(b).  To  enable  the  company  to  pay  REFUNDS 
(dividends)  to  its  policyholders. 

The  only  fund  from  which  REFUNDS  can  be  paid  legitimately 
is  the  SURPLUS.  This  is  because  the  rest  of  the  company's 
assets  will  be  needed  to  meet  its  liabilities  (the  RESERVE  to 
meets  its  insurance  obligations,  and  the  remainder  to  pro- 
vide for  its  miscellaneous  obligations.) 

Some  companies  break  surplus  up  into  separate  items, 
and  call  these  items  by  other  names;  but,  the  actual  surplus 
can  always  be  determined  by  applying  the  following 
test:  Any  balance  of  assets  over  liabilities  is  surplus  if 
it  can  be  used  to  repair  losses  or  injuries  to  the  company,  or 
can  be  apportioned  to  policyholders  in  the  shape  of  REFUNDS. 
It  ceases  to  be  surplus,  even  if  still  held  by  the  company,  as 
soon  as  it  has  been  appropriated  to  meet  a  definite  obliga- 
tion, or  has  been  apportioned  as  REFUNDS  on  individual 
policies. 

If  it  is  set  aside  to  provide  for  some  possible  contingency 
then  it  will  be,  so  to  speak,  surplus  with  a  string  to  it,  and 
will  be  called  a  "contingent  liability." 

35 


XV.     DIVIDENDS 

31.  Dividends 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  payment  made  from  SURPLUS  to  a 
policyholder  is  called  a  "dividend."  But  no  single  word,  or 
short  phrase,  can  be  found  to  describe  with  absolute  precision 
what  this  so-called  dividend  is. 

The  most  accurate  name  is  "return  premium."  A  shorter 
and  more  convenient  name  is  REFUND.  But  neither  is  suffi- 
ciently comprehensive.  Consider  the  policies  of  a  company 
conducted  on  the  "participating"  basis,  on  which  level  annual 
premiums  are  being  paid.  These  premiums,  as  we  have  seen, 
are  higher  than  is  necessary.  Consequently  at  the  end  of  the 
year  when  the  company  has  determined  the  actual  cost  of 
this  insurance,  the  sum  representing  the  unused  portions  of 
the  premiums  paid  will  be  transferred  to  SURPLUS.  Then, 
from  this  SURPLUS  a  sufficient  sum  will  be  set  aside  to  pay 
each  of  these  policyholders  a  REFUND,  the  aim  being  to  give 
him  (without  impairing  the  stability  of  the  company)  a  sum 
which  will  so  reduce  the  Gross  Premium  as  to  give  him  his 
insurance  at  approximately  cost  price. 

If  this  were  all,  it  would  be  strictly  accurate  to  describe 
these  dividends  as  "return  premiums"  or  "refunds."  But 
there  may  be,  and  usually  is,  a  slight  addition  resulting  from 
other  savings  or  profits,  and  to  that  extent  the  payment  is 
an  actual  dividend. 

32.  How  refunds  may  be  utilized. 

While  it  is  true  that  a  REFUND  may  be  used  as  so  much  cash 
to  reduce  the  premium,  it  may  be  utilized  in  several  other 
ways.* 


*As  explained  in  §  99. 

36 


XVI.     SOURCES  OF  SAVINGS  AND  PROFITS 

33.     What  refunds  consist  of 


The  following  are  the  sources  of  the   savings  and  profits 
of  which  REFUNDS  are  composed. 

1.  Mortality   Savings.     A    company  in  computing  its 
premium  rates  assumes  that  the  mortality  among  its  policy- 
holders  will  be  no  greater  than  is  indicated  by  the  mortality 
table  on  which  its  premiums  are  based.    But  the  actual 
death  rate  may  be  lower  than  that  indicated  in  the  table. 
If  so,  something  will  be  saved. 

2.  Savings  in  Interest.    Every  company  expects  to  earn, 
and  as  a  matter  of  fact  does  earn,  a  higher  rate  than  it 
assumes.    If  3%  is  assumed,  all  receipts  from  interest  over 
and  above  that  rate  will  be  credited  to  SURPLUS. 

3.  Savings  in  Expenses.     In  the  same  way  the  company 
assumes  a  certain  rate  of  expense,  and  if  by  economy  its 
expenses  are  less  than  it  has  estimated,  the  saving  will  be 
credited  to  SURPLUS. 

4.  Profits.    All  profits  increase  Surplus.  If,  for  example 
an  investment  has  been  made  and  is  subsequently  sold, 
and  if  the  price  secured  is  higher  than  the  price  paid,  there 
will  be  a  margin  of  profit  which  must  be  credited  to  SUR- 
PLUS. 

XVII.     TAXATION 
34.     Taxing  the  savings  of  policyholders 

It  is  well  that  when  standard  premium  rates  were  estab- 
lished many  years  ago,  the  companies  added  a  sufficient 
"loading"  to  the  pure  premium  to  provide  for  contingencies, 
for  at  that  time  the  insurance  companies  were  not  taxed,  and 
in  fixing  premium  rates  no  specific  provision  was  made  for 
taxes.  It  was  observed  that,  as  a  rule  the  savings  of  the  people 
deposited  in  savings  banks  were  exempted  from  taxation, 
and  it  was  natural  to  assume  that  the  savings  of  the  people 
deposited  with  insurance  companies  would  be  exempted  also. 

37 


Later  on,  however,  insurance  departments  were  established 
in  the  various  States  to  supervise  the  companies.  That  the 
companies  should  be  called  upon  to  pay  the  legitimate  ex- 
penses of  these  departments  was  reasonable,  and  when 
moderate  taxes  were  imposed  for  that  purpose,  there  were 
no  protests  on  the  part  of  the  companies.  Usually  these 
taxes  represented  a  small  percentage  of  the  Premium  Income 
of  each  company;  and  as  the  companies  were  not  very  large 
the  amount  which  each  company  was  called  upon  to  pay 
was  moderate.  But  as  the  companies  grew,  these  taxes  grew 
until  the  burden  became  intolerably  heavy. 

WHY  POLICYHOLDERS  HAVE  NOT  PROTESTED 

The  reason  policyholders  have  been  apathetic  about  taxa- 
tion is  due  to  the  strange  popular  delusion  (which  is  not  only 
entertained  by  the  public  at  large,  but  by  many  senators, 
congressmen  and  state  legislators)  that  the  company  can 
be  taxed  without  injuring  the  policyholder.  But  every  penny 
paid  in  taxes  by  a  company  conducted  on  the  participating 
plan  reduces  the  Surplus  of  that  company  to  that  extent. 
And  every  reduction  in  Surplus  reduces  the  REFUNDS  to 
policyholders. 

The  reason  policyholders  have  ignored  this  fact  is  that 
their  premiums  have  not  been  increased.  They  have  not 
been  called  upon  to  disburse  any  money.  But  the  companies 
have  been  forced  to  reduce  their  REFUNDS  in  order  to  pay 
these  taxes.  Consequently,  although  the  policyholders  have 
not  paid  these  taxes  directly,  they  have  paid  them  indirectly. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  a  policyholder  is  disappointed 
and  complains  that  the  REFUNDS  paid  to  him  have  not  been 
as  large  as  he  expected;  and  as  a  rule  such  complaints  have 
been  directed  against  the  company  and  its  management,  and 
not  against  those  who  are  responsible  for  these  taxes;  namely, 
the  lawmakers  who  have  levied  them.  In  some  cases  policy- 
holders  who  have  complained  have  also  been  legislators  who 
have  voted  in  favor  of  taxing  life  insurance  companies,  and 

38 


have  thus  been  directly  responsible  for  the  fact  that  the 
REFUNDS  they  have  received  have  not  increased  more  rapidly. 
The  remedy  for  this  evil  is  in  the  education  of  the  people, 
in  order  that  they  shall  send  intelligent  and  well  informed 
men  to  Congress  and  to  the  State  Legislatures — men  who 
will  see  clearly  that  the  taxation  of  thrift  is  as  shortsighted 
as  it  is  unjust. 


When  the  people  are  thor- 
oughly educated,  our  law- 
makers will  cease  taxing  thrift. 


XVIII.     IMPORTANCE    OF    A    LOW    DEATH 

RATE 

35.  Medical  examinations,  why  necessary 

If  the  Law  of  Mortality  indicates  that  people  normally 
situated  die  in  accordance  with  a  fixed  law,  why  does  the 
company  require  each  applicant  to  be  examined  by  a  physician 
and  pronounced  a  satisfactory  risk  before  it  will  issue  a  policy 
on  his  life?  If  the  Law  of  Mortality  is  reliable,  why  the  need 
of  these  examinations?  If  some  policyholders  die  prematurely 
will  not  the  result  on  the  average  be  satisfactory  whether 
applicants  have  been  examined  or  not? 

This  is  a  pertinent  question  and  must  be  answered. 

36.  Insurance  is  not  compulsory 

If  all  the  people  were  compelled  to  insure,  or  if  they  would 
all  apply  voluntarily,  medical  examinations  could  be  dis- 
pensed with,  because  the  Law  of  Mortality  would  then  work 
without  interference. 

39 


37.  Adverse  selection 

But  no  company  can  compel  people  to  insure.  It  can  only 
insure  those  who  apply.  And  if  any  company  should  announce 
that  it  would  accept  every  person  who  applied,  healthy  people 
would  remain  away,  and  invalids,  including  those  with 
one  foot  in  the  grave,  would  flock  to  it.  Thus  what  is  called 
"adverse  selection"  would  saddle  upon  it  a  body  of  policy- 
holders,  who,  instead  of  dying  in  accordance  with  the  mortality 
table,  would  die  very  much  more  rapidly. 

38.  Careful  selection  means  profit 

No  skillfully  managed  company,  moreover,  is  content  to 
have  its  death  rate  barely  correspond  with  the  mortality 
table  it  employs.  Its  aim  is  to  select  its  risks  so  carefully 
that  its  death  rate  shall  be  lower  than  the  rate  assumed. 
Success  in  this  direction  will  have  a  twofold  advantage: 
the  company  will  be  stronger,  and  the  cost  to  policyholders  will 
be  reduced. 

But  it  should  be  carefully  noted  that  the  medicai  exam- 
ination is  not  for  the  purpose  of  finding  perfect  human  speci- 
mens. The  aim  is  simply  to  rule  out  invalids,  and  to  prevent 
fraudulent  transactions.  Nor  is  the  examination  the  painful 
ordeal  that  many  sensitive  people  imagine.  It  is  such  an 
examination  as  every  prudent  man  should  ask  his  family 
physician  to  make  from  time  to  time  for  his  own  guidance. 

XIX.     THREE   METHODS  OF  CONDUCTING 
THE  INSURANCE  BUSINESS 

Thus  far  life  insurance  as  conducted  on  the  participating 
(mutual)  basis  has  been  described.  But  there  are  two  other 
recognized  methods:  One  is  the  Non-participating  (stock) 
Plan.  The  other  is  the  Mixed  Plan. 

40 


The  differences  between  the  participating  plan,  and  the 
two  other  plans  may  be  shown  by  a  simple  illustration: 

ILLUSTRATION 

If  a  party  of  travelers  wished  to  take  a  European  excursion 
tney  might  proceed  in  any  one  of  the  following  ways: 

1.  The  party  might  form  an  association,  each  member 
.ontributing  his  share  of  a  general  fund  sufficiently  large 

to  certainly  pay  the  total  cost  of  the  trip,  it  being  under- 
stood that  on  the  return  of  the  party  each  one  would  receive 
back  his  share  of  the  amount  left  over. 

That  illustrates  the  mutual  plan. 

2.  Or,  the  party  might  go  to  a  responsible  tourist  agency, 
and  each  member  pay  a  fixed  sum   (representing  a  fairly 
close  approximation  to  the  probable  cost)  with  the  under- 
standing that  if  the  cost  of  conducting  the  excursion  should 
be  less  than  the  aggregate  sum  deposited,  the  savings  would 
belong  to  the  agency,  and  that  if  the  cost  should  be  more 
than  the  aggregate  deposited,  the  agency  would  stand  the 

loss. 

That  illustrates  the  slock  plan. 

3.  Or,  the  party,  instead  of  forming  its  own  organization, 
might  pay  their  contributions  to  the  agency,  on  the  basis 
of  Plan  1,  but  with  the  understanding  that  the  money  left 
over  should  be  returned  to  the  tourists  less  a  certain  per- 
centage of  the  amount  saved,  which  should  be  retained  by 
the  agency. 

That  illustrates  the   mixed  plan — a  compromise   between  the 
slock  plan  and  the  mutual  plan,  as  its  name  suggests. 

39.     Mutual  plan 

When  the  business  is  conducted  on  the  participating  basis, 
the  policyholder  becomes  a  sort  of  partner.  That  is  not 
his  legal  status,  but  the  word  roughly  indicates  his  relation  to 
the  organization.  The  company,  if  properly  conducted,  is 
managed  for  the  benefit  of  the  policy  holders  exclusively.  It 

41 


is  true  that  they  must  pay  premiums  a  little  higher  than 
may  be  necessary,  but  the  ultimate  cost  will  be  reduced  by 
REFUNDS. 

40.  Stock  plan 

Under  the  stock  plan  the  company  adds  to  the  pure  pre- 
mium a  very  moderate  loading,  and  sells  its  policies  at  the 
fixed  rate  thus  determined.  It  is  assumed  of  course  that 
the  rate  will  be  adequate,  or  rather  that  it  will  be  something 
more  than  adequate,  but  not  much  more,  because  it  is  under- 
stood that  anything  saved  shall  go  to  the  stockholders  and 
not  to  the  policyholders.  The  equity  of  this  is  obvious: 
the  shareholders  of  the  company — its  proprietors — guarantee 
that  if  the  premiums  prove  inadequate  they  must  suffer  the 
loss;  and  to  make  this  guarantee  good,  they  must  provide 
their  company  with  a  stock  capital  (in  addition  to  the  assets 
contributed  by  the  policyholders)  so  that  if  during  any  year 
the  insurance  costs  more  than  they  receive,  they  shall  have 
an  adequate  fund  from  which  to  make  up  the  deficiency. 
And  as  they  take  the  chance  of  such  a  loss,  their  contention 
is  that  they  are  entitled  to  any  savings  that  may  be  made. 
A'l  this  being  so,  it  is  obvious  that  the  capital  stock  of  such  a 
company  ought  to  be  large. 

A  company  conducted  on  the  participating  plan  needs  no 

capital,  or  if  the  law  demands  a  capital,  a  merely  nominal 

amount  will  be  adequate. 

41.  Mixed  plan 

A  company  conducted  according  to  the  "mixed"  method 
has  a  capital  in  addition  to  the  assets  contributed  by  policy- 
holders.  It  offers  its  insurance  on  the  participating  plan. 
The  premium  charged  usually  corresponds  with  that  charged 
by  a  mutual  company,  and  dividends  are  similarly  returned 
to  the  policyholder.  But  the  company  does  not  agree  to 
pay  all  the  divisible  surplus  to  its  policyholders;  it  reserves 
a  portion  for  the  shareholders  who  are  the  owners  of  the  capital . 

42 


stock.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  "mixed"  company  con- 
ducts its  business  substantially  on  the  mutual  plan,  although 
only  a  part  of  the  savings  go  to  the  policyholders. 

42.     The  three  methods  compared 

The  chief  arguments  advanced  by  the  advocates  of  these 
three  systems  are  as  follows: 

The  advocates  of  the  "participating"  plan 
commend  it,  (1)  because  of  its  safety,  and 
(2)  because  they  claim  that  the  ultimate  cost 
to  policyholders  will  be,  or  ought  to  be,  less 
than  under  either  of  the  other  plans. 

The  advocates  of  the  "non-participating" 
plan  contend  (1)  That  people  prefer  to  have 
definite  knowledge  in  advance  of  the  exact 
amount  of  each  premium;  (2)  that  as  the 
stockholders  have  risked  a  considerable  amount 
of  their  own  money  in  the  business  they  will 
manage  it  with  exceptional  caution  and  energy; 
and  (3)  that  the  moderate  premium  which  the 
policyholder  must  pay  at  the  start  will  remain 
unchanged  throughout  the  history  of  the  con- 
tract. 

The  advocates  of  the  "mixed"  plan  contend, 
(1)  That  the  government  and  control  are  as 
definite  and  secure  as  in  the  case  of  the  stock 
company;  (2)  that  the  zeal  of  the  shareholders 
will  insure  so  successful  a  management  that, 
after  setting  aside  for  themselves  a  percentage 
of  the  profits,  they  will  be  able  to  pay  policy- 
holders  a  dividend  nearly  or  quite  as  large  as 
could  a  purely  mutual  company,  and  (3)  that  the 
capital  stock  provides  additional  security  for 
the  policyholders 

43 


XX.     RECAPITULATION    OF    THE    TRUTHS 
THUS   FAR  ESTABLISHED 

43.     Recapitualtion 

We  have  seen  that  a  life  insurance  company  is  an  associa- 
tion of  members  banded  together  for  mutual  advantage. 


The  company  is  managed  by  directors  and  officers,  but 
they  act  as  the  representatives  of  the  policyholders.  The 
policyholders  really  constitute  the  company.  Every  member 
pays  a  certain  premium  each  year  (the  charge  being  larger 
or  smaller  according  to  his  age,  the  amount  of  insurance  taken 
and  the  kind  of  policy  selected)  and  the  payments  made  will 
be  adequate  on  the  average,  for,  although  some  policyholders 
will  die  soon  and  pay  less,  others  will  live  longer  and  pay  more. 
Thus  an  aggregate  sufficient  to  pay  all  the  policies  as  they 
mature  will  be  contributed. 


There  is  no  guess-work  about  the  conduct  of  this  business. 
It  is  founded  on  scientific  principles,  and  its  charges  are 
based  on  a  knowledge  of  the  approximate  cost  of  assuming 
life  insurance  risks  of  all  kinds. 


Premiums  are  graded  in  accordance  with  a  fixed  law,  called 
the  LAW  OF  AVERAGE.  This  law,  when  applied  to  the  dura- 
tion of  life  is  called  the  LAW  OF  MORTALITY,  and  tables  of 
mortality  are  constructed  to  illustrate  the  workings  of  this 
law. 

Premiums  are  computed  as  follows,  (1)  The  proper  charge 
in  each  case  is  determined  from  the  Mortality  Table.  Then 
an  allowance  is  made  for  interest,  producing  the  pure  premium. 
Then  a  charge  is  made — that  is,  a  "loading"  is  added  to  the 
pure  premium — for  expenses  and  contingencies — producing 
the  gross  premium. 

44 


The  GROSS  PREMIUM  represents  the  correct  price  which  the 
policyholder  must  pay.  Something  more  than  is  absolutely 
necessary  is  charged  in  each  case,  in  order  that  the  company 
may  be  permanently  secure  beyond  all  peradventure.  But 
if  the  business  is  conducted  on  the  participating  (mutual)  plan, 
the  members  will  get  their  insurance  substantially  at  cost, 
because  the  company  must  restore  to  them,  from  time  to 
time  in  REFUNDS  (dividends)  such  overpayments  as  they 
have  made.  * 


The  fund  consisting  almost  altogether  of  contributions  from 
members  constitutes  the  ASSETS  of  the  company.  This  fund 
is  invested  and  earns  interest. 

A  large  part  of  the  ASSETS  constitutes  the  RESERVE  or 
RE-INSURANCE  FUND.  This  consists  of  those  portions  of 
the  premiums  paid  on  policies  while  they  are  young  which 
are  in  excess  of  current  needs,  but  which  will  be  needed  to 
sustain  the  same  policies  when  they  grow  older. 

This  RESERVE  then,  is  the  fund  which  (when  increased  by 
future  interest  and  future  premiums)  will  be  adequate  to  pay  all 
outstanding  policies  as  they  mature. 

To  this  RESERVE  must  be  added  any  miscellaneous  obli- 
gations in  order  to  determine  the  total  LIABILITIES. 

And  the  difference  between  ASSETS  and  LIABILITIES  is  the 
SURPLUS. 

When  the  actual  cost  of  carrying  the  risks  has  been  deter- 
mined, the  unused  portions  of  the  premiums  paid,  are  credited 
to  SURPLUS.  And  the  SURPLUS  of  an  insurance  company 
consists  chiefly  of  these  margins,  but  if  there  are  other  savings 
or  profits  they  will  also  be  included. 

The  SURPLUS  representing  the  company's  extra  or  surplus 
assets,  is  the  fund  from  which  REFUNDS  (dividends)  are  paid 

*If  the  business  is  conducted  on  the  non-participating  or  mixed 
basis,  advantages  of  a  different  kind  (as  shown  in  §42)  are  secured. 

45 


to  policy-holders — the  only  fund  from  which  dividends  can 
be  legitimately  paid. 

But  the  chief  value  of  SURPLUS  is  that  it  insures  the  financial 
strength  of  the  company,  protecting  the  members  in  case 
of  depreciation  in  the  value  of  assets,  or  losses  due  to  an 
increase  in  expenses,  excessive  mortality,  or  waste  of  any 
kind.  Hence,  although  the  company  may,  and  does,  pay 
out  surplus  every  year,  it  must  never  distribute  all  its  surplus 
It  must  keep  a  certain  proportion  on  hand  as  a  safety  fund 


When  these  computations  have  been  made, 
the  exact  financial  condition  of  the  company 
is  revealed. 

If  the  liabilities  exceed  the  assets  then  the 
solvency  of  the  company  has  been  impaired. 
If  the  liabilities  are  equal  to  the  assets  then  the 
company  is  barely  solvent — it  is  in  a  position  of 
"tottering  equilibrium."  If  the  liabilities  are 
less  than  the  assets,  then  there  will  be  a  surplus 
and  the  financial  strength  of  the  company  will 
be  measured  by  the  amount  of  that  surplus 

These  facts  are  of  great  importance,  for  they 
indicate  to  the  public  that  the  strength  of  an 
insurance  company  can  be  measured  as  accurate- 
ly as  that  of  a  bank  or  trust  company,  and 
that  its  financial  condition  can  be  shown  as 
clearly  from  year  to  year  as  that  of  any  other 
business  organization. 


4,6 


THE  LIFE  INSURANCE  COMPANY 


HOW  ITS  BUSINESS  IS  CONDUCTED 


The  premiums  quoted  in  this  book 
are  the  highest  charged  by  any  of 
the  "  regular  "  companies.  Some  of 
the  companies  charge  a  little  less. 


47 


A  life  insurance  company  is  simply  an  or- 
ganization established  to  furnish  the  people 
with  thoroughly  efficient  life  insurance  of  all 
kinds.  Such  an  organization  is  given  cor- 
porate form  that  it  may  have  a  permanent 
existence,  that  it  may  be  subject  to  protective 
laws,  and  that  it  may  be  placed  in  charge  of 
directors  and  competent  officials,  in  order 
that  its  affairs  may  be  administered  with 
absolute  safety,  expert  skill,  and  the  greatest 
possible  economy. 

Every  life  insurance  company  is  supported 
by  the  people  who  avail  themselves  of  its 
services.  As  a  matter  of  fact  they  are  the 
company,  and  although  -it  may  not  be  man- 
aged by  them,  it  is,  if  properly  conducted, 
governed  strictly  in  their  interests. 


XXI.      WHAT    A    LIFE    INSURANCE 
COMPANY   IS 

44.     What  the  company  is  not 

If  a  man  goes  to  a  shop  and  buys  a  pound  of  tea,  he  is  simply 
a  purchaser.  Now,  most  people  regard  the  insurance  com- 
pany as  a  great  shop,  and  life  insurance  as  a  commodity  which 
they  can  purchase  as  they  would  buy  packages  of  tea.  This 
misapprehension  is  strengthened  by  the  circumstance  that 
of  late  it  has  been  found  convenient  to  call  the  insurance  agent 
a  "salesman",  and  the  applicant  for  insurance  a  "purchaser." 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  agent  is  far  more  than  an  ordinary 
salesman,  and  the  applicant  is  more  than  a  mere  customer. 
The  agent  is,  or  should  be,  the  expert  adviser  of  the  man  who 
wants  insurance.  And  the  applicant  may  very  properly  be 
called  the  agent's  client. 

It  is  the  province  of  the  agent  to  aid  his  client  in  securing 
membership  in  an  association  maintained  for  the  mutual 
protection  of  its  members.  Then,  the  premiums  which  his 
client  will  be  required  to  pay  from  year  to  year  after  he  be- 
comes a  member,  will  be,  so-to-speak,  his  annual  dues. 

Another  point :  as  soon  as  a  purchaser  has  paid  for  his  pound 
of  tea  the  transaction  is  at  an  end.  But  a  policy  is  a  contract 
— an  agreement  between  two  parties,  the  company  and  the 
policyholder — and  this  contract  may  extend  over  a  long  period 
of  years.  Consequently,  the  policyholder  will  have  a  con- 
tinuing interest  in  the  company.  He  will  suffer  if  the  com- 
pany is  injured,  and  will  be  benefited  if  the  company  prospers. 


The  benefits  of  life  insurance 
should  be  enjoyed  by  the  great 
masses  of  the  country — the  men  of 
small  means.  I  thoroughly  believe 
in  life  insurance. 

William  McKinley. 


49 


45.  Why  a  corporation 

It  is  true  that  this  association  is  given  corporate  form. 
But  that  is  strictly  in  the  interests  of  its  members: 

1.  Because  it  places  the  organization  under  rigid  insur- 
ance laws,  and  under  vigilant  government  supervision. 

2.  Because  it  gives  permanence  to  the  organization,  so 
that  it  shall  not  depend  on  the  life  of  an  individual,  or  on  any 
series  of  lives,  but  may  be  maintained  in  perpetuity. 

3.  Because  the  association,  instead  of  being  left  to  in- 
experienced laymen,  is  thus  placed  under  the  manage- 
ment of  expert  officials,  who  are  charged  with  the  responsi- 
bility of  conducting  its  affairs  with  efficiency  and  economy, 
on  a  strictly  business  basis,  for  the  ad  vantage  of  its  members 
who  contribute  the  money  with  which  it  is  sustained,  and 
without  whom  it  would  be  but  an  empty  name. 

Another  advantage  of  such  a  corporation  is  that  the  man 
who  wants  insurance  is  not  forced  to  get  up  an  association  of 
his  own.  He  finds  a  company  ready  made,  from  which  he  can 
obtain  insurance  of  any  kind  for  any  desired  amount.  This 
is  possible  because  the  company,  if  it  has  got  beyond  the  ex- 
perimental stage,  already  has  a  large  body  of  policyholders  of 
all  classes  and  ages.  And  although  the  applicant  comes  as  an 
individual  he  immediately  becomes  a  member  of  a  large  body 
of  policyholders  of  his  own  class.  Thus  he  does  not  interfere 
with  the  smooth  working  of  the  Law  of  Average  so  essential  to 
the  successful  operation  of  every  insurance  organization. 

46.  Description  of  the  insurance  company 

The  insurance  company  has  its  headquarters  at  some  central 
point,  where  its  business,  separated  into  departments,  is 
conducted  by  a  staff  of  officers  and  clerks.  Thus  the  assets 
are  invested  and  guarded  in  the  Financial  Department; 
premiums  are  computed,  reserves  are  calculated,  and  risks  are 
measured  in  the  Actuary's  Department;  agents  are  appointed 
and  directed  in  the  Agency  Department;  applications  for  in- 

50 


surance  are  passed  upon  in  the  Medical  Department;  accounts 
are  kept,  classified  and  checked  in  the  Auditor's  Department, 
etc.,  etc. 

But  to  understand  the  company  as  a  whole,  its  Home  Office 
must  be  regarded  as  simply  a  part  of  a  great  organization;  just 
as  the  heart  of  a  man  is  only  a  part  of  his  body.  We  must 
note  that  the  company  has  branches  all  over  the  country,  pre- 
sided over  by  field  commanders  usually  called  "general  agents" 
or  "managers,"  assisted  in  each  case  by  a  staff  of  field  workers 
called  "soliciting  agents." 

XXII.     HOW  THE  BUSINESS  IS  CONDUCTED 

47.  The  agent 

Any  man  may  go  to  the  office  of  a  company  for  such  in- 
surance as  he  may  want,  but  as  the  price  he  must  pay  will  be 
the  same  whether  application  is  made  directly  or  through  an 
intermediary,  he  usually  delays  action  until  some  agent  shows 
him  that  he  needs  insurance,  indicates  how  he  can  obtain  it, 
and  saves  him  all  trouble  and  annoyances  in  getting  it. 

48.  The  application 

In  such  a  case  the  agent  will  produce  a  printed  blank  called 
the  "Application,"  and  when  the  spaces  in  this  blank  have  been 
filled  in  with  the  applicant's  name,  age,*  the  premium  for  the 
kind  and  amount  of  insurance  desired,  and  other  necessary 
particulars,  the  Applicant  signs  his  name  at  the  bottom,  and 
the  agent  witnesses  his  signature. 

Then  the  applicant  must  have  an  interview  with  some 
physician  authorized  by  the  company  to  make  examinations 
for  it. 

Then  the  Application  and  the  Medical  Examiner's  Report 
will  go  to  the  company,  and  if  the  Applicant  is  deemed  a 

*The  age  is  determined  by  the  nearest  birthday.    See  §  105. 


satisfactory  "risk,"  the  policy  (i.  e.,  the  contract  desired,  of 
which  there  is  a.  printed  form  simply  needing  to  have  the  details 
of  the  particular  case  filled  in)  will  be  "written"  and  sent  to  the 
agent  to  be  "delivered"  to  the  Applicant  in  return  for  the  first 
premium.  Thereupon  the  Applicant  becomes  the  policy- 
holder  (or  the  Insured)*. 

XXIII.     INSURANCE  IN  COMMON  USE 

The  companies  issue  many  kinds  of  insurance  to  meet  a 
great  variety  of  tastes  and  needs;  but  the  bulk  of  their  business 
is  done  on  three  standard  forms,  the  Ordinary  Life,  the  Limited 
Payment  Life,  and  the  Endowment. 

ORDINARY  LIFE  POLICY 

49.  Ordinary  Life  Form 

This  contract  provides  that,  in  consideration  of  a  certain 
annual  premium,  which  must  be  paid  as  long  as  the  Insured 
lives,  the  company  will  pay  to  the  Beneficiary  named  in  the 
policy  the  amount  of  insurance  agreed  upon,  on  receipt  of  due 
proof  of  the  death  of  the  Insured. 

The  Ordinary  Life  Policy  grants  the  maximum  amount  of 
permanent  protection  at  the  minimum  annual  rats.  That 
does  not  necessarily  mean  that  the  aggregate  will  be  less 
in  the  long  run  than  the  aggregate  paid  on  a  policy  issued 
on  some  other  form.  It  simply  means  that  the  rate  per 
annum  will  be  less. 

50.  Refunds 


Usually  this  contract  provides  for  annual  REFUNDS,  begin- 
ning at  the  end  of  the  first  or  second  year,  and  continuing 
until  the  maturity  of  the  contract. 

*If  the  Applicant  is  willing  to  pay  the  premium  when  he  signs  the 
Application,  he  can  thus  protect  himself  against  the  dangers  of  delay; 
for,  in  that  case,  if  the  Application  is  approved,  the  insurance  will  go 
into  effect  immediately. 

52 


51.  Agent's  duties 

Some  people  have  the  impression  that  the  agent  has  nothing 
to  do  but  to  write  applications  and  deliver  policies.  This  is  a 
very  inadequate  conception  of  his  duties.  It  is  true  that  he  is  not 
a  party  to  the  contract  between  the  company  and  the  policy- 
holder,  but  he  brings  the  two  parties  to  the  contract  together; 
stands  ready  to  render  valuable  services  to  the  policyholder 
as  long  as  the  contract  remains  in  force,  and  will  do  all  he  can 
to  facilitate  the  prompt  settlement  of  the  policy  as  soon  as  it 
matures.  In  this  connection  special  attention  is  called  to  the 
supplementary  chapter  on  the  Insurance  Salesman.  (§  303) 

52.  Renewal  premiums 

Twelve  months  after  the  register  date  of  the  policy  a  second 
premium  falls  due.*  All  premiums  after  the  first  are  called 
"renewal  premiums." 

If  the  second  premium  is  duly  paid  the  insurance  will  be 
continued  for  a  second  year.  If  it  is  not  paid,  the  policy  will 
lapse  and  the  insurance  will  be  forfeited.  But  the  policy  may 
be  restored  if  the  policyholder  continues  to  be  a  satisfactory 
risk  and  is  willing  to  pay  the  overdue  premium  with  interest. 

53.  Premium  notice 

Before  each  renewal  premium  falls  due,  the  company  mails 
to  the  Insured  a  "notice"  that  on  such  and  such  a  date  the 
premium  will  be  due,  in  order  that  he  shall  not  overlook  his 
obligation  to  pay  it.  Formerly,  such  notices  were  sent  volun- 
tarily. Now  it  is  one  of  the  provisions  of  the  Insurance  Law 
of  each  State. 

*We  are  dealing  with  a  contract  under  which  premiums  are  payable 
annually.  The  method  of  procedure  is  slightly  modified  when  premiums 
are  payable  in  semi-annual  or  quarterly  instalments. 

53 


54.  Grace 

Formerly  it  was  necessary  to  pay  the  premium  on  or  before 
the  date  specified  in  the  policy.  Now  it  is  customary  to  allow 
a  month's  grace  in  the  payment  of  each  premium,  subject  to 
a  moderate  interest  charge.  Usually,  the  company  sends, 
voluntarily,  a  second  reminder  before  this  grace  expires  if  the 
premium  has  not  been  paid.  And  if  the  agent  does  his  full 
duty  he  will  do  what  he  can  to  facilitate  the  maintenance  of 
the  policy,  or  its  restoration  in  the  event  of  lapse. 

55.  Extension 


If  a  policyholder  finds  that  he  will  be  unable  to  pay  his 
premium  at  the  expiration  of  this  grace,  the  company,  on 
written  application  filed  in  advance,  may  be  willing  to  grant  an 
"extension,"  under  which  the  policy  will  be  kept  in  force, 
subject  to  the  payment  of  the  premium  with  interest  at  the 
end  of  a  further  period  of  moderate  duration. 

56.  Dividend  notice 

If  the  contract  is  an  annual  dividend  policy,  and  if  the  first 
dividend  is  payable  at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  a  notice  of  its 
amount  and  the  different  ways  in  which  it  can  be  utilized  is 
sent  by  the  company  to  the  policyholder  with  his  Premium 
Notice.  A  similar  notice  is  sent  annually  thereafter. 

57.  Surrender  value 

If  the  premium  falling  due  at  the  end  of  the  second  year  is 
not  paid,  the  policy  will  lapse  and  be  forfeited .  But  at  the  end 
of  the  third  year  the  Insured  will  be  entitled  to  a  "surrender 
value,"  either  in  cash,  paid-up  life  insurance,  or  extended 
term  insurance.* 

*The  usages  of  different  companies  vary  to  some  extent,  but  the  rules 
here  stated  are  those  in  general  use. 

54 


As  the  age  of  the  policy  increases,  its  surrender  value  in- 
creases, as  indicated  in  a  Table  embodied  in  the  contract. 

In  the  earlier  years  the  cash  surrender  value  is  usually 
the  reserve  on  the  policy  less  a  moderate  surrender  charge. 
Later  on  the  entire  reserve  may  be  allowed. 

The  paid-up  value  is  the  amount  of  insurance  which  the 
cash  value  used  as  a  single  premium  will  purchase. 

When  the  third  method  of  adjustment  is  selected,  the 
policy  is  continued  for  its  full  amount  for  a  designated 
period,  at  the  end  of  which  the  insurance  becomes  extinct. 

58.  Policy  loan 

After  a  policy  has  been  in  force  for  three  years  or  longer, 
if  the  Insured  is  financially  embarrassed,  instead  of  surrender- 
ing the  contract,  he  can  usually  borrow,  at  a  fair  rate  of  inter- 
est, a  sum  not  in  excess  of  the  policy's  cash  surrender  value 
at  the  date  of  the  transaction. 

59.  Caution  regarding  surrender  values  and  loans 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  the  company,  and  of  the  agent,  is 
to  explain  to  policyholders  that  insurance  contracts  cannot  be 
abandoned  without  sacrifice,  and  that  while  policy  loans  are 
safe  and  remunerative  as  far  as  the  company  is  concerned, 
no  man,  unless  driven  by  absolute  necessity,  should  mortgage 
his  insurance. 

It  has  often  been  stated  that  a  life  insurance  company  ought 
to  be  the  safest  of  business  organizations  because  it  assumes 
the  responsibility  of  guarding  the  savings  of  the  people,  and 
protecting  widows  and  orphans. 

It  is  the  safest  of  business  organizations  because  its  obliga- 
tions are  not  affected  by  the  fluctuations  of  the  money  market, 
but  mature  in  accordance  with  the  Law  of  Mortality,  which 
works  with  the  same  regularity  and  deliberation  during  periods 
of  financial  disturbance  as  at  other  times.  The  fact  has  been 
emphasized,  moreover,  that  in  times  of  panic  there  can  be  no 
devastating  "run"  upon  a  life  insurance  company,  as  in  the 

55 


case  ot  a  bank  or  trust  company.  While  all  this  is  true,  it  is 
nevertheless  a  fact  that  the  large  surrender  values  and  liberal 
loans  offered  under  modern  life  insurance  contracts  give  policy- 
holders  the  opportunity  of  making  heavier  demands  upon  the 
companies  than  formerly.  Hence  the  insuring  public  will 
do  well  to  recognize  the  indirect,  as  well  as  the  direct,  advan- 
tage of  holding  fast  to  their  insurance.  In  case  of  necessity, 
a  surrender  value  or  a  policy  loan  may  be  of  advantage  to  the 
individual  policyholder.  But  the  members  of  a  company  who 
wish  to  consider  their  highest  interests  as  a  body,  will  see  the 
wisdom  of  seeking  to  check  the  tendency  among  heedless 
people  to  sell  or  mortgage  their  insurance. 

In  this  connection  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  refer  to  a  class  of 
insurance  agents— most  of  whom  have  been  driven  out  of  the 
business,  but  a  few  of  whom  remain.  They  are  called  "twist- 
ers" because  they  advise  people  to  exchange  old  policies  in 
one  company  for  new  insurance  in  another  company.  No 
policy  issued  by  a  solvent  company  on  which  any  premiums 
have  been  paid,  can  be  abandoned  for  new  insurance  without 
sacrifice.  Hence,  any  agent  who  recommends  such  a  trans- 
action disregards  the  true  interests  of  his  client  in  order  to 
secure  some  remuneration  for  placing  the  new  insurance. 

There  are  only  two  cases  in  which  it  is  advantageous  to 
exchange  old  policies  for  new:  (1)  The  man  who  has  tempor- 
ary insurance  will  do  well  to  exchange  it  for  permanent  in- 
surance. (2)  When  the  insurance  is  in  a  company  threatened 
with  insolvency,  the  Insured  should  endeavor  to  secure  its 
surrender  value,  and  take  new  insurance  in  some  stronger 
organization. 

60.     Maturity 

As  will  be  explained  hereafter,  certain  policies  mature  dur- 
ing the  lifetime  of  the  Insured,  while  others  do  not  mature  until 
after  the  death  of  the  Insured.  In  the  former  case,  the  com- 
pany settles  with  the  Insured  direct,  or  the  agent  attends  to 


the  details  of  the  transaction  without  charge.  In  the  latter 
case,  the  agent  stands  ready  to  relieve  the  Beneficiary  of  all 
annoyance  in  effecting  a  prompt  settlement  of  the  claim. 

A  series  of  blanks  are  furnished  by  the  company,  called 
"Proofs  of  Death,"  which  must  be  filled  up  and  executed  by 
the  claimant,  the  attending  physician,  and  others.  As  soon 
as  these  documents,  in  complete  form  accompanied  by  the 
policy  and  a  "legal  release,"  reach  the  company,  its  check  for 
the  amount  due  is  drawn,  and  forwarded,  directly,  or  through 
the  agent,  to  the  Beneficiary. 

Formerly  death  claims  were  not  payable  until  thirty  or  sixty 
days  after  the  receipt  of  these  documents,  but  the  modern 
practice  is  to  pay  the  claim  immediately  upon  the  receipt  of  due 
proof  of  the  death  of  the  Insured. 

61.  Liberal  provisions 

As  a  rule  the  policy  becomes  incontestable  after  one  year; 
and,  under  most  modern  contracts,  when  the  Insured  resides 
in  a  healthful  region  and  his  work  is  of  a  wholesome  character 
there  are,  no  restrictions  as  to  residence,  travel  or  occupation. 

LIMITED  PAYMENT  LIFE  POLICY 

62.  Limited  payment  forms 

As  far  as  the  Beneficiary  is  concerned,  the  Limited  Payment 
Life  contract  is  exactly  like  the  Ordinary  Life  contract;  for 
the  insurance  will  not  be  paid  until  after  the  death  of  the  In- 
sured. The  essential  differences  are  in  connection  with  pre- 
mium payments. 

There  are  five  Limited  Payment  forms: 
10  Payment  Life  Policy 

15  " 
20  " 
25  " 
30  " 

57 


On  any  one  of  these,  as  soon  as  the  stipulated  number  of 
premiums  has  been  paid,  the  contract  becomes  "paid-up," 
and  the  Insured  can  put  it  away  in  his  safe,  and  it  need  not  be 
touched  again  until  it  matures  at  his  death. 

The  rate  charged  for  a  Limited  Payment  Life  policy  is 
higher  than  for  a  corresponding  Ordinary  Life  policy.  (The 
shorter  the  period  within  which  premium  payments  are  re- 
stricted, the  higher  the  rate,  and  vice  versa.) 

It  is  the  general  impression  that  Limited  Payment  policies 
are  "more  expensive"  than  Ordinary  Life  policies.  This  is 
not  necessarily  the  case.  It  is  true  that  the  annual  charge  is 
higher,  but  as  the  premiums  cease  after  a  certain  period  it  is 
obvious  that  the  total  outlay  will  be  less  if  life  is  prolonged 
than  under  the  Ordinary  Life  form;  for  although  each  pre- 
mium will  be  larger  the  number  of  premiums  will  be  fewer. 
It  will  be  seen  from  this  that  the  intelligent  man  who  selects 
the  Ordinary  Life  form  will  do  so,  not  because  it  will  neces- 
sarily be  cheaper,  but  simply  because  the  rate  per  annum— 
the  yearly  disbursement — will  be  less  of  a  strain  on  his  annual 
income. 

PREMIUMS  CHARGED  FOR  LIMITED  PAYMENT  INSURANCE 

A  higher  charge  is  made  under  a  Limited  Payment  con- 
tract than  under  an  Ordinary  Life  contract  because: 

All  those  who  take  Ordinary  Life  policies  must  pay  pre- 
miums on  them  as  long  as  they  live,  and  computations 
based  on  a  reliable  mortality  table  indicate  what  the  charge  . 
must  be.  But  under  Limited  Payment  contracts  no  pay- 
ments are  required  after  a  certain  period  has  elapsed. 
Consider,  for  example,  a  group  of  20  Payment  Life  policies. 
The  premiums  charged  must  be  the  exact  equivalent  of 
those  that  would  be.  charged  on  a  similar  group  of  Ordinary 
Life  policies.  This  is  necessary  because  in  either  case  the 
same  amount  of  insurance  must  be  paid  to  the  beneficiaries 
in  each  group.  But  the  20-Payment  Life  policies  provide 
that  none  of  the  owners  shall  be  required  to  pay  anything 
after  they  have  paid  premiums  for  20  years.  Many  of 

58 


these  policyholders  will  live  longer,  but  their  policies  will 
then  have  become  "paid-up"  and  must  thereafter  be  self- 
sustaining.  Now,  as  the  premiums  paid  by  all  these  people 
are  thus  concentrated  within  a  limited  period,  the  share 
which  each  must  pay  during  that  period  must  obviously  be 
larger  than  if  the  payments  extended  over  the  entire 
lifetime  of  each  contributor. 


ORIGIN  OF  ENDOWMENT  INSURANCE 

The  Endowment  Policy  is  a  combination  of  two  other  con- 
tracts: the  Term  Policy  and  the  Pure  Endowment.  These 
are  unimportant  forms  in  themselves,  but  when  combined 
to  form  the  Endowment  policy,  they  have  very  great  value. 

In  order  that  the  Endowment  Policy  may  be  clearly  under- 
stood, it  will  be  necessary,  first,  to  describe  the  Term  Policy, 
then  to  describe  the  Pure  Endowment,  and  then  to  show  the 
effect  of  combining  these  two  contracts  so  as  to  produce  the 
Endowment  Policy. 

63.     Term  policy 

Term  Insurance  is  temporary  insurance.  For  example,  a 
Term  policy  for  $1,000  can  be  issued  to  run  for  any  desired 
period,  such  as  10  years.  If  the  person  whose  life  is  insured 
dies  before  the  end  of  that  period,  the  company  must  pay 
$1,000.  But  if  he  is  living  at  the  end  of  the  period  the  con- 
tract will  expire — the  insurance  will  be  at  an  end,  and  the 
company  will  have  nothing  to  pay. 

The  premium  on  a  Term  policy  is  small  because  the  com- 
pany's liability  does  not  extend  beyond  the  term  agreed  upon. 

But  the  man  needing  temporary  insurance,  who  can  afford 
to  pay  for  permanent  insurance,  will  act  wisely  if  he  selects  the 
latter  kind;  for  such  a  policy  also  grants  temporary  protection 
but  it  does  not  expire  at  the  end  of  a  term  of  years.  It  be- 
comes an  asset — a  policy  which  will  necessarily  mature  and 
be  paid  some  day. 

59 


The  man  who  takes  a  Term  policy  thinking  that  he  only 
needs  temporary  protection,  may  find  at  the  end  of  the 
term  that  he  has  greater  need  for  insurance  than  in  the  be- 
ginning, and  yet  he  may  by  that  time  have  become  an  im 
paired  risk,  and  be  unable  to  obtain  insurance  to  replace 
the  term  policy  which  will  then  expire. 

64.  Pure   endowment 

The  Pure  Endowment  is  the  converse  of  the  Term  policy. 
The  contract  runs  for  a  given  period  of  years.  If  the  Insured 
dies  before  the  end  of  that  period  the  company  will  have 
nothing  to  pay,  but  if  he  is  living  when  the  period  ends,  the 
company  must  pay  the  amount  of  the  Endowment. 

Any  company  will  issue  a  Pure  Endowment,  but  it  is  not 
often  applied  for.  It  is  chiefly  utilized  as  one  of  the  elements 
in  the  Endowment  Policy. 

65.  A  term  policy  and  a  pure  endowment 

Consider  the  case  of  a  man  35  years  old  who  invests  in  a 
10-year  Term  policy  for  $1 ,000.  (Annual  premium  $14.50) . 

Let  us  suppose  that  at  the  same  time  he  invests  in  a  10-year 
Pure  Endowment  for  $1,000.  (Annual  premium  $93.20.) 

If  the  man  dies  within  ten  years,  the  company  will  pay 
$1,000  under  the  Term  contract,  and  the  Pure  Endowment 
will  expire.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  outlives  the  period  of  ten 
years,  the  Term  contract  will  expire  and  the  company  will 
pay  $1,000  under  the  Pure  Endowment. 

Thus,  under  one  contract  or  the  other,  $1,000  will  certainly 
be  paid,  during,  or  at  the  end  of,  this  ten  year  period. 

But  the  man  who  wants  protection  of  this  kind  is  not  com- 
pelled to  enter  into  two  separate  transactions.  The  company 
combines  them  in  one  contract — an  Endowment  Policy— 
and  for  that  one  contract  charges  a  man  of  35,  for  $1,000  of 
insurance,  $105.87,  which  is  a  little  less  than  it  would  charge 
for  the  two  contracts  issued  separately. 

60 


ENDOWMENT  INSURANCE 

66.     Endowment  policy 

We  have  seen  that  as  far  as  the  Beneficiary  is  concerned, 
all  "life"  policies  are  alike.  Under  no  form  of  "life"  policy 
is  the  insurance  payable  until  after  the  death  of  the  Insured. 

The  peculiarity  of  the  Endowment  Policy  is  that  if  the  In- 
sured is  living  at  the  end  of  a  stipulated  term  of  years,  called 
the  "Endowment  Period,"  the  policy  will  mature,  and  the 
money  then  due  will  be  paid  to  the  Beneficiary  (usually  the 
Insured  himself).  Such  a  policy,  however,  is  like  a  "life" 
policy  in  this  respect:  if  the  Insured  dies  before  the  expiration 
of  the  Endowment  Period,  the  insurance  will  be  paid  immedi- 
ately, just  as  if  the  policy  had  been  issued  as  a  "life"  contract. 

The  charges  for  Endowment  insurance  are  higher  than  for 
"life"  policies,  because  the  premiums  are  limited  to  a  stip- 
ulated period  of  years,  and  because  the  insurance  money 
will  be  paid  to  the  Insured  himself  if  he  is  living  at  the  end  of 
the  Endowment  Period,  whereas  if  the  contract  were  on  a 
"life"  form  the  money  would  not  be  payable  until  after  his 
death,  which  might  not  occur  for  many  years  thereafter.* 

Endowment  insurance  is  attractive  to  those  who  wish  not 
only  the  protection  of  insurance,  but  who  wish  to  lay  some- 
thing by  for  their  own  advantage  in  after  life. 

Those  who  wish  insurance  protection  exclusively,  prefer 
Ordinary  Life  or  Limited  Payment  Life  insurance  because  the 
rates  are  lower.  There  is,  moreover,  a  danger  connected  with 
Endowment  insurance  if  taken  for  the  protection  of  the  family 
or  estate,  which  is  avoided  if  a  "life"  policy  is  taken.  It  is 
this:  when  the  insurance  money  is  paid  by  the  company  at  the 
maturity  of  the  Endowment  contract,  there  is  the  danger  that 

*An  Endowment  Policy  may  be  drawn  so  as  to  run  for  either  5,  10, 
15,  20,  25  or  30  years,  or  longer. 

61 


it  will  be  spent  or  embarked  in  some  business  venture,  and 
that  the  protection  of  the  insurance  will  thus  be  lost  to  the 
family. 

It  is  true  that  if  the  Insured  is  still  in  good  health  he  can 
convert  the  proceeds  of  the  Endowment  into  paid-up  "life" 
insurance  for  an  increased  amount,  or  he  can  take  a  new 
policy.  But  he  cannot  do  either  if  he  has  become  an  im- 
paired risk.  And  the  rate  for  a  new  policy  would  be  much 
higher  than  for  the  original  insurance,  on  account  of  the 
increase  in  his  age. 

XXIV.     INCOME  INSURANCE 

67.     Life  income  policy 

Many  women  are  prudent  and  thrifty,  but  few  have  had 
experience  in  the  difficult  and  intricate  business  of  investing 
capital.  And  few  women  clearly  appreciate  the  difference 
between  principal  and  interest — the  distinction  between  capital 
and  the  income  produced  by  capital. 

All  this  being  so,  it  is  not  strange  that  when  a  widow  re- 
ceives a  large  amount  of  money  from  an  insurance  company, 
she  may  be  tempted  to  spend  it  instead  of  investing  it,  or  may 
invest  it  injudiciously. 

It  is  an  axiom  among  financial  people,  moreover,  that  it  is 
far  easier  to  make  money  than  to  keep  it — that  anyone  can 
waste  it,  but  that  few  can  guard  and  invest  it  safely.  This 
is  true  of  men  as  well  as  of  women. 

As  the  first  aim  of  life  insurance  is  to  protect  women  and 
children,  it  is  fortunate  that  the  companies  are  now  able  to 
offer  a  form  of  policy  under  which  the  insurance  money,  in- 
stead of  being  paid  in  a  single  sum,  is  disbursed  by  the  com- 
pany in  the  form  of  an  annual  income  for  life  (payable  if  de- 
sired in  monthly  instalments.)  Thus  the  company  in  which 
the  husband  has  shown  his  confidence  by  depositing  his  sav- 
ings while  still  alive,  becomes  his  financial  representative  after 

62 


his  death — when  its  services  will  be  even  more  valuable  than 
when  he  was  alive. 

One  admirable  feature  of  this  kind  of  insurance  is  that,  in 
general  practice,  the  income  is  guaranteed  for  twenty  years. 


EXAMPLE 

A  husband  (aged  35)  can  obtain  an  Income  Policy  on  the 
Ordinary  Life  form,  in  favor  of  his  wife  (aged  30)  for  an  an- 
nual premium  of  $580.80,  which  at  his  death  will  pay  his 
widow  an  annual  income  of  $1,200.  If  she  dies  after  re- 
ceiving the  income  for  a  time,  it  will  not  be  cut  off,  but  will 
be  continued  until  payments  have  been  made  for  twenty 
years.  Here  the  object  is  to  support  the  children  until 
they  reach  an  age  when,  presumably,  they  will  be  able  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  widow 
lives  beyond  the  20  year  period,  the  income  will  be  con- 
tinued as  an  annuity  as  long  thereafter  as  she  lives. 

The  Life  Income  Policy  is  written  on  the  Ordinary  Life, 
Limited  Payment  Life,  and  Endowment  forms. 

Under  the  Endowment  form  two  lives  may  be  protected. 

EXAMPLE 

If  a  husband  takes  such  a  policy  in  favor  of  his  wife,  and 
if  both  are  living  at  the  end  of  the  policy's  Endowment 
Period,  the  income  will  begin  then,  and  continue  during 
the  lifetime  of  the  one  who  lives  longest.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  husband  should  die  before  the  expiration  of  the 
Endowment  period,  the  income  will  begin  at  once  and  be 
paid  to  the  widow  for  20  years,  or  longer  if  she  lives  longer. 


Get  a  policy,  and  then  hold  on  to 
it.  It  means  self-respect,  it  means 
that  nobody  will  have  to  put  some- 
thing in  a  hat  for  you  or  your  de- 
pendent ones  if  you  should  be 
snatched  away  from  them. 

Grover  Cleveland. 


XXV.     SURVIVORSHIP  POLICY 
68.     Survivorship  annuity 

The  name  of  this  contract  is  unfortunate.  It  is,  strictly 
speaking,  an  Ordinary  Life  policy  and  not  an  annuity.  The 
only  excuse  for  its  name  is  that  upon  the  death  of  the  Insured, 
when  the  policy  matures,  the  insurance  will  be  paid  to  the 
Beneficiary,  not  in  one  sum,  but  in  the  form  of  an  annuity 
for  life.  (Annuities  are  described  in  §  78.) 

The  Survivorship  Annuity  is  really  a  life  income  policy,  but 
it  differs  materially  from  the  policy  bearing  that  name,  de- 
scribed in  §  67.  The  difference  can  be  most  clearly  shown 
by  considering  an  example. 

EXAMPLE 

A  young  man  (aged  40)  supports  his  wife  (aged  30)  and 
also  his  mother  (aged  60.) 

For  his  wife  he  takes  a  Life  Income  Policy  on  the  Ordi- 
nary Life  form,  at  a  premium  of  $687.10.  This  will  give 
her,  after  his  death,  an  income  of  $100  a  month. 

For  his  mother  he  takes  a  Survivorship  Annuity  because 
her  needs  are  not  those  of  his  wife.  In  her  case  $50  a 
month  will  suffice  as  no  children  have  to  be  provided  for, 
and  because  his  sole  object  is  to  support  his  mother  as  long 
as  she  lives.  Hence  a  cheaper  contract  is  desirable,  and 
the  premium  on  a  Survivorship  Annuity  to  provide  an 
income  of  $50  a  month,  would  be  only  $107.70.  [A  Life 
Income  Policy,  providing  an  income  of  $50  a  month  for  a 
person  60  years  old  would  cost  $304.70.]  Under  this  con- 
tract, if  the  mother  dies,  the  policy  will  thereupon  expire. 
This  will  do  no  harm  because  there  will  be  no  further  need 
for  the  protection:  and  this  enables  the  company  to  charge 
less  than  for  a  similar  Income  Policy. 

Note,  on  the  other  hand,  that  if  the  wife  should  die,  the 
income  on  her  policy  will  be  continued  until  it  has  been 
paid  for  twenty  years,  thus  providing  for  the  needs  of  her 
children  until  they  reach  a  self-supporting  age. 

64 


RATES    CHARGED  FOR   A  LIFE    INCOME 
POLICY  COMPARED  WITH  THOSE 
CHARGED  FOR  A  SURVIVOR- 
SHIP  ANNUITY 


RATES  COMPARED 
For  a  Yearly  Income  of  $100 

Age  of 
Insured 

Age  of 
Beneficiary 

INCOME  POLICY 

(Ordinary  Life 
Form) 

SURVIVORSHIP 
ANNUITY 
(An  Ordinary 
Life  Policy) 

Annual  Premium 

Annual  Premium 

25 

25 
35 
40 
40 
40 
60 
60 

60 
10 
30 
60 
35 
10 
60 
10 

$33.10 
41.86 
48.40 
50.78 
55.38 
67.20 
119.76 
173.88 

$13.09 
36.38 
35.05 
17.95 
38.45 
62.85 
51.31 
160.62 

6s 


The  willingness  to  take  risks  is  in 
the  great  merchant  or  capitalist  a  vir- 
tue. It  is  to  him  what  courage  is  to  a 
soldier  or  a  statesman,  or  imagination 
to  a  poet.  But  the  willingness  to  take 
risks  is  in  the  wage  earner  or  the  salary 
earner  a  weakness,  or  in  great  excess,  a 
vice.  The  contrary  of  the  vice  of 
gambling  is  in  the  virtue  of  thrift  and 
the  system  of  life  insurance  has  given 
the  thrifty  man  an  opportunity  of 
practicing  his  virtue. 

David  Lloyd-George. 


66 


THIRD  PART 


INDUSTRIAL  COMPANIES 


67 


Of  all  business  organiza- 
tions a  life  insurance  com- 
pany based  on  scientific 
principles  and  prudently 
conducted  is  the  safest.  This 
is  because  its  obligations 
mature  in  accordance  with 
the  Law  of  Mortality 
which  is  uniform  and  delib- 
erate in  its  workings,  and 
does  not  vary  with  the  fluc- 
tuations of  the  money  mar- 
ket, or  the  rise  and  fall  of 
stocks  and  bonds. 


XXVI.     INDUSTRIAL  INSURANCE 

69.     Industrial  companies 

This  kind  of  insurance  is  so  named  because  it  is  designed  for 
the  industrial  classes— people  who  lack  banking  facilities  and 
cannot  afford  to  make  their  payments  annually,  or  even  in 
quarterly  instalments. 

This  branch  of  the  business  is  transacted  by  companies 
organized  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  issuing  this  kind  of  in- 
surance, or  by  companies  having  an  industrial  department. 
The  industrial  business  of  several  of  the  former  companies  is 
very  large.  Such  companies  as  a  rule  do  an  "ordinary" 
business  also. 

The  industrial  companies  are  "regular"  organizations, 
transacting  their  business  on  sound  principles,  but  under  a 
special  system  adapted  to  the  character  of  the  service  rendered 
to  their  policyholders. 

Usually  the  policies  are  for  small  amounts,  and  the  premiums 
are  paid,  from  week  to  week  to  agents  who  call  at  the  homes 
of  the  policyholders  to  collect  them.  The  result  of  this  sys- 
tem is  that  the  premiums  charged  for  industrial  insurance 
are  on  a  special  scale,  which  differs  from  the  rates  for 
"ordinary  "  insurance  quoted  in  this  book. 

The  industrial  companies  accomplish  a  great  public  service, 
for  they  reach  multitudes  who  need  protection  but  who  must 
content  themselves  with  policies  for  smaller  amounts  than  the 
ordinary  companies  are  willing  to  issue. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  enlarge  upon  this 
branch  of  the  business ;  for  the  explana- 
tions in  this  book  apply  alike  to  ordinary 
and  industrial  institutions. 

69 


LIFE  INSURANCE  IS  IN 

CERTAIN   RESPECTS 

UNIQUE. 

Other  kinds  of  insurance 
provide  for  losses  that  may  be 
sustained.  Life  insurance 
provides  for  an  inevitable  loss. 

The  premiums  on  other 
kinds  of  insurance  are  an  ex- 
pense. The  premiums  on  a 
life  policy  are  payments  on  ac- 
count of  an  asset;  for  at  some 
time  the  policy  must  mature 
and  be  paid. 

Other  kinds  of  insurance  are 
expedient:  life  insurance  is 
essential. 

A  building  may  never  burn, 
a  ship  may  never  sink,  but  all 
men  must  die. 


70 


FOURTH  PART 


OTHER  KINDS  OF  INSURANCE 


THE  POLICY  FORMS  ALREADY 
DESCRIBED  ARE  AS  FOLLOWS: 

Ordinary  Life  Policy  §  49 

Limited  Payment  Life  §  62 

Term  Policy  §  63 

Pure  Endowment  §  64 

Endowment  Policy  §  66 

Life  Income  Policy  §  67 

Survivorship  Annuity  §  68 


XXVII.     OTHER  FORMS  AND  PLANS 

Arranged  alphabetically 

70.  Business  insurance 

Partners  often  insure  their  lives  to  protect  their  business 
interests. 

A  corporation  often  insures  the  life  of  one  or  more  of  its 
officers  to  offset  the  injury  which  would  result  if  death  should 
deprive  the  organization  of  experience,  expert  skill,  or  capital. 

Creditors  often  insure  the  lives  of  debtors. 

Many  persons  take  policies  to  protect  mortgaged  real  es- 
tate, or  to  safeguard  their  notes  or  collateral  loans. 

There  are  a  great  variety  of  ways  in  which  the  financial 
interests  of  individuals,  business  firms,  and  corporations  can 
be  safeguarded  by  means  of  life  insurance,  and  such  transac- 
tions are  placed  under  the  general  classification  of  "business 
insurance." 

71.  Child's  endowment 

This  is  a  special  form  of  Pure  Endowment.  It  is  usually 
taken  by  a  father  to  provide  for  the  education  of  a  son,  or  to 
start  him  in  business;  or  to  furnish  a  wedding  portion  for  a 
daughter. 

It  may  be  drawn  so  as  to  mature  at  any  given  age  (usually 
at  either  18,  21,  or  25). 

The  annual  premium  on  a  Child's  Endowment  of  the  ordi- 
nary kind  is  very  moderate,  because  the  company  will  have 
nothing  to  pay  if  the  child  dies  prior  to  the  maturity  of  the 
contract. 

But  if  the  father  is  willing  to  pay  a  somewhat  higher  pre- 
mium, the  contract  can  be  issued  on  what  is  known  as  the 
"return  premium"  plan.  (See  §  75.) 

73 


EXAMPLE 

For  an  annual  premium  of  $36.79  a  father  can  secure  for 
a  daughter  1  year  old,  an  Endowment  of  $1,000  payable 
when  she  reaches  the  age  of  21,  the  company  having  noth- 
ing to  pay  in  the  event  of  the  child's  prior  death. 

But,  if  the  father  is  willing  to  pay  a  higher  rate  ($40.98) 
the  company  will,  in  the  event  of  the  death  of  the  daughter 
before  reaching  the  age  of  21,  return  the  sum  of  the  pre- 
miums that  have  been  paid. 

If,  for  example,  the  daughter  should  die  after  the  tenth 
premium  has  been  paid,  the  company  would  return  the  sum 
of  the  payments  made,  namely  $409.80.  Or,  if  she  should 
die  after  all  20  premiums  had  been  paid,  but  before  the 
completion  of  the  20th  year,  the  return  would  be  $819.60. 

72.     Group  insurance 

This  is  the  name  given  to  a  plan  under  which  the  employer 
of  a  large  force  of  workers  gives  the  protection  of  life  insurance 
to  those  under  him. 

In  each  case,  the  risk  of  insuring  the  entire  group  is  accepted 
subject  to  a  careful  inspection  of  the  group  as  a  whole,  in  place 
of  individual  medical  examinations. 

A  blanket  policy  covering  the  entire  group  is  issued,  and  a 
monthly  premium  (on  the  "yearly  renewable  term"  basis*) 
is  paid  by  the  employer 

The  insurance  in  each  case  may  be  for  one  year's  pay,  or  for 
any  other  moderate  sum. 

Manufacturing  companies,  railroads,  express  companies, 
department  stores,  distributing  companies,  banks,  trust  com- 
panies, and  many  other  employers  of  labor  are  now  availing 
themselves  of  this  plan  for  getting  closer  to  their  workers,  and 
rewarding  them  for  steadfast  and  loyal  service.  In  this  way 
multitudes  of  people  who  might  otherwise  know  little  or  noth- 
ing about  insurance  are  brought  under  its  protecting  care. 

*This  is  the  pure  Natural  Premium  increased  by  a  small  "loading" 
for  expenses  and  contingencies. 

74 


And  in  many  instances  these  employes  learn  the  wisdom  of 
supplementing  the  insurance  furnished  by  their  employers 
by  investing  their  own  money  in  individual  policies. 

73.     Instalment  policy 

The  Income  Policy  described  in  §  67,  provides  for  a  series 
of  payments  to  the  Beneficiary  during  a  period  of  20  years, 
and  the  same  payments  as  an  annuity  thereafter  if  the  Bene- 
ficiary survives.  The  Instalment  Policy  is  a  similar  contract 
but  with  the  following  important  differences: 

1.  The  policy  is  paid  in  any  desired  number  of  equal 
annual  instalments,  from  5  to  50. 

The  sum  of  these  instalments  will  always  be  a  larger  amount 
than  the  face  of  an  equivalent  policy  payable  in  one  sum. 
This  is  because  the  instalments  will  be  increased  by  interest. 

2.  There  is  no  annuity  attachment  to  this  contract,  the 
length  of  the  benendary's  life  having  nothing  to  do  with  the 
transaction.    The  number  of  instalments  agreed  upon  must 
be  paid,  and  as  soon  as  the  last  has  been  paid  the  transaction 
is  at  an  end. 

EXAMPLE 

A  policy  yielding  $1,000  if  paid  in  one  sum  may  be  paid  in 
5  annual  instalments  of        $212  each— Total  $1,060.      or  in 
30       "  "  "      49.53     "  "       1,485.90, or  in 

50       "  "  "      37.73     "  "       1,886.50. 

The  fewer  the  instalments  the  larger  each  payment  will 
be,  and  the  smaller  the  aggregate  will  be. 

The  greater  the  number  of  instalments  the  smaller  each 
payment  will  be  and  the  larger  the  aggregate  will  be. 

The  aggregate  will  be  larger  when  the  instalments  are 
many  because  more  interest  will  be  added  if  the  payments 
are  spread  over  a  long  period  than  if  restricted  to  a  short 
period. 

The  companies  are  always  ready  to  settle  a  policy  on  the 
instalment  basis  even  if  the  contract  provides  for  the  payment 
of  the  insurance  in  one  sum. 

75 


74.  Joint  life  policy 

Two  lives  may  be  insured  under  one  contract.  In  such  a 
case  the  ages  of  both  persons  must  be  considered  so  as  to  de- 
termine the  correct  premium  to  charge. 

If  on  a  "life"  form,  the  insurance  will  be  paid  when  the  first 
death  occurs.  If  an  Endowment  policy,  it  will  be  paid  at  the 
end  of  the  Endowment  Period,  or  on  the  prior  death  of  either 
one  of  the  two  persons. 

Such  a  policy  is  usually  taken  by  a  husband  and  wife,  or  by 
partners  in  business. 

Contracts  of  this  kind  may  be  issued  on  the  lives  of  more 
than  two  persons,  but  such  transactions  are  unusual. 

It  is  often  found  that,  instead  of  a  Joint-Life  policy  on  the 
lives  of  two  or  more  persons,  separate  policies  (one  on  each 

life)  are  preferable. 

\ 

75.  Return  premium  policy 

If  the  Insured  is  willing  to  pay  a  slightly  increased  rate, 
his  policy,  if  on  one  of  the  standard  forms,  can  be  drawn  in 
such  a  way  that  in  the  event  of  his  death  within  a  stipulated 
period,  the  company  will  return  to  the  Beneficiary  all  the 
premiums  that  have  been  paid,  in  addition  to  the  face  of  the 
policy. 

But  how  can  a  company  afford  to  return  all  the  money  it 
has  received  for  carrying  the  risk?  The  answer  is  that  it  is 
possible  because  the  return  is  made  only  to  the  few  who  die 
out  of  a  large  body  of  people  most  of  whom  will  survive.  Here 
again  the  Law  of  Average  comes  into  play.  The  company 
agrees  to  make  this  return  only  in  the  cases  where  death  in- 
tervenes, while  all  the  policyholders  in  the  group,  including 
those  who  survive,  must  contribute  to  the  fund  from  which 
these  payments  are  made.  In  other  words,  each  policyholder 
pays  a  small  additional  premium  for  additional  insurance,  the 
amount  of  which  will  correspond  with  the  aggregate  paid  in 
premiums.  Thus  the  policyholder  "insures"  his  payments. 

76 


XXVIII.     AN   EXPERIMENT    THAT   FAILED 

(Illustrating  the  fact  that  a  company  even  if  soundly 
based  cannot  hope  for  permanent  success  if  any  of  the 
usages  which  have  sapped  the  strength  of  so-called 
"assessment"  organizations,  are  adopted.) 

76.     "Natural"  plan  of  charging  unsuccessful 

Some  forty  years  ago  an  actuary  of  high  scientific  attain- 
ments organized  a  company  to  transact  the  insurance  business 
on  a  plan  based  on  the  "natural"  method  of  charging. 

That  company  still  exists,  but  it  could  not  have  lasted  if  it 
had  not  changed  its  method  of  charging  to  the  "level  premium" 
basis. 

The  reason  for  this  is  not  because  of  any  flaw  in  the  "na- 
tural" method.  Theoretically  that  method  is  absolutely 
sound.  This  experiment  failed  because  of  practical  difficul- 
ties. 

The  founder  of  the  company  undoubtedly  reasoned  as 
follows: 

"The  average  man  during  the  earlier  years  of  his 
business  career  has  a  small  income  and  no  capital. 
Nevertheless,  he  marries  and  raises  a  family.  Obvi- 
ously, his  need  for  insurance  is  pressing.  But  he 
cannot  afford  an  adequate  amount  unless  he  can  ob- 
tain it  at  a  very  moderate  rate.  Hence,  as  the 
'natural'  premium  is  very  small  at  the  younger  ages, 
that  is  the  basis  on  which  he  ought  to  insure.  It  is 
true  that  the  premium  will  increase,  but  presumably 
his  earnings  will  increase  also,  and  he  will  then  be 
able  to  pay  a  larger  premium." 

All  this  is  absolutely  sound  in  theory,  and  ought  to  work  in 
practice;  but  experience  has  proven  that  it  never  has  worked, 
and  in  all  probability  (never  will. 

The  investor  in  insurance  of  this  kind  finds  that  the  charge 
made  in  the  beginning  is  very  moderate.  This  will  delight 

77 


him,  and  for  a  time  the  slight  increase  in  his  premium  will  not 
disturb  him.  But  as  he  grows  older,  the  rate  will  increase 
more  rapidly,  and  it  is  probable  that  sooner  or  later  (if  he 
retains  his  health)  he  will  cast  the  burden  off.  If  he  does  so, 
others  similarly  situated  will  follow  his  example. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  rats  on  shore  will  board  a 
sinking  vessel  from  which  the  ship-rats  are  scurrying.  And  a 
company  from  which  members  are  retiring  in  large  numbers 
cannot  hope  to  induce  many  new  members  to  come  in.  Thus, 
such  a  company  will  lose  a  large  proportion  of  its  healthy  mem- 
bers and  will  run  the  risk  of  being  ultimately  swamped  by 
the  preponderance  of  members  whose  health  has  become  im- 
paired. 

Such  difficulties  are  avoided  when  level  premiums  are 
charged.  In  the  first  place,  the  policyholder  learns  that  he 
will  suffer  some  loss  if  he  retires.  In  the  second  place,  as 
there  can  never  be  any  increase  in  his  premium,  there  will  be 
no  temptation  on  that  score  to  withdraw. 

It  may  seem  inappropriate  in  an  elementary  treatise  such 
as  this  to  go  into  these  details,  but  from  a  practical  point  of 
view  this  is  the  most  important  subject  that  the  man  who 
wants  to  understand  life  insurance  and  judge  of  its  merits  can 
study.  Thus  he  can  discover  how  to  distinguish  between 
"regular"  insurance  and  the  protection  offered  by  "fraternal" 
and  "assessment"  societies.  The  latter  organizations  were,  in 
the  beginning,  based  for  the  most  part,  on  an  inaccurate 
and  unscientific  application  of  the  "natural"  method  of 
charging,  or  some  modification  of  that  method.  And  if  a 
company  properly  conducted  on  the  natural  basis  (such  as 
the  one  referred  to  above)  can  achieve  permanent  success  only 
by  changing  its  practice,  it  is  obvious  that  an  organization 
conducted  in  an  imperfect  manner  on  that  basis  cannot  hope 
f«r  lasting  prosperity. 

78 


MANAGEMENT    IS    THE    KEY-STONE 
OF  THE  ARCH.—  0.  W.  Chapman 

No  life  insurance  company 
founded  on  unscientific  princi- 
ples has  ever  achieved  perma- 
nent success. 

Every  company  based  on 
scientific  principles  whose 
business  has  been  conducted 
with  prudence  and  efficiency, 
has  prospered. 

Mismanagement  will  wreck 
any  business  organization, 
no  matter  how  solid  its  foun- 
dations. 

Consequently  the  man  who 
wishes  adequate  protection 
must  select  a  company  which 
is  (a)  based  on  sound  princi- 
ples, and  (b)  conducted  with 
integrity,  economy  and  effi- 
ciency. 


79 


XXIX.     FRATERNAL  AND  ASSESSMENT 

INSURANCE 

» 

77.     Fraternal  and  assessment  societies 

The  kind  of  insurance  offered  by  such  organizations  as 
"fraternal"  and  "assessment"  societies  may  be  described  as 
the  child  of  honest  and  deserving  parents.*  It  sprang  from 
praiseworthy  measures  taken  by  social  or  benevolent  organi- 
zations to  give  the  protection  of  insurance  to  their  members 
at  moderate  rates.  But  those  who  devised  these  plans  were 
not  as  a  rule  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  scientific  principles 
on  which  all  sound  life  insurance  rests. 

They  saw  that  during  the  earlier  years  of  such  an  organiza- 
tion, with  most  of  its  members  still  young,  very  moderate 
charges  would  suffice  to  pay  maturing  death  claims.  So  they 
jumped  to  the  conclusion  that  what  could  be  done  in  the  be- 
ginning could  be  done  all  the  way  through.  But  of  such 
organizations  those  that  have  lasted  for  any  length  of  time 
have  sooner  or  later  seen  the  expediency  of  increasing 
their  charges.  This  has  placed  them  in  an  embarrassing 
dilemma.  When  they  have  failed  to  increase  their  charges, 
their  resources  have  been  insufficient  to  meet  their  obligations. 
When  they  have  raised  their  rates,  healthy  members  have  be- 
come dissatisfied  and  have  retired,  leaving  an  abnormal  num- 
ber of  impaired  risks,  thus  making  the  death  rate  excessive. 
This  explains  the  fact  that  hundreds  of  these  assessment 
societies,  after  flourishing  for  a  time,  have  ceased  to  exist. 

The  only  way  to  give  lasting  strength  to  such  an  organiza- 
tion is  to  reorganize  it  on  a  sound  foundation  by  adopting 
adequate  premium  rates  based  on  a  reliable  table  of  mortality 
and.  providing  for  the  husbanding  of  the  reserves  produced  by 

*Assessment  companies  have  sometimes  been  called  "co-operative" 
societies,  but  as  all  insurance  is  based  on  co-operation,  it  is  unfortunate 
that  a  defective  kind  of  insurance  should  ever  have  been  given  so  good  a 
name. 

80 


such  adequate  charges.  But  if  this  should  be  done  the  organi- 
zation would  become  in  effect  a  "regular"  or  "legal  reserve" 
company.  But  it  would  still  be  at  a  disadvantage,  for  it 
would  continue  to  be  burdened  with  a  large  number  of  old 
policy-holders  who  up  to  that  time  had  been  charged  in- 
adequate rates. 

These  criticisms  relate  chiefly  to  assessment  organiza- 
tions, for  the  fraternal  societies  have  introduced  reforms  which 
most  of  the  assessment  companies  still  hesitate  to  adopt. 

Such  stability  as  these  organizations  have  enjoyed  has 
been  due,  for  the  most  part,  to  incidental  advantages  such  as 
the  following: 

1.  Although  the  charges  have  been  moderate  in  the 
beginning,  the  contract  has  always  contained  a  clause 
authorizing  future  increases.    And  usually  societies  that 
have  lasted  for  any  length  of  time  have  been  forced  to  take 
advantage  of  this  clause  authorizing  an  increase  in  pre- 
mium charges. 

2.  It  has  been  usual  to  draw  these  contracts  in  such  a 
way  that  some  portion  of  the  claim  may  be  withheld  if  the 
payment  of  the  whole  would  result  in  embarrassment.     In 
such  a  case  the  premium  charge  may  have  been  very  moder- 
ate as  compared  with  the  amount  of  insurance  offered, 
but  very  high  as  compared  with  the  amount  actually  paid. 
When  a  "regular"  company  issues  a  policy  offering  in- 
surance for  a  certain  amount,  that  amount  must  be  paid 
in  full. 

3.  These  societies  are  frequently  social  organizations  of 
which  the  insurance  feature  is  only  of  incidental  import- 
ance. 

4.  On  the  plea  that  these  societies  are  benevolent  organ 
izations,  they  have  escaped  many  of  the  rigid  legal  require- 
ments which  safeguard  the  operations  of  the  regular  com- 
panies. 

Organizations  of  this  kind  have  usually  failed  in  the  long 
run  because  they  have  tried  to  grant  insurance  protection  at 
less  than  cost.  The  futility  of  thus  attempting  to  do  the  im- 
possible is  illustrated  by  the  following  diagram: 

81 


PI      j 

\ 


-p 


II 


\ 


w 

_£l 


S    2 


EXPLANATION    OF    DIAGRAM 

In  the  foregoing  diagram,  the  dotted  line  is  intended  to  represent  the 
premium  on  a  policy  issued  by  an  assessment  society  at  an  assumed 
rate  of  $23. 

Please  note  carefully  that  this  rate  is  an  arbitrary  assumption, and  does 
not  indicate  the  actual  premium  which  would  be  charged  by  one  of  these 
societies.  This  rate  has  been  selected  simply  to  illustrate  the  fallacy  of 
that  plan  of  insurance. 

That  plan  is  based  on  the  knowledge  that  insurance  can  be  granted 
during  the  earlier  years  of  each  policy  at  a  low  rate.  But  the  diagram 
indicates  that  while  a  premium  of  $23  would  be  adequate  for  a  time,  it 
demonstrates  the  fact  that  it  would  become  altogether  inadequate  later 
on.  If  a  premium  of  $18.03  had  been  selected,  the  diagram  would  prove 
the  inadequacy  of  that  rate  after  the  first  year.  But  starting  with  $23, 
that  rate  is  seen  to  be  clearly  adequate  for  several  years.  Later  on  it 
becomes  obviously  inadequate. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  many  of  these  societies  have  led  the 
policyholder  to  believe  that  his  premium  would  not  be  increased,  it  has 
been  usual  to  insert  in  his  policy  a  clause  authorizing  an  increase  in  the 
rate  later  on,  if  necessary.  Now,  let  us  see  if  a  policy  beginning  with  a 
premium  of  $23  could  be  sustained  if  the  rate  should  be  increased  from 
time  to  time.  In  the  diagram  the  dashes  indicate  an  increase  of  10% 
at  the  end  of  the  first  five  years,  making  the  premium  $25.30.  Adding 
another  10%  to  this  rate  at  the  end  of  the  second  five  years,  the  premium 
would  be  $27.83.  For  the  next  period  the  rate  would  be  $30.61,  and  for 
the  next  $33.67.  The  inadequacy  of  this  is  also  obvious. 

If  20%  should  be  added  at  the  end  of  every  five  years,  the  increasing 
rate  would  be  as  follows:  $27.60;  $33.12;  $39.74;  $47.69.  And  even  this 
rate  thus  increased  would  be  inadequate,  for  although  during  the  last 
period  the  charge  would  be  a  trifle  more  than  sufficient  for  that  period, 
*he  previous  deficiencies  would  far  outweigh  that  temporary  advantage. 

In  short  this  diagram  demonstrates  the  fact  that  the  only  adequate 
level  rate  is  $45.54;  and  that  the  only  adequate  increasing  rate  is  one 
beginning  at  $18.03  and  advancing  steadily  from  year  to  year,  or  a  rate 
increasing  at  longer  intervals  but  equivalent  to  this  annually  increasing 
rate. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  about  this  because  the  level  premium  and  the 
other  premiums  shown  in  the  diagram  are  the  pure  rates;  and  illustrate 
the  actual  cost  to  the  company  in  each  case.  In  each  case  the  rate  is 
based  on  the  same  mortality  table,  with  the  same  allowance  for  interest 
(3%).  If  the  gross  premium  had  been  used,  the  advocates  of  fraternal 

83 


and  assessment  insurance  might  contend  that  the  higher  charges  of  the 
regular  companies  are  due  to  higher  expenses,  and  thus  an  element  of 
doubt  would  be  introduced  into  the  problem.  Consequently,  in  this 
comparison  expenses  are  eliminated,  and  the  different  pure  premiums 
(all  on  precisely  the  same  basis)  are  employed. 

Most  of  the  foregoing  criticisms  relate  to  methods  that 
have  been  followed  in  the  past.  Some  of  these  societies  have 
already  adopted  adequate  rates  and  are  accumulating  more  or 
less  adequate  reserves,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  lessons 
taught  by  experience,  and  wholesome  restrictions  in  amended 
Insurance  Laws,  will  result  in  reforms  and  improvements 
which  will  enable  all  these  organizations,  especially  the  fra- 
ternal societies,  to  offer  absolutely  sound  life  insurance.  If  so, 
they  can  cover  a  broad  field,  and  ought  to  be  able  to  supply 
the  needs  of  large  masses  of  people  who  have  not  as  yet 
been  fully  reached  by  the  so-called  "regular"  companies. 


EXTRA  HAZARDOUS  RISKS 
ARE  DEALT  WITH  IN  §173. 


FIFTH  PART 


ANNUITIES 


DEFINITIONS 

The  person  on  whose  life 
an  Annuity  depends  is  the 
Annuitant. 

The  amount  which  he  pays 
for  the  Annuity  (the  purchase 
price)  is  the  Consideration  for 
the  Annuity. 

The  agreement  under  which 
the  transaction  is  carried  out 
is  the  Annuity  Contract  or 
Annuity  Policy. 

The  payments  made  by  the 
company  to  the  Annuitant 
(i.  e.,  the  income  from  the 
investment)  are  the  Annuity 
Payments,  or  simply  the  An- 
nuities. 


86 


XXX.     AN  ANNUITY  THE  CONVERSE  OF 
INSURANCE 

78.     Life  annuity 

Those  who  invest  in  Life  Annuities  are  usually  old  men  and 
women  without  dependents;  who  are  not  engaged  in  any  re- 
munerative calling,  and  who  have  some  capital  invested  in 
ordinary  securities  which  do  not  produce  a  sufficiently  large 
income  to  supply  their  needs.  Such  a  capital  if  re-invested  in 
an  Annuity  will  yield  a  much  larger  return. 

EXAMPLE  1. 

A  woman  65  years  of  age,  wholly  dependent  on  a  capital 
of  $15,000,  has  invested  this  capital  in  railroad  bonds  yield- 
ing 4%.  Her  annual  income  is,  therefore,  only  $600.  But 
if  she  should  convert  these  bonds  into  cash,  and  re-invest 
the  money  in  a  Life  Annuity,  it  would  yield  an  annual  in- 
come for  life  of  $1,400.70.* 

EXAMPLE  2. 

A  man  of  the  same  age  who  invests  $15,000  in  a  Life 
Annuity  will  receive  an  income  a  trifle  larger  than  the 
above,  namely  $1,538.10.** 

NO  MEDICAL  EXAMINATION 

In  an  annuity  transaction  a  medical  examination  is  super- 
fluous, because  the  early  death  of  the  Annuitant  would  not 
injure  the  company.  A  Life  Annuity  is  the  converse  of  a  Life 
Policy.  The  longer  the  Annuitant  lives  the  more  the  com- 
pany must  pay.  The  longer  the  policyholder  lives  the  more 
he  must  pay. 

*The  highest  rates  now  in  common  use  are  quoted  here.  Some  com- 
panies charge  a  little  less. 

**Experience  indicates  that  the  women  who  buy  annuities  live  a  little 
longer  on  the  average  than  the  men  who  buy  annuities.  Hence  the  com- 
pany in  fixing  its  charges  allows  a  slight  advantage  to  male  annuitants 

87 


79.     Income  from  annuities 

In  the  case  of  a  policy,  the  younger  the  age  the  larger  will  be 
the  amount  of  insurance  which  a  given  premium  will  purchase. 
In  the  case  of  an  Annuity,  the  younger  the  age  the  smaller 
will  be  the  annuity  which  a  given  amount  of  capital  will  buy. 

The  following  are  examples  of  income,  at  different  ages, 
produced  by  a  Life  Annuity  at  the  rates  quoted  in  this  book: 

FOR  MEN  FOR  WOMEN 

At  age  60  over     8K%  At  age  60  nearly  8% 

"     "  65  about  10K%        "    "    65      " 

"     "  70  nearly  12#%        "    "    70      " 

"     "  75  "      15K%        "    "    75      " 


80.     Life  annuity  rates 

Correct  annuity  charges  are  derived  from  a  mortality  table 
(not  necessarily  the  table  used  in  computing  premiums  on 
policies)  less  an  allowance  for  interest,  and  plus  a  moderate 
loading  to  cover  expenses  and  contingencies.  In  this  con- 
nection see  the  APPENDIX  (§  308). 

Every  mortality  table,  in  giving  the  number  of  persons 
who  will  die  each  year,  necessarily  shows  also  the  number 
who  will  be  alive  at  the  end  of  each  year.  And  the  problem 
in  the  case  of  Annuities  is  to  determine  how  long  Annuitants 
will  live. 

There  are  two  ways  of  stating  the  charge  for  an  Annuity: 
(a)  The  price  which  must  be  paid  for  an  income  of  a  round 
amount,  such  as  $100.  (b)  The  amount  of  the  Annuity  pay- 
ments which  a  round  amount  of  capital,  such  as  $1,000,  will 
produce. 

An  Annuity  is  usually  bought  by  the  man  or  woman  on  whose  life  the 
Annuity  is  to  depend,  but  it  may  be  bought  by  someone  else,  such  as  a 
son  for  the  support  of  a  parent,  a  brother  for  a  sister,  an  employer  for  a 
faithful  clerk  or  old  family  servant,  etc. 

88 


CONDENSED  TABLE  OF  GROSS  CHARGES 

FOR  LIFE  ANNUITIES 

(MALES) 

Based  on  the  British  Offices'  Experience  on  Annuitants,  with  3%  interest 


Price  for  $100  Annuity 

Age  at  last 
birthday 

Annuity  which  $1000  will  buy 

$100 
each 
year 

$50 
each 
half-year 

$25 
each 
quarter 

Annual 
Annuity 
Payment 

Semi- 
annual 
Payment 

Quarter- 
ly Pay- 
ment. 

$2,326.20 
2,129.00 
1,852.70 
1,521.60 
1,157.70 
801.10 
546.80 
489.50 

$2,353.20 
2,156.00 
1,879.70 
1,548.60 
1,184.70 
828.10 
573.80 
516.50 

$2,366.70 
2,169.50 
1,893.20 
1,562.10 
1,198.20 
841.60 
587.30 
530.00 

21 
30 
40 
50 
60 
70 
80 
85 

$42.98 
46.97 
53.97 
65.72 
86.37 
124.82 
182.88 
204.29 

$21.24 
23.19 
26.59 
32.28 
42.20 
60.37 
87.13 
96.80 

$10.56 
11.52 
13.20 
16.00 
20.86 
29.70 
42.56 
47.16 

CONDENSED  TABLE  OF  GROSS  CHARGES 
FOR  LIFE  ANNUITIES 
(FEMALES) 

Based  on  the  British  Offices'  Experience  on  Annuitants,  with  3%  interest 


Price  for  $100  Annuity 

Age  at  last 
birthday 

Annuity  which  $1000  will  buy 

$100 
each 
year 

$50 
each 
half-year 

$25 
each 
quarter 

Annual 
Annuity 
Payment 

Semi- 
Annual 
Payment 

Quarter- 
ly Pay- 
ment. 

$2,328.40 
2,141.90 
1,891.90 
1,607.70 
1,267.50 
878.30 
603.50 
504.80 

$2,355.40 
2,168.90 
1,918.90 
1,634.70 
1,294.50 
905.30 
630.50 
531.80 

$2,368.90 
2,182.40 
1,932.40 
1,648.20 
1,308.00 
918.80 
644.00 
545.30 

21 
30 
40 
50 
60 
70 
80 
85 

$42.91 
46.68 
52.85 
62.20 
78.89 
113.85 
165.70 
198.09 

$21.22 
23.05 
26.05 
30.58 
38.62 
55.23 
79.30 
94.02 

$10.55 
11.45 
12.93 
15.16 
19.11 
27.20 
38.81 
45.84 

SEE  NOTE  4,  PAGE  144 

8g 


81.     Annuitants  live  long 

Statistics  prove  that  men  and  women  who  are  supported  by 
pensions  or  by  Annuities  live  longer  on  the  average  than  other 
people.  There  are  two  reasons  for  this,  (1)  Only  those  who 
expect  to  live  are  willing  to  invest  in  Annuities,  (2)  The  people 
supported  by  Annuities  are  relieved  of  all  worry  and  anxiety. 
This  tends  to  prolong  their  lives. 

The  examining  physician  of  a  prominent  life  insurance  com- 
pany states  this  truth  with  humorous  exaggeration,  as  follows: 

"An  annuity  is  the  best  elixir  of  life.  It  sometimes  seems  as  if  annui- 
tants never  die.  We  have  lots  on  our  books  who  top  eighty,  ninety,  and 
even  ninety-five  years.  The  secret  is  that  financial  v/orry  and  fear  of 
the  poorhouse  ages  and  kills  off  more  people  than  all  the  deadly  diseases 
combined.  Release  an  old  man  by  means  of  an  annuity  from  all  this 
worry  and  he  throws  off  his  years  and  walks  erect,  happy  and  fearlessly 
young." 

One  of  the  agents  of  another  company,  who  has  done  a  good 
.business  in  placing  annuities,  says: 

"Actuaries  always  look  sad  when  you  speak  about  annuities.  They 
say  annuitants  never  die.  And  they  do  not — not  as  often  as  other  people. 
Our  Actuary  showed  me  a  list  the  other  day  of  living  annuitants  and  their 
ages,  and  it  looked  like  a  record  of  the  thermometer  in  Arizona  during  a 
hot  spell." 


82.     Refund  annuity 

By  increasing  the  charge,  a  Life  Annuity  can  be  issued  on  the 
same  piinciple  as  a  "return  premium"  policy.  (See  §75). 
In  that  case,  on  the  death  of  the  Annuitant,  if  the  annuities- 
returned  by  the  company  have  been  less  in  amount  than  the 
price  paid,  the  difference  will  be  returned  in  cash,  or  the  an- 
nuities will  be  continued  until  they  equal  the  purchase  price. 
Thus  the  return  may  be  more,  but  can  never  be  less,  than  the 
sum  invested. 

90 


OTHER   KINDS   OF   ANNUITIES 

83.  Two-life  annuity 

A  Two-Life  Annuity  is  based  on  the  lives  of  two  persons, 
and  is  payable  as  long  as  either  survives.  This  form  is  ad- 
vantageous for  a  man  and  wife  who  have  no  children,  or  whose 
children  are  settled  in  life. 

EXAMPLE 

A  man  aged  55  whose  wife  is  50  can,  for  $18,337,  obtain 
an  Annuity  of  this  kind  which  will  yield  an  income  of  $1,000, 
to  continue  until  the  death  of  the  one  who  lives  longest. 

84.  Annuity-due* 

Usually  a  Life  Annuity  Contract  is  so  drawn  that  the  first 
payment  of  income  to  the  Annuitant  shall  fall  due  at  the  end 
of  the  first  year,  and  be  payable  annually  thereafter. 

In  consideration  of  a  slight  increase  in  price  the  Annuity 
may  be  made  payable  in  semi-annual  or  quarterly  instal- 
ments. 

In  the  case  of  an  Annuity-Due,  the  first  payment  of  income 
is  made  at  the  beginning,  instead  of  at  the  end,  of  the  first 
year  (i.  e.  immediately  upon  the  purchase  of  the  Annuity). 
In  other  respects  the  Annuity-Due  and  the  Life  Annuity  are 
alike. 

Annuities  of  this  kind  are  constantly  employed  in  Life  in- 
surance computations,  but  are  seldom  desired  by  the  pur- 
chasers of  Annuities. 

*Often  called  an  Immediate  Annuity,  but  the  title  "Annuity-Due"  is 
better  because  an  ordinary  Life  Annuity  is  in  some  quarters  called  an 
"Immediate  Annuity." 


85.  Temporary  annuity 

A  Life  Annuity  runs  during  the  lifetime  of  the  Annuitant. 
A  Temporary  Annuity  runs  for  a  stipulated  term,  and  then 
expires. 

EXAMPLE 

A  10-year  Temporary  Annuity  will  expire  after  10  annual 
payments  have  been  made  to  the  Annuitant,  unless  termi- 
nated by  the  death  of  the  Annuitant  before  the  expiration 
of  that  term. 

86.  Annuity-certain 

This  is  like  a  temporary  annuity  except  that  it  is  payable 
during  a  stipulated  term,  whether  the  Annuitant  lives  or  dies. 

87.  Perpetual  annuity 

This  is  like  an  Annuity-certain,  except  that  the  income  is 
not  cut  off  at  the  end  of  a  stipulated  period,  but  is  supposed  to 
continue  in  perpetuity. 

88.  Deferred  annuity 

Under  an  ordinary  Life  Annuity,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
income  begins  at  the  end  of  the  first  year.  Under  an  Annuity- 
Due  the  income  begins  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  year. 

The  income  payable  under  a  Deferred  Annuity  does  not 
begin  until  an  interval  of  years  has  elapsed. 

EXAMPLE 

A  man  of  30  can  take  a  Deferred  Annuity  under  which  the 
income  will  begin  at  age  55.  If  he  dies  in  the  interim  the 
company  will  have  nothing  to  pay;  but  if  he  survives  he 
will,  on  reaching  age  55,  receive  an  income  much  larger  than 
would  be  the  case  under  a  Life  Annuity. 

The  charge  for  a  Deferred  Annuity  depends  on  the  age  of 
the  Annuitant  when  the  investment  is  made,  and  the  length 

92 


of  the  period  which  will  elapse  before  the  income  will  begin. 

Such  an  annuity  can  be  paid  for  by  depositing  the  entire 
purchase  price  in  advance,  or  by  paying  annual  premiums  (as 
in  the  case  of  an  insurance  policy)  from  the  date  of  purchase 
to  the  date  on  which  the  annuity  will  begin. 

EXAMPLE 

A  man  35  years  of  age  who  is  earning  a  good  income  and 
who  wishes  to  lay  something  by  from  year  to  year  during  a 
period  of  20  years,  so  as  to  retire  from  business  at  age  55 
can  get  a  very  large  return  for  his  savings  if  he  invests  them 
in  a  Deferred  Annuity.  Thus  if  he  should  make  an  annual 
payment  to  the  company  of  $429,  for  20  years,  the  invest- 
ment will  yield  an  annual  life  income  of  $1,000,  payable  in 
semi-annual  instalments  of  $500  each,  the  first  payment 
to  begin  six  months  after  he  reaches  age  55. 


I  am  a  profound  believer  in  life  insurance  for  all 
classes  and  conditions  of  men  and  women.  Next  to 
the  duty  of  securing  salvation  in  the  world  to  come 
is  the  duty  of  men  to  secure  life  insurance  in  the 
world  that  is  here  and  now.  Next  to  a  good  hope 
for  eternity  is  the  comfort  which  comes  to  a  man 
from  knowing  that  he  has  made  provision  by  life 
insurance  for  the  support  of  his  family  in  the  event 
of  his  own  death.  To  do  so  seems  to  me  a  religious 
obligation,  an  obligation  often  as  binding  upon 
women  as  upon  men. 

Robert  S.  Me  Arthur. 


93 


SERVICES   RENDERED    BY   LIFE    INSURANCE 


Of  all  teachers  of  thrift,  life  insurance  is  the  safest  and  best. 


It  not  only  provides  a  convenient  plan  for  saving  money, 
but  it  enables  a  man  to  resist  the  temptation  to  spend  what  he 
has  saved.  

It  safeguards  the  savings  of  people  of  limited  means. 


It  makes  the  safest  and  most  economical  provision  for  the 
support  of  widows  and  orphans. 


It  makes  the  safest  and  most  economical  provision  for  the 
declining  years  of  business  men  and  self-supporting  women. 

It  is  essential  for  the  families  of  salaried  and  professional  men 
whose  income  will  be  cut  off  at  their  death. 


It  is  essential  for  those  lacking  capital  who  spend  all  their 
earnings  to  meet  current  expenses. 


It  gives  a  man  time  to  accumulate  capital  if  he  lives,  and  pro- 
vides that  capital  instantly  if  he  happens  to  die. 

It  pays  the  current  obligations  of  a  man  after  his  death,  and 
provides  money  for  the  immediate  needs  of  his  family. 

When  payable  in  the  form  of  a  life  income,  it  provides,  with- 
out expense,  after  the  death  of  the  insured,  a  financial  agent 
to  safeguard  the  future  of  the  beneficiary. 

It  drives  worry  and  care  from  a  man's  mind.  It  increases  his 
cheerfulness,  and  enhances  his  efficiency. 

It  strengthens  a  man's  reputation  for  business  judgment, 
efficiency,  foresight  and  prudence. 

Life  insurance  is  in  effect  an  "insured"  savings  bank  account. 
Life  insurance  safeguards  business  and  financial  transactions. 

(Continued  on  Page  96.) 


94 


SIXTH  PART 


VALUE  OF  LIFE  INSURANCE 


SERVICES    RENDERED    BY    LIFE    INSURANCE 
(Continued  from  Page  94.) 

Insurance  money  goes  to  the  beneficiary  without  expense. 

It  enables  a  father  to  start  a  son  on  his  business  career,  or 
to  provide  a  marriage  portion  for  his  daughter. 

The  young  man  who  takes  a  policy  instantly  creates  a  capital, 
which  may  form  the  nucleus  of  a  substantial  fortune. 

The  young  man  who  insures,  constrains  himself  to  save,  and 
establishes  a  fund  for  the  protection  of  his  future  family,  or 
for  his  own  future  comfort  if  he  never  marries. 


Insurance  protects  the  young  man  who  has  borrowed  money 
to  complete  his  education — if  he  dies.  It  gives  him  remu- 
nerative work,  enabling  him  to  pay  his  debt — if  he  lives. 

The  man  who  invests  in  insurance  increases  his  self-reliance 
and  strengthens  his  credit.  

It  provides  ready  money  for  the  settlement  of  an  estate, 
protecting  it  against  shrinkage  and  loss. 

If  a  man  insures  to  protect  his  family,  he  safeguards  his  busi- 
ness. If  he  insures  to  safeguard  his  business,  he  protects  his 
family. 

It  gives  compensation  for  depreciation  in  the  value  of  invest- 
ments, or  shrinkage  in  the  income  from  investments. 

It  protects  a  home  bought  on  the  instalment  plan. 

It  enables  a  man  to  borrow  larger  sums  from  his  bank  than 
he  could  obtain  otherwise. 


It  is  utilized  by  men  of  wealth  to  offset  the  inheritance  tax. 

It  provides  for  the  payment  of  collateral  loans,  thus  freeing 
the  collateral  lodged  to  secure  such  loans. 

(Continued  on  Page  110.) 
96 


The  uncertainty  of  the  life 
of  the  individual  makes  life 
insurance  expedient. 

The  certainty  of  the  life  of 
a  multitude  of  individuals 
makes  it  possible  and  safe. 


XXXI.     DEVELOPMENT  AND  SCOPE  OF 
LIFE  INSURANCE 

89.     Development 

Formerly  the  policies  issued  by  the  life  insurance  companies 
were  rigidly  restricted  contracts.  Many  things  were  specified 
which  the  policyholder  could  not  do,  and  many  places  were 
designated  which  he  could  not  visit.  Death  claims  were  not 
paid  until  sixty  or  ninety  days  after  the  receipt  of  due  proof 
of  death,  and  there  were  cases  where  claims  were  contested 
or  compromised  on  what  would  now  be  regarded  as  very 
trivial  grounds. 

All  this  has  been  changed.  The  insurance  contract  has 
been  simplified  and  liberalized;  collateral  advantages  have 
been  added,  and  flexibility  has  been  given  to  its  provisions 
by  permitting  the  Insured  or  the  Beneficiary  to  select  one  of 
a  variety  of  methods  of  settlement  at  the  maturity  of  the 
policy. 

The  up-to-date  policy  becomes  incontestable  after  one,  or 
two,  years;  is  paid  at  maturity  without  delay,  and  the  bene- 
ficiary is  given  the  benefit  of  the  doubt  in  every  doubtful 
case. 


97 


90.     Scope    of  insurance 

In  the  early  days  life  insurance  was  utilized  almost  exclu- 
sively for  the  protection  of  the  family.  Today  it  serves  a 
multitude  of  useful  purposes.  This  is  illustrated  by  the 
many  policies  and  kinds  of  insurance  described  in  this  book, 
and  by  the  following  examples. 

VARIETY  OF  USES 
Wealthy  men  and  women  invest  their  surplus  funds  in  life  insurance. 

Benevolent  people  who  wish  to  leave  money  to  educational  or  charitable 
institutions,  but  who  do  not  wish  to  encroach  upon  the  capital  they 
intend  to  leave  to  their  heirs,  insure  their  lives  for  the  benefit  of  these 
institutions. 

Young  men  without  dependents  insure  in  order  that  they  may  thus 
constrain  themselves  to  save. 

Business  men  and  self-supporting  women  take  Endowment  insur- 
ance, or  Deferred  Annuities,  to  provide  for  their  declining  years. 

Fathers  take  policies  to  pay  for  the  school  and  college  education  of 
their  children. 

The  members  of  a  college  class  take  insurance  to  provide  a  fund  for 
the  benefit  of  their  Alma  Mater. 

BUSINESS  INSURANCE 

Partners  insure  for  the  benefit  of  the  firm;  corporations  insure  the 
lives  of  their  officers  to  protect  the  organization  against  the  loss  of 
influence,  experience,  expert  skill,  or  capital,  and  Endowment  insurance 
is  taken  to  provide  sinking  funds  to  protect  issues  of  bonds,  or  to  extin- 
guish other  financial  obligations. 

THE  INSURING  HABIT 

Some  years  ago,  upon  the  death  of  a  prominent  Philadelphian,  it  was 
discovered  that  whenever  he  had  started  some  new  enterprise,  he  pro- 
tected it  with  a  policy  on  his  life.  His  theory  was  that  if  he  lived  the 
enterprise  would  succeed,  but  that  if  he  died  his  widow  might  not  be 
able  to  develop  it  successfully.  Consequently,  the  insurance  was  taken 
to  offset  any  shrinkage  that  might  result.  It  was  a  wise  precaution,  for 
he  died  suddenly  and  unexpectedly,  and  the  insurance  served  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  had  been  taken.  The  insuring  habit,  as  illustrated 
in  this  case,  is  a  habit  well  worth  cultivating. 

9B 


SOLVENCY  AND   REPUTATION 

I  know  of  a  case  where  a  young  man  saved  not  only  his  fortune,  but 
also  his  reputation,  by  insuring  his  life. 

He  had  accumulated  some  capital,  and  was  one  of  the  junior  officials 
of  a  certain  corporation. 

His  capital  was  embarked  in  an  enterprise,  which  a  trusted  friend  was 
trying  to  develop. 

This  young  official  was  sent  away  on  a  foreign  mission,  and  while 
absent,  his  trusted  friend  mismanaged  his  enterprise,  and  in  trying  to 
save  it  from  disaster  borrowed  money  from  certain  financial  institutions 
on  the  strength  of  his  associate's  official  connection  with  the  corporation 
of  which  he  was  the  servant. 

When  the  young  official  got  back  his  capital  was  gone  and  his  reputa- 
tion was  threatened.  But  he  still  had  good  credit,  and  got  his  personal 
note  discounted  at  the  bank  with  which  he  dealt,  and  instantly  paid  off 
the  loans  that  had  been  improperly  negotiated  in  his  name. 

He  was  anxious  to  liquidate  the  personal  debt  thus  created  as  quickly 
as  possible,  but  he  was  afraid  to  suddenly  change  his  mode  of  life  lest 
his  credit  should  be  impaired.  At  the  same  time  he  saw  no  way  of  paying 
his  debt  quickly  unless  he  ruthlessly  cut  down  his  expenses.  He  was  in  a 
dilemma.  And  his  anxiety  was  so  great  that  he  was  in  imminent  danger  of 
breaking  down;  for  he  knew  that  if  he  died  his  family  would  be  destitute. 

A  life  insurance  man  solved  his  problem.  He  was  still  in  the  receipt 
of  an  adequate  salary,  and  was  consequently  able  to  insure  his  life  for 
an  amount  sufficient  to  pay  his  debt  in  the  event  of  his  death,  and  leave 
something  in  addition  for  his  widow. 

But  his  life  was  spared,  and  he  was  given  time  to  pay  off  his  debt  quietly 
and  gradually.  After  that  he  began  saving  again,  and  finally  accumu- 
lated as  much  capital  as  he  had  lost.  Thus  he  doubled  his  estate,  for 
he  was  able  to  add  his  life  insurance  to  the  money  he  had  saved. 

INSURES  WILLS 

I  know  of  another  case  where  a  man,  after  failing  to  make  a  satisfactory 
will,  was  able  to  solve  all  his  difficulties  by  means  of  life  insurance. 

He  had  accumulated  a  capital  sufficient  for  the  support  of  his  wife  and 
daughter,  and  had  drawn  a  will  setting  aside  a  definite  sum  to  be  placed 
in  trust  for  the  daughter;  leaving  the  residue  of  his  estate  to  his  wife. 
But  the  market  value  of  his  investments  began  to  show  depreciation,  and 
he  was  disturbed  by  the  thought  that  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  trust 
fund  for  his  daughter  very  little  might  remain  for  his  wife. 

He  had  other  grounds  for  dissatisfaction:  he  learned  that  the  trust 
C3mpany  appointed  to  carry  out  the  trust  would  be  forced  under  the  law 
and  its  own  rigid  rules  to  sell  his  securities  and  re-invest  the  money  in 

99 


municipal  bonds  or  real  estate  mortgages  that  would  yield  a  very  low 
rate  of  interest.  He  also  knew  that  the  income  would  be  further  re- 
duced by  the  legitimate  fees  which  the  trust  company  would  charge. 
Thus  he  became  altogether  dissatisfied  with  his  will,  and  was  at  a  loss  to 
know  how  to  proceed.  But  it  so  happened  that  he  carried  a  substantial 
amount  of  insurance  on  his  life,  and  having  told  his  perplexities  to  the 
agent  who  had  persuaded  him  to  insure,  he  made  the  following  adjust- 
ment under  that  agent's  guidance.  He  placed  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  insurance  in  the  name  of  his  daughter,  stipulating  that  the  insurance 
at  maturity  should  be  paid,  not  in  one  lump  sum,  but  in  the  form  of  a 
monthly  income  for  life.  He  then  tore  up  the  will  he  had  made,  and 
drew  another,  under  which  he  left  the  whole  of  his  invested  property 
and  the  balance  of  his  life  insurance,  without  any  restrictions,  to  his  wife. 

When  savings  are  put  into  life  insurance,  certain  penalties  and  risks 
are  avoided.  Insurance  money  for  example,  goes  to  the  beneficiary 
without  impairment  and  without  expense.  No  inheritance  tax  reduces 
its  amount,  and  no  conflict  of  interest  is  likely  to  delay  or  threaten  its 
payment. 

Wills  are  proverbially  easy  to  break;  and  not  long  ago  the  will  of  the 
chief  justice  of  the  highest  court  in  Pennsylvania  was  set  aside  by  his 
former  associates. 

Lawyers  as  well  as  laymen  are  constantly  making  wills  that  fail  to 
carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  testator.  And  in  many  cases  where  the 
testator's  will  is  ultimately  satisfied,  long  and  expensive  litigation  inter- 
venes, resulting  in  hardship  and  loss.  On  the  other  hand,  the  pro- 
ceeds of  a  policy  in  favor  of  a  relative,  friend,  employe,  old  servant, 
or  some  other  individual;  or  a  policy  to  endow  some  religious,  educa- 
tional or  charitable  institution,  will  reach  its  destination  without  ques- 
tion, deduction,  or  delay. 

It  is  a  truth  of  almost  universal  application  that  the  man  who  has  an 
adequate  amount  of  life  insurance  can  draw  a  safe  will  and  make  a 
satisfactory  adjustment  of  all  his  affairs.  It  is  equally  true  that  the 
man  who  has  no  insurance  is  usually  beset  by  many  perplexities  when 
he  comes  to  draw  his  will.  //  is  a  sound  maxim  that  every  man  should 
consider  his  ivill  and  his  life  insurance  in  conjunction. 

LIFE  INTERESTS 

The  man  who  has  a  life  interest  in  an  estate  can,  by  means  of  life  insur- 
ance, provide  an  income  for  the  support  of  his  dependents  after  the 
income  from  the  estate  has  been  cut  off.  On  the  other  hand  the  man 
to  whom  an  estate  will  revert  if  he  outlives  those  who  have  a  life  interest 
in  the  income  produced  by  it,  can,  by  means  of  life  insurance,  protect 
the  future  of  his  family,  or  borrow  money  on  his  contingent  interest  in 
the  estate. 

TOO 


FOR   COLLEGE  STUDENTS 

The  following  plan  for  teaching  thrift  and  extending  life  insurance  is 
described  by  a  young  man  who  became  an  insurance  solicitor  shortly 
after  leaving  college: 

"I  figured  that  most  successful  business  men  either  carried 
enough  life  insurance,  or  would  naturally  place  additional 
policies  with  old  friends  or  business  acquaintances.  So  I 
determined  to  go  after  young  fellows.  I  made  out  a  list  of 
the  wealthier  students  at  Harvard  and  then  called  on  their 
fathers.  I  pointed  out  to  the  father  that  with  school  and  col- 
lege expenses  he  was  making  an  investment  in  his  boy  of  some 
thousands  of  dollars.  I  then  explained  that  the  'risk'  should 
be  covered  by  insurance;  the  father  to  pay  the  premiums 
while  the  boy  was  in  college,  and  then  turn  the  job  over  to 
him  when  he  entered  business  or  professional  life.  This  would 
help  develop  in  the  young  man  the  idea  of  thrift,  and  his  insur- 
ance taken  out  at  such  an  early  age  would  cost  much  less.  Out 
of  the  twenty-five  men  I  talked  with  I  wrote  policies  for  sixteen, 
and  I  am  'going  to  it'  among  other  colleges  when  I  get  through 
with  my  Harvard  list.  And  I'll  stick  along  with  those  fellows 
after  they  get  into  business  or  professions." 

PARTNERSHIPS 

When  a  member  of  some  business  firm  dies,  if  his  life  has  been  insured 
for  the  benefit  of  the  firm,  many  embarrassments  may  be  avoided.  If, 
for  example,  his  interest  in  the  business  reverts  to  his  widow,  the  insurance 
may  aid  the  surviving  partners  in  making  a  satisfactory  settlement 
with  her.  Otherwise  the  enterprise  may  be  crippled  in  consequence  of 
the  withdrawal  of  capital;  or  the  widow  may  demand  a  full  share  of  the 
profits  even  if  unable  to  aid  in  maintaining  or  developing  the  business. 

CREDIT 

The  man  who  wants  to  borrow  money  from  a  bank  finds  it  much 
easier  to  make  a  satisfactory  arrangement  if  he  can  offer  life  insurance  in 
addition  to  other  collateral.  Many  banks  demand  insurance  in  such 
cases.  In  addition  to  this  the  mercantile  agencies  and  banks  are  begin- 
ning to  put  questions  about  life  insurance  in  the  blanks  they  use  to  aid 
them  in  determining  the  financial  standing  of  business  men. 
PROTECTS  THE  HOME 

Those  who  lend  money  to  enable  men  of  moderate  means  to  build 
or  buy  their  own  homes  often  require  the  borrower  to  provide  a  sufficient 
amount  of  life  insurance  to  discharge  the  mortgage  in  the  event  of  pre- 
mature death,  on  the  theory  that  it  is  disagreeable  to  be  compelled  to 
evict  widows  and  orphans  from  their  homes. 


The  purchasing  power  of  money  is  steadily  shrinking. 
Consequently,  many  men  who  carry  life  insurance  are  taking 
additional  policies  in  order  that  their  resources  may  corres- 
pond with  the  increasing  cost  of  living. 

Sometimes  a  man,  after  accumulating  a  capital  which  he 
has  leemed  sufficient  to  provide  for  the  future  support  of  his 
family,  finds  that  it  has  become  inadequate  in  consequence 
of  depreciation  in  values  or  shrinkage  in  income.  Such  de- 
ficiencies can  be  repaired  by  means  of  life  insurance. 

But  the  resources  of  most  men  die  with  them.  Salaries 
stop  and  earnings  are  cut  off.  The  widow  of  the  physician 
cannot  hold  his  patients,  and  the  lawyer's  clients  seek  new 
counsel.  In  such  cases,  unless  capital  has  been  accumulated, 
misery  and  want  are  the  portion  of  the  widows  and  orphans 
who  are  not  protected  by  life  insurance. 

91.     Collateral  benefits 

The  companies  have  become  very  liberal  in  extending 
collateral  advantages  to  their  policyholders. 

Many  of  the  companies  issue  policies  under  which,  if  the  Insured 
becomes  absolutely  and  permanently  disabled,  the  further  payment  of 
premiums  will  be  waived.  In  some  cases,  the  company  pays  the  dis- 
abled policyholder  an  income  for  life,  without  encroaching  upon  the 
amount  of  insurance  payable  to  the  beneficiary  after  his  death. 

Some  companies  add  an  accident  feature,  stipulating  that  if  death  is  the 
result  of  an  accident,  double  the  amount  of  the  insurance  contracted  for 
shall  be  paid  to  the  Beneficiary. 

Many  other  examples  might  be  cited,  but  enough  has  been 
said  to  illustrate  the  fact  that  modern  life  insurance  meets  a 
great  variety  of  needs. 

102 


9  2 .     Incidental  Advantages 

The  full  value  of  life  insurance  is  not  apparent  if  we  con- 
sider its  direct  benefits  only.  To  these  must  be  added  many 
incidental  advantages. 

The  young  man  who  takes  a  policy  instantly  becomes  a  capitalist. 
And  the  capital  thus  created  may  be  the  germ  of  a  successful  career, 
and  form  the  nucleus  of  a  substantial  fortune. 

The  man  who  takes  insurance  for  the  protection  of  his  family  safe- 
guards his  business,  and  the  man  who  protects  his  business  by  means 
of  life  insurance  benefits  his  family. 

The  man  who  carries  an  adequate  amount  of  insurance  gains  confidence 
in  himself,  and  increases  the  facilities  for  extending  his  credit  and  develop- 
ing his  enterprises.  He  is  relieved  of  worry  and  care.  The  cheerfulness 
which  ensues  preserves  his  health  and  increases  his  efficiency. 

Multitudes  of  men  have  testified  that  when  ill  the  thought  that  they 
had  protected  those  dependent  upon  them  by  means  of  life  insurance 
has  done  them  good  like  a  medicine.  And  many  of  these  men  have 
expressed  the  belief  that  their  recovery  has  been  largely  due  to  the 
peace  of  mind  which  this  thought  has  given  them. 

Finally,  life  insurance  is  the  most  effective  of  all  teachers 
of  thrift.  It  provides  the  easiest,  safest,  and  best  known 
method  of  establishing  and  fostering  the  habit  of  saving. 
In  this  connection  the  distinguished  editor  of  The  Outlook, 
Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  has  said. 

"What  many  men  count  an  objection  to  life  insurance  I 
count  its  first  advantage.  It  com  pels  thrift;  it  necessitates 
saving;  it  puts  the  Insured  under  bonds  to  lay  up  a  few 
dollars  every  year  to  provide  for  the  future." 


It  is  our  duty  to  live  without  anxious  thought  for 
the  morrow,  and  life  insurance  is  a  simple  method  of 
setting  the  mind  free  from  such  anxious  thought  and 
therefore  should  be  adopted. 

Charles  Spurgeon. 


103 


93.     Public  Service 

The  benefits  conferred  on  the  public  at  large  by  life  in- 
surance are  equally  significant. 

The  small  sums  deposited  by  individual  policyholders  would  in  most 
cases  lie  idle  or  be  spent  if  they  were  not  invested  in  life  insurance.  But 
these  small  sums  pouring  in  steady  streams  from  all  quarters  into  the 
treasuries  of  the  insurance  companies  form  great  aggregations  of  capital, 
which  must  be  prudently  invested  pending  their  disbursement  in  the 
settlement  df  policy  claims.  And  the  investment  of  this  money  through- 
out the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  is  of  enormous  value  to  the  people. 
It  helps  to  build  railways;  extends  transportation  facilities;  furnishes 
capital  for  the  purchase  of  homes,  and  the  erection  of  office  buildings, 
schoolhouses,  hospitals,  highways,  bridges,  water  works,  nitration 
plants  and  other  public  utilities  upon  which  the  prosperity  and  com- 
fort of  our  people  largely  depend.  At  the  same  time  the  Nation  and 
the  State  are  relieved  of  intolerable  burdens;  for,  as  the  protection  of  life 
insurance  is  extended,  fewer  people  are  left  dependent  upon  public 
charity,  and  the  necessity  for  building  and  maintaining  asylums,  poor- 
houses,  and  jails  is  steadily  lessened. 

These  axe  some  of  the  reasons  why  savings  invested  in 
life  insurance  should  not  be  preyed  upon  by  National  and 
State  governments.  If  it  is  right  to  exempt  savings  banks 
from  taxation,  it  is  right  that  a  part  at  least  of  the  heavy  taxes 
now  levied  on  the  policyholders  of  our  insurance  companies 
should  be  removed. 


When  I  was  a  young  man  I  took  out  two  poli- 
cies for  my  mother.  One  was  for  $2500,  and  the 
other  for  $5000.  I'm  going  to  hold  on  to  them. 
That  is  the  thing  for  everybody  with  somebody 
dependent  on  him.  Get  a  policy  and  then  hold 
on  to  it.  It  means  self-respect,  it  means  that 
nobody  will  have  to  put  something  in  a  hat  for 
you  or  your  dependent  ones  if  you  should  be 
snatched  away  from  them. 

Grover  Cleveland. 


94.     How  much  insurance  should  a  man  carry? 

It  is  seldom  that  a  man's  life  is  fully  insured  in  the  sense 
that  a  building  or  a  ship  is  fully  insured. 

A  wealthy  man  may  deem  it  wise  to  carry  a  large- amount  of  life 
insurance,  but  he  will  not  be  likely  to  insure  his  life  for  its  full  value  as 
measured  by  his  money-making  ability. 

Others  may  not  be  able  to  save  enough  from  their  incomes  to  fully 
insure  their  lives. 

Consequently,  the  man  who  carries  as  much  as  he  can  conveniently 
pay  for  is  not  likely  to  carry  too  much. 

Most  men  are  inadequately  insured.  One  reason  for  this  is  that  they 
fail  to  recognize  the  fact  that  the  proceeds  of  a  policy  should  be  regarded 
as  capital  to  be  invested,  so  that  the  family  may  be  permanently  sup- 
ported by  the  income  it  can  be  made  to  produce. 

Example:  Consider  the  case  of  a  man  who  has  no  capital, 
and  spends  the  greater  part  of  an  annual  income  of  $6,000. 
Assuming  that  of  this  income  $3,000  is  required  for  the 
direct  support  of  wife  and  children,  and  assuming  further 
that  in  the  event  of  this  man's  death  his  family  could, 
by  moving  to  the  country  and  exercising  the  strictest 
economy,  get  along  on  half  that  sum,  it  will  be  obvious  that 
he  ought  to  carry  at  least  $30,000  of  insurance;  for  that 
sum  invested  at  5%  would  yield  only  $1,500  a  year. 
Every  prudent  man  whose  life  is  insured  should  review  his 
situation  from  time  to  time;  for,  as  his  family  and  responsi- 
bilities increase,  he  will  be  very  likely  to  need  additional  insur- 
ance. 


Life  insurance  increases 
the  stability  of  the  business 
world,  raises  its  moral  tone 
and  puts  a  premium  upon 
those  habits  of  thrift  and 
saving  which  are  so  essen- 
tial to  the  welfare  of  the 
people  as  a  body. 

Theodore  Roosevelt. 


95.     The  policyholder's  right  point  of  view 

The  premium  on  a  fire  or  marine  policy  is  an  expense.  If 
the  building  does  not  burn,  if  the  ship  does  not  sink,  there  will 
be  no  return.  But  this  expense  is  regarded  as  not  only  desirable 
but  essential.  Now,  many  people  regard  life  insurance  as 
they  view  fire  and  marine  insurance.  They  regard  the  pre- 
miums as  an  expense,  and  something  of  a  burden.  This  is 
not  the  right  point  of  view.  The  premiums  paid  on  a  life 
insurance  policy  should  be  regarded  as  instalments  of  capital 
entrusted  to  the  insurance  company  for  safekeeping.  The 
policyholder  should  realize  the  fact  that  if  the  policy  is  con- 
tinued, it  will  necessarily  mature  and  be  paid,  because  what 
is  only  a  possible  contingency  in  the  case  of  a  building  or 
ship,  is  a  certainty  in  the  case  of  a  human  being,  since  every 
man  must  die. 

If  a  man  invests  in  a  life  insurance  policy  and  dies  prematurely,  the 
return  will  be  so  large  in  proportion  to  the  small  amount  paid  in  premiums 
that  the  advantage  of  the  transaction  will  be  obvious  to  the  most  casual 
observer.  But  if  life  is  prolonged,  unthinking  people  may  conclude  that 
the  transaction  will  be  unprofitable.  This,  again,  is  an  erroneous  point 
of  view.  The  man  who  liv~es  long  can  have  no  previous  knowledge  of  the 
fact,  and  can  well  afford  to  pay  for  the  protection  furnished  by  life 
insurance  on  that  account,  just  as  he  would  pay  for  his  fire  or  marine 
insurance.  And  here  again  the  life  insurance  contract  has  an  additional 
advantage.  It  is  true  that  the  policyholder  who  lives  long  will  pay  more 
for  his  insurance,  but  the  rate  per  annum — the  amount  set  aside  to  pay 
for  his  insurance  from  his  yearly  income — will  not  be  more.  In  addition 
to  this,  he  will  be  given  time  to  develop  his  business  enterprises,  extend 
his  business,  accumulate  capital,  and  thus  be  able  to  place  those  de- 
pendent upon  him  in  a  far  stronger  position  than  they  would  occupy 
if  his  life  had  been  cut  short.  When  these  advantages  are  added  to  the 
certainty  that  the  insurance  will  necessarily  be  paid  at  some  time,  the 
value  of  the  investment,  even  if  life  is  prolonged,  is  obvious. 

106 


XXXII.     POPULAR   FALLACIES    ABOUT 
LIFE    INSURANCE 

96.     Popular    fallacies 

Here  are  some  of  the  mistakes  that  the  uninitiated  make 
about  life  insurance. 

That  a  man  can  insure  himself.  Insurance  is  based  on  averages, 
but  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  average  of  one. 

That  a  man  can  take  better  care  of  his  money  than  any  insurance 
company.  Perhaps  he  can  if  he  has  exceptional  opportunities  and 
unfailing  judgment,  and  can  guarantee  the  continuance  of  his  own  life 
Otherwise,  he  had  better  turn  to  life  insurance.  No  man  has  ever  been 
able  to  manage  his  estate  after  his  death. 

That  a  man  can  invest  his  money  to  greater  advantage.  Not  if  death 
intervenes,  or  if  he  lacks  broad  experience  and  aptitude.  Besides  this, 
few  men  save  small  sums,  or  invest  them  so  as  to  make  them  earn  interest. 
But  the  insurance  company  consolidates  in  one  large  investment- fund 
the  small  savings  of  many  individuals,  and  thus  has  special  facilities 
for  investing  money  advantageously,  and  of  making  it  breed  money. 

That  a  man  should  put  all  his  savings  into  his  business.  The  object 
of  insurance  is  not  to  make,  but  to  protect,  money.  Today  the  astute 
business  man  not  only  protects  his  family,  but  safeguards  his  business, 
by  means  of  life  insurance. 

That  a  savings  bank  is  better.  Not  if  death  intervenes,  or  if  the 
money  deposited  is  withdrawn  and  wasted.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that 
at  the  present  time  banks  and  trust  companies  throughout  the  country 
are  inserting  advertisements  in  the  newspapers  advising  their  depositors 
to  seek  the  protection  of  life  insurance,  and  suggesting  the  establishment 
of  special  accounts  from  which  to  pay  insurance  premiums.  The  most 
enlightened  men  are  taking  advantage  of  the  services  of  both  banks 
and  life  insurance  companies. 

That  insurance  is  gambling.  The  contrary  is  true.  The  man  who 
does  not  insure  is  betting  against  death,  and  sooner  or  later  his  loved 
ones  will  be  the  losers.  Insurance  removes  the  gambling  element  from 
life. 

That  the  interests  of  the  company  are  antagonistic  to  these  oj  the  policy- 
holder.  This  is  one  of  the  most  insidious  of  fallacies.  The  interests 

107 


of  the  company  and  those  of  its  policyholders  are  identical.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  the  policyholders  form  the  company.  Consequently,  if  the 
company  is  injured  they  suffer  and  if  the  company  prospers  they  are 
benefited. 

Thai  insurance  is  costly.  Insurance  .s  not  an  expense.  It  is  a  busi- 
ness device  for  laying  by  for  future  use  small  sums  saved  from  year  to 
year.  Moreover,  in  the  event  of  premature  death  the  money  which  the 
policyholder  would  have  saved  if  he  had  lived  and  which  he  has  been 
prevented  from  saving  is  provided  by  the  insurance  company. 

That  all  insurance  is  expensive.  The  premiums  for  certain  kinds  of 
insurance  are  higher  than  for  other  kinds,  but  in  any  case  the  policy- 
holder  gets  an  equivalent  for  the  premium  he  pays.  Those  who  invest 
in  the  policies  for  which  charges  are  high  do  so  because  of  the  special 
advantages  that  are  secured.  The  charges  for  policies  that  grant  insur- 
ance protection  exclusively  are  seen  to  be  moderate  when  issued  on  the 
non-participating  plan,  or  on  the  participating  plan  if  REFUNDS  are 
taken  into  consideration. 

That  people  fail  to  insure  because  they  are  unwilling  to  pay.  Men 
are  willing  to  pay  for  good  bargains,  and  multitudes  have  testified  that 
their  best  bargains  have  been  life  insurance  policies.  Those  who  are 
able  to  pay  but  are  unwilling  to  do  so  are  those  who  are  ignorant  of 
the  real  value  of  insurance. 


If  it  is  true  that  "Uneasy  lies  the 
head  that  wears  a  crown",  it  is  still 
more  true  that  uneasy  lies  the  head 
of  the  uninsured.  I  remember  the 
night  after  I  took  my  first  policy,  my 
pillow  seemed  a  little  softer  than 
it  had  been  before.  The  little  ones 
had  begun  to  come  in  my  family,  and 
I  know  the  feeling  of  satisfaction 
that  came  because  I  had  done  some- 
thing for  their  protection. 

Cyril  Maude. 


108 


XXXIII.     HOW  TO  SELECT  A  COMPANY 
97.     Only  sound  insurance  is  safe 

Money  set  aside  for  the  support  of  widows  and  orphans 
should  be  invested  with  scrupulous  care  and  discrimination. 
Hence  the  man  who  invests  in  life  insurance  should  choose 
a  company  with  as  much  care  as  a  trustee  selects  investments 
for  trust  funds. 

He  should  choose  a  "regular"  company,  based  on  scientific  principles, 
and  conducted  with  prudence  and  efficiency. 

Every  company  publishes,  from  year  to  year,  a  financial  statement, 
and  is  compelled  to  file  full  details  regarding  its  operations  with  the 
Insurance  Department  of  every  State  in  which  it  transacts  business. 
The  company's  Reserve  and  Surplus,  its  receipts  and  expenditures,  and 
the  volume  and  character  of  the  risks  carried,  must  be  given,  together 
with  schedules  of  its  invested  assets.  These  records  are  carefully 
scrutinized  by  the  various  departments,  and  are  issued  in  book  form 
in  the  Official  Report  published  annually  by  each  department.  And  the 
department  of  the  State  under  whose  laws  a  particular  company  has  been 
incorporated  must  make  an  independent  "valuation"  of  the  company's 
insurance  obligations,  from  time  to  time,  to  determine  whether  or  not 
adequate  reserves  have  been  maintained. 

In  addition  to  this,  every  company  that  has  been  in  business  for  any 
length  of  time  has  a  public  reputation  which  may  usually  be  relied  upon 
as  a  safe  guide  to  men  of  ordinary  intelligence. 

To  the  question,  "How  shall  we  know  what  companies  are  sound  and 
well  managed?"  the  late  Henry  Ward  Beecher  once  replied: 

"Just  as  you  know  what  banks  are  good.  By  inquiring. 
By  using  your  common  sense.  Just  as  you  find  out  a  good 
doctor,  a  good  lawyer,  a  good  school,  a  good  hotel." 


Insurance  brings  peace  and  prevents  ruin  to  in- 
numerable lives  and  homes. 

Andrew  Carnegie, 


TOQ 


SERVICES    RENDERED    BY   LIFE    INSURANCE 
(Continued  from  Page  96.) 

It  protects  partnership  and  corporate  interests. 

It  protects  new  enterprises  while  they  are  being  developed. 

In  certain  cases  it  converts  speculative  ventures  into  legiti- 
mate and  safe  business  enterprises. 

It  enables  a  man  to  leave  money  to  friends  or  public  institu- 
tions, without  impairing  the  estate  he  leaves  to  his  heirs. 


It  indemnifies  a  firm  or  corporation  for  the  loss  of  capital 
influence,  experience  or  skill,  resulting  from  the  death  of  a 
partner,  officer,  or  important  employe. 

It  enables  an  employer  to  reward  his  employes  for  steadfast 
service  by  protecting  those  dependent  on  them. 

It  enables  a  firm  or  corporation  to  provide  a  sinking  fund 
for  the  payment  at  maturity  of  an  issue  of  bonds,  or  for  the 
future  liquidation  of  obligations  of  other  kinds. 


It  protects  mortgaged  real  estate.  A  "life"  policy  pays  the 
mortgage  if  the  borrower  dies.  It  gives  him  time  to  discharge 
the  obligation  if  he  lives.  '  An  "endowment"  policy  pays  off 
the  mortgage  whether  the  borrower  lives  or  dies. 

It  saves  the  lenders  of  money  on  real  estate  the  painful  duty 
of  evicting  widows  and  orphans  from  their  homes. 

It  aids  a  man  in  drawing  a  satisfactory  will. 
It  is  exempt  from  the  inheritance  tax. 

It  continues  the  income  derived  from  a  "life  interest"  in  an 
estate. 

It  protects  the  family  of  a  man  who  will  inherit  an  estate 
upon  the  death  of  some  person  who  has  a  "life  interest"  in  it. 

It  enables  a  person  who  will  inherit  an  estate  as  soon  as  a 
"life  interest"  in  it  has  expired,  to  borrow  money  to  meet  his 
expenses  meanwhile. 


SEVENTH  PART 


TECHNICAL  WORDS  AND  PHRASES 


It  is  only  fair  under  existing  eco- 
nomic conditions  that  at  marriage 
a  husband  should  insure  his  life  in 
his  wife's  interest,  and  I  do  not  think 
it  would  be  impossible  to  bring  our 
legal  marriage  contract  into  accord- 
ance with  modern  ideas  in  that  mat- 
ter. Certainly  it  should  be  legally 
imperative  that  at  the  birth  of  each 
child  a  new  policy  upon  its  father's 
life,  as  the  income  getter,  should 
begin.  The  latter  provision  at  least 
should  be  a  normal  condition  of  mar- 
riage and  one  that  a  wife  should 
have  power  to  enforce  when  pay- 
ments fall  away.  With  such  safe- 
guards and  under  such  conditions, 
marriage  ceases  to  be  a  hapazard  de- 
pendence for  a  woman,  and  she  may 
live,  teaching  and  rearing  and  free, 
almost  as  though  the  co-operative 
commonwealth  had  come. 

H.  G.  Wells. 


XXXIV.     DEFINITIONS  AND  EXPLANA- 
TIONS 

98.  Actuary.     The  Officer  who  deals  with  the  mathe- 
matical part  of  the  business;    computes  premiums  and  other  charges; 
"values"  the  policies  (thus  determining  the  necessary  reserves)  apportions 
REFUNDS  (dividends);  computes  surrender  values;  aids  in  drawing  up  the 
company's  Annual  Report;    studies  its  mortality  experience,  and  does 
many  other  useful  things. 

99.  Addition.    The  REFUND  on  a  policy  may  be  drawn 

in  cash,  or  deposited  with  the  company  at  interest,  or  applied  to  the  reduc- 
tion of  a  premium,  or  used  as  a  single  premium  to  buy  paid-up  insurance 
to  increase  the  amount  of  the  policy.  When  applied  in  the  last  way  it  is 
called  a  "dividend  addition,"  or  simply  an  "addition." 

100.  Additional  policy.     Sometimes  the  agent,  believ- 
ing that  his  prospect  ought  to  have  more  insurance  than  he  has  applied 
for,  asks  the  company  to  send  an  additional  policy,  on  approval.    If  the 
additional  policy  is  accepted  the  agent  does  not  deliver  it  until  the  pros- 
pect has  signed  an  Application  for  it,  and  has  paid  the  first  premium  on  it. 

101.  Admission  of  age.    The   company   contracts  to 

pay  the  amount  of  insurance  for  which  it  has  received  compensation. 
If  after  a  man  dies  it  becomes  evident  that  his  policy  has  been  based  on  an 
incorrect  statement  of  his  age,  a  readjustment  will  be  necessary.  So, 
to  avoid  future  trouble  and  confusion,  the  company  stands  ready  to 
"admit"  the  age  of  any  policyholder  when  the  po'icy  is  issued,  or  at  any 
time  thereafter  during  his  lifetime.  That  is  to  say,  if  the  Insured  will 
submit  reasonable  evidence  that  his  age  has  been  correctly  stated,  the 
company  will  "admit  his  age" — will  agree  that  there  shall  be  no  dis- 
pute on  that  score  when  the  time  for  settlement  arrives. 

102.  Admitted   assets.     The    total    Assets    represent 

Ihe  total  property  of  the  company,  but  certain  investments  may  not  be 
in  accordance  with  the  standards  prescribed  by  the  Insurance  Law. 
Hence,  without  regard  to  their  value,  such  investments  must  be  deducted 
from  the  Assets  in  the  financial  report  the  company  files  with  the  In- 
surance Department.  Thus  the  company's  "Admitted  Assets"  as  dis- 
tinguished from  its  total  Assets  are  shown. 


103.  Admitted    surplus.       The     difference     between 

"Admitted  Assets"  and  the  company's  Liabilities  (See  §102.) 

104.  Adverse  selection.     If  a   company   should   offer 
to  restore  all  lapsed  policies  without  re-examination,  most  of  the  healthy 
people  would  remain  away  and  most  of  those  in  ill  health  would  apply 
for  restoration.     In  such  a  case  the  injury  the  company  might  suffer 

would  be  due  to  "adverse  selection." 

/ 

105.  Age.     In  all  life  insurance  transactions  the  policy- 
holder's  age  is  determined  by  his  nearest  birthday,  whether    past  or 
future.    (In  the  case  of  Annuities  the  age  is  determined  hy  the  previous 
birthday,  an  allowance  being  made  for  each  elapsed  quarter.) 

Example:  If  a  policy  should  be  issued  this  year  in  February,  on  the  life  of  a  man 
who  was  33  years  old  last  year,  say  on  November  6th,  and  who  will  consequently  be  34 
this  year  on  November  6th,  the  correct  age  of  the  insured  will  be  33,  because  his  33rd 
birthday,  although  past,  is  nearer  than  his  34th  birthday.  But  if  the  same  man  should 
apply  for  another  policy  in  July  of  the  present  year,  it  would  be  issued  at  age  34, 
because  by  that  time  his  34th  birthday,  although  still  in  the  future,  would  be  nearer 
than  his  33rd  birthday. 

106.  Age   limit.      The    company    usually    refuses    to 

insure  those  who  have  passed  a  certain  age,  known  as  the  "age  limit." 

107.  Agency   manager.    The  field  representative  of  a 

company,  usually  in  charge  of  a  specified  territory  with  jurisdiction  over 
a  staff  of  "soliciting  agents." 

108.  Agent.     The  representative  of  the  company  in  the 
field.  The  agent  is  sometimes  called  an  "insurance  salesman."  He  is  the 
intermediary  between  the  company  and  the  applicant.    The  applicant 
is  the  agent's  "customer"  or  "client."    In  a  properly  conducted  company 
the  interests  of  the  organization  and  the  interests  of  the  policyholder 
are  identical.    Hence  the  agent  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  representative  both 
of  the  company  and  of  his  client — There  should  be  no  embarrassment. 
or  conflict  of  interests,  as  a  result  of  this  dual  representation. 

109.  Agent's    contract.     The  contract  embodying  the 
terms  of  the  agreement  under  which  he  is  to  work,  and  stating  his  com- 
pensation for  the  services  he  renders. 

114 


110.  Agent's  responsibilities.     (See  §108.) 

111.  Alternate  Policy.     After  a  man  has  applied  for  a 

policy  of  a  certain  kind,  the  agent  may  conclude  that  a  policy  of  another 
kind  will  fit  the  case  better.  In  such  a  case  the  company  may  issue  the 
policy  applied  for,  and  also  a  policy  of  the  other  kind.  If  so,  the  latter 
will  be  known  as  an  "alternate  policy."  The  agent  must  not  deliver 
both,  but  the  applicant  may  accept  and  pay  for  either,  and  the  one 
rejected  must  be  returned  for  cancellation. 

112.  American  experience  table.     Title  of  the  mor- 
tality table  used  by  the  Insurance  Department  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  by  many  other  departments,  and  by  many  companies. 

113.  Annual  statement.     The    financial   report  issued 

at  the  end  of  every  year  by  the  company. 

114.  Annuitant.     The  person  on  whose  life  an  Annuity 

depends. 

115.  Annuity.     (See  §117.    See  also  §78.) 

116.  Annuity-certain.     An   Annuity   which   runs    for 

a  stipulated  number  of  years  and  then  terminates. 

117.  Annuity   contract.     The    contract,     or    policy, 

under  which  the  company  agrees  to  pay  an  income  to  the  Annuitant. 
The  Annuitant  is  the  person  on  whose  life  the  Annuity  depends.  The 
price  which  he  pays  is  the  "Consideration  for  the  Annuity."  The 
Annuity  Payments  are  the  instalments  of  income  paid  to  the  Annuitant 
by  the  company. 

118.  Annuity- due.       An    Annuity    under    which    the 

first  annuity  payment  is  due  not  at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  but  at  the 
beginning  of  the  first  year — at  the  moment  the  transaction  is  entered 
into. 

119.  Applicant.     The  person  who  applies  for  insurance. 

1 15 


120.  Application.     The  blank  on  which  the  Applicant 
applies  for  insurance.    It  must  be  signed  by  the  Applicant  and  witnessed. 
Usually  the  Application  and  the  Policy  taken  together  form  the  contract. 
But  it  is  the  usage  with  some  companies  to  make  the  Application  simply 
the  basis  for  the  contract,  in  which  case  the  Policy  alone  is  the  contract. 
The  report  of  the  Medical  Examiner  may  be  made  a  part  of  the  Applica- 
tion, or  may  be  regarded  as  a  separate  instrument. 

121.  Apportioning  surplus.      REFUNDS  (dividends)  are 

paid  from  Surplus.  When  a  sum  of  money  is  set  aside  for  the  purpose 
of  paying  dividends  to  policyholders,  it  is  referrred  to  as  an  "apportion- 
ment of  surplus."  When  a  dividend  is  "declared"  it  becomes  a  definite 
obligation. 

122.  Assessment  insurance.     (See  §77.; 

123.  Assets.     The  capital,  or  property  of  the  company. 

It  is  not  called  "capital"  because  that  word  is  used  exclusively  to  describe 
the  Capital  Stock  of  an  insurance  company. 

124.  Assurance.     Synonymous  with  "insurance"  when 
applied  to  life  insurance.    Efforts  have  been  made  from  time  to  time  to 
confine  the  use  of  the  word  "assurance"  to  life  insurance,  and  the  word 
"insurance"  to  other  kinds  of  insurance.     But  such  attempts  have  never 
succeeded. 

125.  Beneficiary.     The  person  to  whom  the  proceeds 
of  the  policy  are  to  be  paid. 

126.  Binding     receipt     (or     conditional     receipt). 

Some  companies  stipulate  that  if  the  Applicant  pays  the  premium 
when  he  signs  the  Application,  the  insurance  will  take  effect  imme- 
diately if  the  risk  is  found  by  the  company  to  be  satisfactory.  In 
such  a  case  the  agent  gives  a  "binding"  or  "conditional"  receipt  in 
exchange  for  the  premium. 

127.  Bonus.      Synonymous    with     "dividend."     Used 

almost  exclusively  abroad.     (See  §31.) 

116 


128.  Brokerage.     When    an    agent's    compensation    is 

limited  to  a  percentage  of  the  first  premium  it  is  called  a  "brokerage." 
(See  §138.)- 

129.  Business  insurance.     Insurance    taken    to    safe- 
guard some  business  transaction,  or  to  protect  a  frm  or  corporation. 

130 .  Capital.     (See  §123.) 

131.  Cash  Dividend.  When  a  REFUND  is  drawn  in  cash 

or  used  in  part  payment  of  a  premium  or  left  on  deposit  with  the  com- 
pany at  interest,  it  is  called  a  "cash  dividend".  (See  §99.) 

132.  Cash  Value.    When  the  company  buys  a  policy  for 
cash,  the  amount  payable  is  the  "cash  surrender  value, "or  the  "cash 
value".     (See  §287.) 

133.  Change  of  Beneficiary.    Under  modern  policies  it 

is  usual  to  give  the  Insured  control  over  the  contract  during  his  lifetime, 
under  a  clause  permitting  him  to  change  the  Beneficiary.  But  the 
Insured  can  waive  that  privilege  if  he  sees  fit,  and  make  the  Beneficiary's 
interest  in  the  contract  absolute. 

134.  Charges.   In  life  insurance  computations  it  is  always 

assumed  that  premiums  are  payable  annually  in  advance.  For  example 
the  annual  premium  at  age  35  for  an  Ordinary  Life  Policy  for  $1,000  is 
$28.11;  but  if  the  Insured  prefers,  he  can  pay  premiums  semi-annually 
($14.62  in  advance  and  $14.62  at  the  end  of  six  months).  Or  he  can  pay 
it  in  quarterly  instalments  ($7.45  at  the  beginning  of  each  quarter.)  The 
slight  increase  in  the  charge  is  to  compensate  the  company  for  loss  of 
interest,  additional  labor,  etc. 

Note  that  the  rate  for  small  policies  is  the  same  as  for  large  policies. 
The  rate  for  $1,000,  as  stated  above,  is  $28. 11.  For  $10,000  of  the  same 
kind  of  insurance  the  rate  is  ten  times  that  sum,  $281.10. 

135.  Charges  Vary.    If  one  company  uses  one  mortality 

table  and  another  company  uses  another  table,  even  if  the  same  interest 
standard  is  employed,  there  may  be  differences  in  the  pure  premiums; 
but  these  differences  will  be  trifling.  More  important  differences  ap- 
pear in  the  gross  premiums.  This  is  because  the  "loading"  added  to  the 
pure  premium  by  one  company  may  be  higher  than  the  "loading"  added 
by  another  company.  (See  §20.) 

The  foregoing  statement  relates,  of  course,  only  to"  regular  "companies, 
and  to  insurance  issued  on  the  same  basis.  The  loading  on  policies 

117 


issued  on  the  "participating"  basis  is  higher  than  on  policies  issued  on 
the  "non-participating"  basis. 

136.  Child's  Endowment.     (See  §71.) 

137.  Claim.    When  an  Endowment  matures  it  becomes  a 

"claim,"  and  when  any  policy  matures  in  consequence  of  death    it  be- 
comes a  "death  claim." 

138.  Commission.   When  the  agent's  compensation  is  a 
percentage  of  the  first  premium  and  a  percentage  of  a  certain  number  of 
subsequent  premiums,  he  is  said  to  be  remunerated  on  a  "commission 
basis." 

139.  Commissioner  of  Insurance.     Or  Superintendent 

of  Insurance.     The  government  official  at  the  head  of  an  Insurance 
Department. 

140.  Composition  of  Surplus.     (See  §33.) 
Ml.     Conditional  Receipt.      (See  §126.) 

142.  Consideration  for  Annuity.    The  purchase  price 
of  an  Annuity. 

143.  Contested  Claim.     When  a  company  refuses  to  pay 
the  insurance  under  a  policy,  it  is  referred  to  as  a  "contested  claim." 
The  phrase  usually  indicates  that  the  case  is  in  litigation. 

144.  Continuous  Instalment  Policy.      Another  name 
for  Life  Income  Insurance. 

145.  Contract.      A  policy  is  often  referred  to  as  an  "in- 
surance contract,"  or  simply  as  the  "contract." 

146.  Contract  of  Insurance.    Generally  employed  as  a 
synonym  for  "policy",  although  with  many  companies  the  entire  con- 
tract is  the  Application  and  Policy  taken  together. 

147.  Conversion  Privilege.     An  Ordinary  Life  policy 
may  be  converted  into  a  Limited  Payment  Life  form,  or  a  Limited  Pay- 
ment Life  policy  may  be  converted  into  an  Endowment,  upon  payment 
of  additional  premiums  for  a  stipulated  number  of  years;  or,  by  leaving 
all  REFUNDS  to  the  credit  of  an  Ordinary  Life  Policy,  a  sum  will  be  grad- 
ually accumulated  which,  together  with  the  reserve  on  the  policy,  will 

118 


be  sufficient  to  make  the  contract  a  paid-up  policy.  Similarly,  the  holder 
of  a  Limited  Payment  Life  Policy  can  convert  it  into  an  Endowment 
policy.  The  right  to  make  such  a  change  is  called  a  "conversion  privi- 
lege." The  right  to  exchange  a  Term  policy  for  one  on  a  permanent 
form  is  also  referred  to  as  a  "conversion  privilege." 

148.  Cooperative  Insurance.      (See  §77.) 

149.  Corporate  Policy.    A    form   drawn   expressly   to 

meet  the  requirements  of  a  business  corporation,  and  making  the  corpora- 
tion the  absolute  owner  of  the  policy. 

150.  Creditor's  Policy.    A  policy  taken  by  a  creditor  on 

the  life  of  a  debtor. 

151.  Death  Claim.    The  amount  due  under  a  policy  on 
the  death  of  the  Insured  is  called  a  "death  claim."    The  phrase  is  also 
used  to  describe  the  documents  setting  forth  the  claim. 

152.  Death  Rate.    The  mortality  experience  of  the  com- 
pany.    Usually  stated  on  a  percentage  basis. 

153.  Declaring  a  Dividend.     The   company   may   set 
aside  surplus  from  which  REFUNDS  may  be  paid  to  policyholders,  but  a 
dividend  is  "declared"  only  when  it  is  actually  apportioned,  and  the 
company  has  thus  acknowledged  its  obligation  to  pay  it. 

154.  Deferred  Annuity.      (See  §88.) 

155.  Deferred  Dividend.    A  dividend  which  is  not  pay- 
able at  once,  but  will  be  due  at  some  future  date. 

156.  Deferred  Dividend  Policy.     A  term  used  to  des- 
ignate a  class  of  insurance  (no  longer  issued  in  New  York  and  certain 
other  states)  under  which  dividends  do  not  begin  until  the  policy  has 
been  in  force  for  a  stipulated  period  of  years. 

157.  Deferred  Premium.    All  life  insurance  is  issued  on 

the  theory  that  each  premium  will  be  paid  annually  in  advance.  But, 
if  desired,  the  contract  may  be  drawn  so  that  the  premium  shall  be  paid 
in  semi-annual  or  quarterly  instalments  in  consideration  of  a  slight  in- 
crease in  the  rate.  In  that  case  any  part  not  payable  in  advance  is 
called  a  "deferred  premium." 

119 


158.  Delivery  of  Policy.    A  life  insurance  policy  is  so 
drawn  that  it  is  the  receipt  for  the  first  premium.     When  it  is  said  that 
a  policy  has  been  "delivered,"  it  does  not  mean  that  it  has  simply  been 
handed  to  the  Insured;  it  mean    also  that  the  premium  has  been  paid 
and  the  policy  is  in  force. 

159.  Department  Valuation.    The   actuary   of  every 
company  must  value  its  policies  every  year,  to  determine  the  amount 
of  the  RESERVE  which  the  company  must  hold  to  protect  the  future  of  its 
outstanding  insurance.     It  is  one  of  the  duties  of  the  Insurance  Depart- 
ment of  the  State  under  whose  laws  the  company  is  organized  to  make 
an  independent  valuation  of  its  policies  from  time  to  time  in  order  to  be 
sure  that  the  company  has  actually  set  aside  the  requisite  amount  of 

RESERVE. 

160.  Deposit.    The  annual  payment  made  by  the  policy- 
holder  to  the  company  is  technically  known  as  the  "premium."    But 
the  word  "premium"  has  other  meanings  and  is  sometimes  confusing 
to  laymen.     Hence  the  word  "deposit"  is  sometimes  used  as  a  synonym 
for  "premium." 

161.  Disability  Privilege.     Some  companies,  in  consid- 
eration of  a  small  additional  premium,  insert  a  clause  in  some  of  their 
policies,  under  which,  if  the  Insured  becomes  totally  and  permanently 
disabled,  the  further  payment  of  premiums  will  be  waived.    Or  the 
company  may  go  further  and  agree  to  pay  the  insurance  in  instalments 
while  the  Insured  is  still  living.    These  are  called  "disability  privileges." 

162.  Dividend.      A  refund,  or  return  premium.  (See  §31.) 

163.  Dividend  Notice.        When  a  dividend    has    been 
declared  on  a  policy  the  company  usually  sends  the  Insured  a  slip  stating 
the  amount  of  the  dividend,  the  date  it  is  due,  and  the  various  ways  in 
which  it  may  be  utilized. 

164.  Dividend   on    Paid-up  Insurance.       The    pre- 
miums on  a  policy  may  cease  before  the  maturity  of  the  insurance.    If  so, 
the  annual  dividends  paid  thereafter  will  drop.     As  there  will  be  no 
premium,  there  can  be  no  premium  return.     Then  the  dividend  will  con- 
sist only  of  interest  savings  and  other  small  items  of  saving  or  profit. 

165.  Double  Indemnity.     (See  §91.) 

120 


166.  Endowment  Period.     The  period  at  the  end  of 

which  an  Endowment  policy  matures.  Usually  the  premiums  are  pay- 
able throughout  the  same  period,  but  this  is  not  necessarily  the  case.  For 
example,  a  20-year  Endowment  may  have  a  15-year  premium  period. 
If  so,  premiums  must  be  paid  for  15  years,  after  which  the  policy  will  be 
"paid-up."  But  the  insurance  will  not  be  paid  until  5  years  later  (unless 
the  policy  matures  in  consequence  of  prior  death). 

167.  Endowment  Policy.     (See  §66.) 

168.  Expectation  of  Life.     (See  §169.) 

169.  Expectation  Table.    By  utilizing  what  is  known  as 
the  Mathematical  Theory  of  Probabilities  in  connection  with  the  Mor- 
tality Table,  actuaries  have  been  able  to  frame  expectation  tables,  such 
as  the  one  on  the  following  page. 

Those  who  are  uninitiated  often  misread  such  a  table.  A  novice  may 
hear,  for  example,  that  the  "expectation  of  life"  of  a  man  29  years  old 
is  36  years.  And  if  that  is  his  own  age  he  may  conclude  that  the  table 
predicts  that  he  will  live  about  36  years  longer.  But  the  table  indicates 
nothing  of  the  kind.  Illness  or  accident  may  carry  this  man  off  in  a 
few  days;  or  if  he  is  exceptionally  vigorous  he  may  live  to  be  90,  or  even 
100.  The  table  makes  no  predictions  regarding  individuals.  It  gives 
us  simply  the  average  duration  of  life  of  a  large  body  of  people  normally 
situated.  For  example,  the  sum  of  the  years  which  10,000  men  all  29 
years  will  live  according  to  the  table,  will  be  approximately  360,000 
years.  This  makes  the  average  length  of  life  of  the  people  composing 
this  body,  36  years. 

170.  Expense  savings.    Premiums  are  based  on  an  as- 
sumed rate  of  expense.    When  the  actual  expenses  are  less  than  this  as- 
sumed rate,  the  difference  represents  the  expense  saving,  which  is  credited 
to  SURPLUS,  thus  increasing  the  fund  from  which  dividends  to  policy- 
holders  are  paid. 

171.  Extended  Term  Insurance.     When   a   policy    is 
sold  to  the  company  for  its  surrender  value,  that  value  may  be  repre- 
sented (a)  by  so  much  cash,  or  (b)  by  a  certain  amount  of  paid-up  in- 
surance, or  (c)  the  original  policy  may  be  extended  for  its  full  amount  for 
.1  limited  term,  at  the  expiration  of  which  it  will  become  extinct.    This 
last  is  known  as  "extended  term  insurance." 

172.  Extension.    When  a  policyholder  finds  that  he  will  be 

unable  to  pay  the  premium  when  his  grace  expires,  the  company  may, 
on  application  before  the  date  on  which  the  grace  will  expire,  extend 

121 


EXPECTATION   TABLE 

Based  on  the  American  Experience  Table  of  Mortality  . 

Years 

Expectation 

Years 

Expectation 

Years 

Expectation 

Old 

Years 

Old 

Years 

Old 

Years 

10 

48.7 

40 

28.2 

70 

8.5 

11 

48.1 

41 

27.5 

71 

8.0 

12 

47.4 

42 

26.7 

72 

7.6 

13 

46.8 

43 

26.0 

73 

7.1 

14 

46.2 

44 

25.3 

74 

6.7 

15 

45.5 

45 

24.5 

75 

6.3 

16 

44.9 

46 

23.8 

76 

5.9 

17 

44.2 

47 

23.1 

77 

5.5 

18 

43.5 

48 

22.4 

78 

5.1 

19 

42.9 

49 

21.6 

79 

4.8 

20 

42.2 

50 

20.9 

80 

4.4 

21 

41.5 

51 

20.2 

81 

4.1 

22 

40.9 

52 

19.5 

82 

3.7 

23 

40.2 

53 

18.8 

83 

3.4 

24 

39.5 

54 

18.1 

84 

3.1 

25 

38.8 

55 

17.4 

85 

2.8 

26 

38.1 

56 

16.7 

86 

2.5 

27 

37.4 

57 

16.1 

87 

2.2 

28 

36.7 

58 

15.4 

88 

1.9 

29 

36.0 

59 

14.7 

89 

1.7 

30 

35.3 

60 

14.1 

90 

1.4 

31 

34.6 

61 

13.5 

91 

1.2 

32 

33.9 

62 

12.9 

92 

1.0 

33 

33.2 

63 

12.3 

93 

.8 

34 

32.5 

64 

11.7 

94 

.6 

35 

31.8 

65 

11.1 

95 

.5 

36 

31.1 

66 

10.5 

37 

30.4 

67 

10.0 

38 

29.6 

68 

9.5 

39 

28.9 

69                  9.0 

the  time  of  payment  for  a  period  of  moderate  length,  in  which  case  the 
policyholder  must  at  the  end  of  the  period  of  extension,  pay  the  premium 
with  interest. 

173.  Extra  hazard.  A  man  who  is  engaged  in  a  hazard- 
ous employment  or  who  resides  or  travels  in  an  unhealthy  region,  is 
considered  an  "extra  hazardous"  risk.  A  company  will  either  refuse  to 
insure  such  a  man,  or  will  put  him  in  a  special  class,  or  will  charge  him 
an  additional  premium  to  cover  the  extra  risk. 

The  regular  charges  of  all  life  insurance  companies  are  based  on  a  mortal- 
ity table  which  is  supposed  to  represent  approximately  the  rate  at  which 
people  normally  situated  will  die.  But  if  a  company  is  willing  to  insure 
people  who  are  regarded  as  "extra  hazardous"  or  "under  average"  risks, 
the  policyholders  may  be  placed  in  a  special  class,  so  that  if  the  death 
rate  is  somewhat  higher  than  the  normal  the  deficiency  can  be  made  up 
by  reducing  the  REFUNDS. 

Sometimes  a  company  sees  fit  to  go  even  further  than  this,  and  is  willing 
to  insure  a  class  of  people  who  reveal  some  impairment  in  health,  or  are 
exposed  to  some  special  risk.  In  such  a  case  the  company  may  add  some- 
thing to  the  premium.  This  may  be  done  by  basing  the  premium  on  a 
mortality  table  whose  figures  have  been  increased  by  the  addition  of  a 
small  percentage;  or  by  charging  a  "rated-up"  premium.  This  method 
is  often  adopted  in  dealing  with  an  individual.  A  company,  for  example, 
may  be  unwilling  to  insure  a  man  35  years  old  at  the  regular  rate,  but 
may  be  willing  to  "rate  him  up"  three  years,  and  charge  the  premium 
designed  for  a  man  38  years  of  age. 

Some  companies  transacting  business  in  very  hot  countries  charge  an 
increased  premium,  known  as  a  "tropical  rate",  and  they  may  also 
have  a  "semi-tropical  rate"  for  intermediate  regions. 

174.  Extra  premium.    An  extra  premium  may  be  charged 

for  special  benefits  granted,  or  to  provide  for  a  special  risk  assumed. 

175.  Family  history.     When  a  man  insures,  he  is  asked 

certain  questions  about  the  longevity  of  the  members  of  his  immediate 
family,  the  causes  of  the  death  of  relatives,  etc.  Such  information  is 
referred  to  as  his  "family  history." 

176.  First  Year's  premium.     The  first  annual  premium 

is  called  the  "first  year's  premium."  Subsequent  payments  are  called 
"renewal  premiums." 

177.  Forfeiture.      If  the  premium  on  a  policy  is  not  paid, 
the  insurance  lapses.     If  the  lapse  occurs  before  premiums  for  3  (some 

123 


times  2)  full  years  have  been  paid,  it  is  the  general  rule  among  life  insur- 
ance companies  to  forfeit  the  insurance.  But  after  three  years  the 
policy  becomes  "  non-forfeitable' '.  That  is  to  say,  if  the  policy  is  aband- 
oned the  Insured  is  entitled  to  a  surrender  value  in  cash,  paid-up  insur- 
ance, or  extended  term  insurance. 

178.  Forms.      A  policy  of  a  certain  class  is  referred  to  as 
being  of  such  and  such  a  "form,"  or  as  being  such  and  such  a  "form  of 
policy." 

179.  Fraternal  Insurance.      (See  §77.) 

180.  Fully  insured.     (See  §94.) 

181.  General  Agent.      (See  §107.) 

182.  Government  of  companies.      A  "purely  mutual" 
company  is  controlled  by  its  policy  holders;  has  no  capital,  and  con- 
ducts its  business  as  a  rule  on  the  "participating"  plan.    A  company 
conducted  on  the  "non-participating"  plan  is  controlled  by  the  owners 
of  its  capital  stock.    A  company  conducted  on  the  "mixed"  plan  is 
controlled  as  a  rule  by  the  stockholders,  although  its  policies  are  issued 
on  the  "participating"  plan. 

In  addition  to  this,  there  are  companies  that  have  a  nominal  capital, 
whose  insurance  business  is  conducted  on  the  mutual  basis.  Such  a 
company  may  be  controlled  by  the  stockholders,  or  by  the  stockholders 
and  policyholders  jointly,  or  by  the  policyholders  exclusively.  The  older 
mutual  companies  are  "purely  mutual."  But  those  organized  in  the 
State  of  New  York  since  an  amendment  to  the  law  was  adopted  in  1853, 
have  been  required  to  have  a  nominal  capital  of  not  less  than  $100,000, 
without  regard  to  whether  the  control  of  the  company  rests  with  the 
owners  of  the  capital,  or  with  the  policyholders. 

183.  Grace.     It  is  the  general  rule  among  the  companies 
to  allow  a  "grace,"  usually  of  one  month,  in  the  payment  of  premiums, 
charging  interest  at  a  moderate  rate,  such  as  5%  if  this  privilege  is  taken 
advantage  of. 

184.  Gross  premium.    The  premium  actually  charged— 
the  amount  which  the  policy  holder  must  pay.     It  is  the  premium  de- 
rived from  the  mortality  table,  reduced  by  an  allowance  for  interest, 
and  increased  by  a  "loading"  for  expenses  and  contingencies. 

185.  Group  insurance.    (See  §72.) 

186.  Immediate  Annuity.     (See  §84.) 

124 


187.  Impaired  risk.     In  general,  any  man  who  has  lost 

his  health.  Specifically,  a  man  who  has  been  pronounced  a  satisfactory 
insurance  risk  but  whose  health  has  become  impaired. 

188.  Income  from  Annuities.     (See  §79.) 

189.  Income  Insurance.      (See  §67.) 

190.  Incontestability.     In  the  beginning  the  company 

usually  reserves  the  right  to  correct  errors  in  a  policy,  or  to  modify  or 
cancel  the  contract  if  fraud  is  detected.  It  is  now  the  general  usage, 
however,  to  agree  that,  after  a  policy  has  been  in  force  for  one  year  (or 
two),  it  shall  be  "incontestable";  that  is  to  say,  the  company  must 
assume  that  the  policy  as  drawn  is  correct,  and  agrees  to  pay  it  at  ma- 
turity without  question,  provided  the  premiums  on  it  have  been  duly 
paid. 

191.  Inspection.       An    applicant    who    is    satisfactory 
physically  may   not  be   acceptable   to   the  company   because  of  his 
environment,  habits,  or  lack  of  financial  ability.    The  physical  condition 
of  a  man  is  determined  by  the  medical  examination.    These  other  points 
are  covered  by  an  investigation  called  an  "inspection." 

192.  Instalment  Insurance.      (See  §73.) 

193.  Insurable  interest.      The  law  assumes  that   the 
Beneficiary  under  a  policy  will  suffer  some  pecuniary  loss  upon  the  death 
of  the  Insured.     In  other  words,  the  Beneficiary  is  supposed  to  have  an 
"insurable  interest"  in  the  life  of  the  Insured.     This  provision  of  the  law 
is  to  prevent    gambling  in  lives — to  prevent  the  issuance  of  policies  to 
persons  whose  death  would  be  to  the  advantage  of,  and  not  a  source  of 
injury  to,  the  Beneficiary.    But  in  order  that  the  law  shall  not  restrict 
legitimate  business,  it  has  not  been  deemed  necessary  to  impose  minute 
restrictions.     It  is  assumed,  for  example,  that  an  insurable  interest  exists 
when  the  insurance  is  on  the  life  of  a  relative,  a  business  partner,  or  a 
debtor. 

194.  Insurance  defined.      (See  §3.) 

195.  Insurance  Department.     (See  §34.) 

196.  Insurance  in  force.      The  total  amount  of  insur- 
ance outstanding  at  any  given  time  on  the  books  of  the  company. 

125 


197.  Insured.      The  person  on  whose  life  the  insurance 

depends.  (Also  called  the  policy  holder.)  The  Beneficiary  is  the  person 
to  whom  the  insurance  is  to  be  paid.  If  desired,  the  Insured  may  be  the 
Beneficiary,  that  is  to  say,  the  proceeds  of  the  policy  may  be  made  paya- 
ble to  him  if  living,  or  to  his  estate  after  his  death.  In  some  cases  there 
may  be  another  party  to  the  contract.  For  example,  a  creditor  may  se- 
cure a  policy  under  which  the  Insured  is  his  debtor,  in  which  case  the 
policy  is  made  payable  tc  the  creditor,  or  is  assigned  to  him  by  the 
Insured. 

198.  Interest  savings.       (See  §33.) 

199.  Interest  Standard.      In     determining     premium 
charges  and  policy  reserves,  a  certain  rate  of  interest  must  enter  into 
the  computation.     For  example,  if  3%  is  the  rate  the  premiums  are  said 
to.be  on  a  3%  Standard.     Similarly,  we  speak  of  a  Reserve  on  the  3% 
Standard. 

200.  Irregular  premium.   If  insurance  is  taken,  say  in 

January,  and  if  the  applicant  wishes  his  annual  premiums  to  fall  due  in 
some  other  month,  such  as  April,  the  company  will,  for  his  convenience, 
charge  an  irregular  premium  to  carry  the  insurance  until  the  desired 
date  in  April,  after  which  the  regular  premium  will  fall  due  in  April  from 
year  to  year. 

201.  Joint  Life  Policy.     (See  §74.) 

202.  Lapse.     If  the  premium  on  a  policy  is  not  duly  paid, 
the  insurance  lapses.     (See  §52.) 

203.  Law  of  Average.    (See  §10.) 

204.  Law  of  Mortality     (See  §11.) 

205      Legal  Reserve  Company.      A  "regular,"  or  "old 

line,"  company.  These  phrases  are  used  to  distinguish  such  companies 
from  the  organizations  which  have  been  called  "fraternal,"  "assess- 
ment," or  "cooperative"  societies. 

206.  Level  premium.     (See  §16.) 

207.  Liabilities.   The  total  obligations  of  the  company. 

208.  Life  Annuity.       An  annuity  which  will   continue 
to  be  paid  until  the  death  of  the  Annuitant. 

126 


209.  Life  Income  Insurance.      Insurance  payable,  not 

in  one  sum,  but  in  the  form  of  an  income  during  the  lifetime  of  the  Bene- 
ficiary. 

210.  Life  insurance  denned.     (See  §2.) 

211.  Life  Policy.         All     policies     issued     by     a    life 

insurance  company  are  in  a  general  sense  life  policies.  The  word  "life" 
is,  however,  used  in  a  technical  sense  to  describe  a  policy  which  runs 
during  the  lifetime  and  does  not  mature  until  the  death  of  the  insured, 
thus  distinguishing  it  from  Term  Insurance  which  may  expire,  and  from 
Endowment  insurance  which  may  mature,  while  the  Insured  is  still 
living. 

212.  Limited  Payment  Policy.     A    policy    on   which 

premiums  are  not  payable  for  life,  but  are  restricted  to  a  certain  period  of 
years.  In  such  a  case  the  policy  does  not  necessarily  mature  when  the 
premiums  cease.  For  example,  a  20-Payment  Life  policy  becomes 
"paid-up"  at  the  end  of  20  years,  but  does  not  mature  until  the  death 
the  insured.  An  Endownent  policy  usually  matures  when  (he  premiums 
cease,  but  this  is  not  necessarily  the  case.  For  example,  an  Endowment 
may  be  issued  under  which  premiums  are  payable  during  a  period  of  15 
years,  and  the  policy  not  mature  until  the  end  of  20  years. 

213.  Loading.      (See  §20.) 

214.  Loan  value.     The  amount  which  the  policy  holder 

can  borrow  from  the  company,  on  the  assignment  of  his  policy  to  the 
company  as  collateral  for  the  loan. 

215.  Maturity.     When   a  policy  is  abandoned  and  its 

surrender  value  is  taken,  the  contract  is  surrendered  but  does  not 
"mature."  The  policy  matures  only  at  the  time  that  its  face  value  is 
payable,  at  the  end  of  a  stipulated  period  or  upon  the  death  of  the  Insured. 

216.  Medical  fee.       Usually  a  company  has  examining 

physicians  at  central  points  under  salary.  In  other  cases  the  physician 
receives  a  "fee"  for  each  examination  made. 

217.  Medical  Report.     The  blank  filled  up  and  sent  by 

f.he  medical  examiner  to  the  company  when  an  applicant  for  insurance 
has  been  examined.  This  is  the  company's  chief  factor  in  determining 
whether  to  accept  the  risk  or  not. 

218.  Mixed  Plan.     (See  §41.) 

127 


219.  Modes  of  Settlement.     (See  §274.) 

220.  Mortality  Savings.     (See  §33.) 

221.  Mortality  Table.     (See  §12.) 

222.  Mutual  Plan.    (See  §39.) 

223.  Natural  premium.    (See  §14.) 

224.  Net  premium.      (See  §19.) 

225.  Non-forfeiture.      During  the  first  three  years  (in  a 
few  instances  two  years)  no  return  is  made  by  the  company  if  a  policy 
is  allowed  to  lapse.     In  such  a  case  the  insurance  is  forfeited.     But  after 
the  policy  has  been  in  force  for  three  years  or  longer,  it  will  have  a  sur- 
render value,  and  as  soon  as  it  has  a  surrender  value  it  is  referred  to  as 
being  "non-forfeitable." 

226.  Non-participating  Plan.    (See  §40.) 

227.  Non-Participating  Policy.     A  policy  which  does 
not  participate  in  the  surplus  of  the  company — a  policy  on  which  no 
refunds  (dividends)  are  paid. 

228.  N.  T.  O.  Policy.     Sometimes   a  policy   is   issued 
and  forwarded  to  an  agent  for  delivery.     If  the  applicant  refuses  to  pay 
for  it,  and  if  neither  the  company  nor  the  agent  attempts  to  hold  him 
to  his  agreement,  the  policy  must  be  returned  to  the  company  for  can- 
cellation.    Some  companies  call  such  a  policy  an  N.  T.  O.  (not  taken  out) 
policy. 

229.  Office  premium.    Another  name  for  the  gross  pre- 
mium— the  actual  premium  which  the  policyholder  must  pay. 

230.  Old  Line  Company.      (See  §17.) 

231.  One- Year  Term  Policy .   A  Term  policy  which  runs 
for  one  year  only  and  then  expires. 

232.  Options.     When  the  policyholder  or  Beneficiary  is 
given  a  choice  of  several  ways  of  utilizing  a  dividend,  or  settling  a  claim 
the  different  methods  are  often  referred  to  as  "options." 

233.  Outstanding  Insurance.     (See  §196.) 

128 


234.  Paid-up  Policy.     A  policy  which  is  self-sustaining 

either  because  a  single  premium  has  been  paid  in  advance,  or  because  all 
the  premiums  provided  for  have  been  paid. 

235.  Paid-up  value.    If  a  running  policy  is  surrendered 

its  cash  value  is  the  amount  of  money  for  which  it  can  be  sold  to  the 
company.  The  paid-up  value  is  the  equivalent  amount  of  insurance 
which  the  company  will  be  justified  in  granting  in  consideration  of  the 
premiums  already  paid,  if  no  further  premium  payments  are  to  be  made. 

236.  Participating  plan.     (See  §39.) 

237.  Participating  Policy.      (See  §39.) 

238.  Partnership  insurance.      Insurance  taken  to  pro- 
tect the  members  of  a  business  firm  against  the  death  of  one  or  more  of 
its  members. 

239.  Permanent  Insurance.     Insurance  which  will  ma- 
ture and  be  paid,  at  the  end  of  a  stipulated  period  or  upon  the  death  of 
the  Insured;  as  distinguished  from  Term  Insurance,  which  will  expire 
and  become  extinct  at  the  end  of  the  term  agreed  upon. 

240.  Permit.     The  instrument  given  by  the  company  to  a 

policyholder  authorizing  him  to  engage  in  some  occupation,  or  visit 
some  place  not  authorized  under  the  policy  contract. 

241.  Perpetual  Annuity.    (See  §87.) 

242.  Policyholder.     The  person  on  whose  life  the  insur- 
ance depends.     Technically  known  as  the  "insured." 

243.  Policy  loan.     A  policy  that  has  been  in  force  for  3 

(or  in  some  cases  2)  years  or  longer,  usually  has  a  "loan  value."  The 
Insured  can  borrow  from  the  company  a  sum  not  in  excess  of  the  cash 
surrender  value  of  the  policy  at  the  time,  at  a  specified  rate  of  interest. 
The  policy  must  be  assigned  to  the  company  as  collateral  for  the  loan. 

244.  Preliminary  Term  Insurance.       The   man   who 

insures  today  may  want  his  regular  premium  to  fall  due  at  a  later  date. 
In  such  a  case  the  company  may  be  willing  to  carry  the  risk  temporarily 
at  a  term  rate,  with  the  understanding  that  at  the  expiration  of  such 
temporary  period,  the  regular  tabular  premium  for  the  permanent  form 
selected  shall  become  due. 

129 


245.  Premium.      The  payment  made  by   the  Insured 

to  the  company.     Sometimes  called  a  "deposit." 

Insurance  contracts  are  based  on  the  assumption  that  the  premium 
will  be  paid  annually  in  advance.  The  company  is  willing,  however, 
to  receive  payment  in  semi-annual  or  quarterly  instalments,  provided 
the  policyholder  is  willing  to  pay  a  little  more  to  cover  interest,  cost 
of  collection,  additional  clerical  work,  etc.  In  such  a  case,  the  second 
semi-annual  instalment,  or  the  second,  third  and  fourth  quarterly  in- 
stalments are  called  "  deferred  "  premiums.  If  the  Insured  dies  after 
paying  the  first  semi-annual  instalment,  or  after  paying  from  one  to 
three  quarterly  instalments,  in  any  given  year,  the  balance  due  for  the 
balance  of  the  year  is  deducted  from  the  death  claim. 

246.  Premium  Notice.    The  reminder  required  by  law, 

which  is  sent  to  the  Insured,  notifying  him  of  the  amount  of  his  pre- 
mium and  the  date  on  which  it  falls  due. 

247.  Premium  term.     The   period   during   which   pre- 
miums are  payable  under  a  Limited  Payment  Life  or  Endowment  Policy. 

248.  Present  Worth,  or  Present  Value.     If  a  certain 
amount  is  payable  at  a  certain  future  date,  the  present  worth  of  that 
sum  is  an  amount  which  laid  aside  in  advance  and  increased  by  interest 
during  the  interval,  will  produce  at  that  future  date  the  exact  amount 
then  due. 

249.  Privileges.      In  most  policies  certain  benefits,  or 

special  privileges,  are  embodied  in  the  contract.  These  are  often  called 
"privileges." 

250.  Proof  of  age.      (See  §101.) 

251.  Proprietary  company.      A   company   owned   and 

controlled  by  the  owners  of  its  capital  stock. 

252.  Prospect.      Any  person  who  may  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected to  invest  in  life  insurance  if  properly  solicited  by  the  agent. 

253.  Province  of  Agent.     The  agent  is  not  a  party  to 

the  insurance  contract,  which  is  an  agreement  between  the  company  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  policyholder  on  the  other;  but  he  brings  the  parties 
to  the  contract  together  and  negotiates  the  transaction.  He  is  the  li- 
censed representative  of  the  company,  and  should  represent  it  faithfully. 
But  as  the  interests  of  the  company  and  its  policyholders  are  identical, 
he  can  without  inconsistency,  be,  and  ought  to  be,  also  the  adviser  and 
representative  of  the  policyholder. 

130 


254.  Pure  Endowment.    (See  §64.) 

255.  Pure  premium.      (See  §19.) 

256.  Quarterly  Premium.    (See  §134.) 

257.  Rated-Up  Policy.     A  policy  on  which  the  pre- 
mium charged  is  not  at  the  Insured's  true  age,  but  which  is  "rated  up," 
by  making  him  pay  the  rate  ordinarily  charged  for  a  man  of  older  age. 
(See  §173.) 

258.  Reduction.     The  refund  (dividend)  paid  on  a  policy 

may  be  utilized  in  any  one  of  a  number  of  ways.  When  it  is  used  as  so 
much  cash  to  reduce  the  premium  paid  by  the  Insured,  it  is  called  a 
"reduction." 

259.  Refund.      (See  §31.) 

260.  Regular  Company.     (See  §205.) 

261.  Reinstatement.     The  company  is  usually  willing  to 

revive  a  lapsed  or  surrendered  policy,  subject  to  the  payment  of  back 
premiums  with  interest  together  with  a  "certificate  of  health"  from  one 
of  its  medical  examiners.  In  certain  cases  a  declaration  from  the  Insured 
may  suffice. 

262.  Reinsurance  Fund.     (See  §28.) 

263.  Renewal  Commissions.      When  the  agent  of  the 

company  is  compensated  for  his  services  on  a  commission  basis,  the 
amount  paid  him  on  the  first  premium  is  called  the  "first  year's  commis- 
sion." Any  commissions  that  may  be  paid  on  subsequent  premiums 
are  called  "renewal  commissions." 

264.  Renewal  premiums.   All  premiums,  after  the  first, 

payable  on  a  policy. 

265.  Reserve.     (See  §26.) 

266.  Restoration.     (See  §261.) 

267.  Restrictions.     If  the  policy  does  not  authorize  cer- 
tain occupations,  or  if  residence  or  travel  in  certain  regions  is  prohibited, 
or  if  the  company  does  not  wish  to  assume  certain  risks  under  the  con- 
tract, the  clauses  covering  such  points  are  called  "restrictions." 

131 


268.  Return-premium  Policy.      (See  §75.) 

269.  Risk.     In  general  any  obligation  assumed  by  a  com- 
pany is  referred  to  as  a  "risk,"  but  the  policy-holder  himself  is  also  re- 
ferred to  as  a  "risk." 

270.  Salesman.        The     agent     is     sometimes    called 

an  insurance  salesman.     (See  §108.) 

271.  Semi-annual  Premium.      (See  §134.) 

272.  Semi-tropical  rates.        Rates  charged  in  regions 

between  those  in  which  regular  and  tropical  rates  are  charged.  (See 
§173  and  §295.) 

273.  Separate  classes.     The  categories  into  which  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  insurance,  or  different  classes  of  policyholders,  are  sepa- 
rated. 

274.  Settlement.    Theoretically  a  premium  is  supposed 

to  be  paid  in  cash,  but  sometimes  the  agent  accepts  a  note  for  the  whole 
or  a  part  of  the  premium.  Instead  of  characterizing  the  transaction 
as  a  payment,  he  refers  to  it  as  a  "settlement."  The  payment  of  a  policy 
at  its  maturity  is  also  referred  to  as  a  "settlement." 

275.  Simple    Endowment.      Or    "Pure   Endowment." 

(See  §64.) 

276.  Single  premium.     When  one  advance  payment  is 

the  whole  consideration  for  a  policy,  it  is  called  a  "single  premium." 

277.  Soliciting  agent .      The  agent  who  induces  a  man  to 
insure  and  secures  his  signature  to  the  application,  is  known  as  the 
"solicting  agent,"  to  distinguish  him  from  the  general  agent,  or  manager, 
for  whom  he  works.     Nevertheless  if  the  general  agent,  or  manager 
secures  the  application,  he  himself  becomes  the  soliciting  agent. 

278.  Sources  of  surplus.    (See  §29  and  §33.) 

279.  Special  Dividend  Class.     (See  §173.) 

280.  Standard.     The  pure  premium  is  based  on  figures 

obtained  from  a  mortality  table,  reduced  by  an  allowance  for  interest. 
If  the  interest  rate  employed  is  4%,  the  standard  on  which  premiums 
are  computed  is  said  to  be  the  4%  Standard;  if  3%,  the  3%  Standard, 
and  so  on. 

132 


The  reserves  accumulated  on  the  policies  of  a  company  will  be  larger 
or  smaller,  according  to  the  rate  of  interest  employed.  If  the  rate  is  4%, 
the  reserve  is  referred  to  as  on  the  4%  Standard.  If  the  rate  is  3%  the 
corresponding  RESERVE  is  on  the  3%  Standard. 

281.  Stock  Plan.      (See  §40.) 

282.  Sub-standard  insurance.      (See  §173.) 

283.  Superintendent  of  Insurance.     (See  §139.) 

284.  Supplementary    contract.       Some    policies    at 

maturity  are  payable  in  the  form  of  an  annuity,  or  income,  or  in  instal- 
ments. In  such  a  case  the  original  policy  is  returned  to  the  company 
for  cancellation,  and  a  supplementary  contract  is  issued,  under  which 
the  further  provisions  of  the  contract  will  be  carried  out. 

285.  Surplus.      (See  §29.) 

286.  Surrender.      When  a  policy  is  sold  to  the  company, 

or  exchanged  for  paid-up,  or  extended  insurance,  it  is  given  up  for  its 
"surrender  value." 

287.  Surrender  Value.    The  amount  the  company  will 

pay  for  a  policy,  either  in  cash,  paid-up  insurance  or  extended  term  in- 
surance (See  §132.) 

288.  Survivorship  Annuity.    (See  §68.) 

289.  Table  of  Rates.     Every  company  issues  for  the 

guidance  of  its  agents  and  the  information  of  the  public,  tables  containing 
its  premium  charges  for  different  kinds  of  insurance,  for  the  ages  at 
which  it  is  willing  to  issue  policies. 

290.  Taxes.     (See  §34.) 

291.  Temporary  Annuity.      (See  §85.) 

292.  Temporary  insurance.      (See  §63.) 

293.  Term  Policy.     (See  §63.) 

294.  Three  per  cent  Reserve.      (See  §280.) 

295.  Tropical  Rates.       Special    rates    charged    when 

business  is  done  in  very  hot  countries.     (See  §173  and  §272.) 

133 


296.  Twenty  A.  P.  Policy.     (See  §62.) 

297.  Twisting.      If  a  man  having  a  policy  is  induced  to 

abandon  or  surrender  it  for  the  purpose  of  taking  a  new  policy  the 
transaction  is  referred  to  as  "twisting." 

298.  Two-life  Annuity.     (See  §83.) 

299.  Valuation.      The  computation  made  by  a  company, 

or  Insurance  Department,  to  determine  the  proper  RESERVE  for  the 
company  to  hold.  (See  §28.) 

300.  Valuing  policies.     The  process  of  determining  the 

Reserve  of  a  company. 

301.  Waiver  of  Premium.    Some    policies    are    issued 

under  which,  if  the  Insured  becomes  totally  and  permanently  disabled, 
he  will  be  relieved  of  the  payment  of  premiums  thereafter.  This  is 
called  a  "waiver  of  premiums." 

302.  Whole  Life  Policy.       Another  name  for  the  Ordi- 
nary Life  Policy. 


If  the  public  in  general 
realized  the  value  of  life 
insurance  they  would  flock 
to  the  insurance  companies 
as  women  besiege  the  bar- 
gain counters  of  department 
stores.  But  for  the  present 
they  await  the  agent  who 
shows  them  what  they  need 
and  how  to  obtain  it. 


134 


SUPPLEMENTARY  CHAPTER 

THE  INSURANCE  SALESMAN 


The  agent  is  employed  by  a  life  insurance  company 
to  sell  its  policies.  In  addition  he  becomes  the  repre- 
sentative of  those  who  buy  these  policies. 

He  need  have  no  difficulty  in  maintaining  his 
loyalty  to  his  company  while  showing  himself  to  be 
the  friend  and  adviser  of  his  client;  for  in  every  proper- 
ly conducted  insurance  organization  the  interests  of 
the  company,  of  the  agents,  and  of  the  policyholders 
are  identical.  Whatever  is  best  for  the  company  is 
best  for  its  policyholders  who  form  the  company. 
And  whatever  is  best  for  the  policyholders  will  in  the 
long  run  always  be  most  advantageous  for  the  agents. 

The  agent  can  easily  determine  his  legal  status,  but 
this  need  not  concern  him  if  he  is  careful  about  his 
moral  status. 

The  agent  is  not  a  party  to  the  contract  between  the 
company  and  the  policyholder,  but  he  brings  these 
two  parties  together,  and  looks  out  for  the  interests 
of  the  policyholder  as  long  as  his  policy  remains  in 
force. 

His  calling  is  as  dignified  and  important  as  that  of 
any  of  the  so-called  learned  professions,  and  if  he  is 
conscientious  he  will  never  forget  that  his  responsi- 
bilities are  many  and  serious. 


135 


XXXIV.  THE  INSURANCE  SALESMAN. 

303.     Development  of  the  Agent. 

Nothing  has  been  more  striking  in  the  recent  development  of 
life  insurance  than  the  advances  which  have  been  made  by  the 
workers  in  the  field. 

For  a  time  after  the  life  insurance  business  was  taken  up  in 
America,  the  usages  of  the  British  companies  were  slavishly 
followed;  but  as  the  officials  of  the  American  companies 
gained  knowledge  and  experience,  they  began  to  think  and 
act  for  themselves,  and  an  astonishingly  rapid  development 
followed. 

In  view  of  these  facts  regarding  the  companies,  it 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that,  in  the  beginning,  many  of 
the  field  workers  also  lacked  knowledge  and  training,  and 
that  the  public  gathered  false  notions  regarding  their  duties 
and  responsibilities.  Nor  is  it  surprising  that  these  early 
impressions  have  not  been  altogether  removed  from  the  minds 
of  those  who  have  not  closely  followed  the  development  of 
American  life  insurance. 

'  But  whatever  may  have  been  true  in  the  early  days,  it  is 
now  a  fact  that  as  a  rule  the  representatives  of  the  respon- 
sible companies  are  men  of  standing  in  their  several  commu- 
nities, and  are  serving  the  public  with  intelligence  and 
efficiency. 

Restrictive  Laws. 

In  addition  to  this,  rigid  Insurance  Laws  have  been  enacted, 
and  the  agent  must  conduct  his  business  in  accordance  with 
these  laws,  or  suffer  the  consequences.  And  only  those  who 
are  duly  licensed  by  the  Insurance  Department  of  a  particular 
State  can  solicit  insurance  in  that  State. 

136 


Education. 

The  responsible  companies  now  select  their  representatives 
with  the  utmost  care,  and  the  National  Association  of  Life 
Underwriters,  and  the  local  State  associations,  composed 
altogether  of  field  men,  are  vigilant  in  the  effort  to  drive  from 
their  ranks  those  who  are  manifestly  unworthy  or  incompetent . 

The  companies  also  are  doing  more  and  more  from  year  to 
year  in  educating  their  representatives.  Instruction  is  given 
at  company  headquarters,  teachers  are  sent  into  the  field, 
and  training  is  given  by  means  of  text  books  and  correspon- 
dence courses. 

Some  of  the  companies  are  now  giving  financial  support 
to  the  Bureau  of  Salesmanship  Research  of  the  Carnegie 
Institute  of  Technology.  And  life  insurance  agents  are  join- 
ing the  salesmanship  clubs  that  are  springing  up  all  over  the 
country,  many  of  which  have  received  the  financial  backing 
of  the  companies  represented  by  these  agents. 

But  although  much  has  been  done,  much  remains  to  be 
accomplished;  for  the  ideal  insurance  salesman  should  be  an 
expert,  thoroughly  competent  to  give  sound  and  appropriate 
advice  to  all  those  who  are  in  need  of  insurance  for  the  pro- 
tection of  their  families  or  to  safeguard  their  business  interests. 
And  he  must  render  many  other  valuable  services  to  those 
who  have  taken  insurance  at  his  suggestion,  as  long  as  they 
are  identified  with  the  company  he  represents. 

The  insurance  salesman  has  high  responsibilities,  and  if  he 
has  had  competent  training  and  works  wisely  and  well,  it  is 
hardly  too  much  to  say  that  the  services  he  will  render  his 
fellow  men  will  be  as  useful  as  the  services  rendered  by  the 
representatives  of  the  so-called  learned  professions;  for  al- 
though a  life  insurance  company  is,  in  the  strictest  sense  a 
business  organization,  its  work  is  nevertheless  of  a  highly 
beneficent  and  philanthropic  character.  At  the  same  time, 
no  taint  of  charity  attaches  to  it.  On  the  contrary,  it  fosters 

137 


independence  and  self-reliance  and  helps  the  helpless  without 
degrading  them  by  making  them  dependent  on  the  generosity 
of  friends  or  strangers. 

Characteristics  of  the  good  agent. 

In  conclusion  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  attempt  a 
sketch  of  the  ideal,  up-to-date,  life  insurance  salesman: 

He  must  be  of  good  reputation.  The  coiner  of  counterfeit  money,  and  the 
promoter  of  get-rich-quick  swindles,  cannot  afford  to  be  honest.  But, 
with  such  exceptions,  honesty  is  the  best  policy  in  all  callings,  and  it  is 
doubly  important  in  the  case  of  the  insurance  salesman.  The  reason  for 
this  is  not  far  to  seek:  the  average  man  knows  very  little  about  life 
insurance,  and  is  fully  conscious  of  his  ignorance.  He  believes,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  the  insurance  salesman  is  an  expert,  and  that  he  can 
easily  fool  him  if  he  wishes  to  do  so.  Consequently,  unless  the  agent 
wins  his  confidence,  he  will  hesitate  to  follow  the  advice  given.  Nor  is 
this  all:  the  agent  must  win  the  confidence  of  his  client  in  behalf  of  the 
company  he  represents.  To  this  end  he  must  present  a  neat  and  pros- 
perous appearance;  for  his  company  will  be  judged  by  him,  and  if  he  is 
shabby  and  down-at-heel,  the  strength  and  prosperity  of  his  company 
may  be  questioned. 

He  must  also  remember  that  the  surest  way  to  gain  a  reputation  for 
trustworthiness  is  to  have  an  exemplary  character. 

He  must  have  self-reliance.  But  the  agent  will  not  profit  by  the  con- 
fidence of  his  client  unless  he  has  confidence  in  himself;  and  even  then 
he  will  accomplish  nothing  unless  he  turns  his  confidence  in  himself  to 
practical  advantage.  He  must  exercise  determination.  If  his  will  is 
stronger  than  that  of  the  man  to  whose  judgment  he  is  making  his  appeal 
he  will  succeed.  And  even  if  the  other  man's  will  is  stronger  than  his,  he 
will  succeed  if  his  will  is  not  opposed. 

He  must  be  industrious.  The  life  insurance  salesman  is  in  a  hard 
business,  and  he  cannot  hope  to  succeed  unless  he  works,  and  works  hard. 
At  the  same  time  he  must  work  wisely  and  well.  If  he  blunders,  his 
work  may  do  more  harm  than  good.  Some  of  the  busiest  people  in 
the  world  never  accomplish  anything  worth  while. 

He  must  have  patience.  Like  the  golfer,  he  must  "follow  through." 
His  time  will  be  wasted  if  he  merely  interests  people  in  life  insurance, 
or  convinces  them  that  they  need  it,  or  even  implants  in  their  minds  a 
desire  to  possess  it.  He  must  induce  them  to  act. 

138 


He  "must  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  run  with  patience  the  race" 
in  which  no  prizes  are  ever  won  by  those  who  drop  by  the  way.  He 
must  have  a  definite  aim  and  follow  it  through  to  the  end. 

He  must  exercise  economy.  He  must  exercise  careful  thrift  both  in 
connection  with  his  business,  and  in  regulating  his  personal  expenses; 
for  if  he  is  beset  by  anxieties  and  fears  about  financial  matters,  his  courage 
will  evaporate  and  failure  will  be  inevitable. 

And  as  "time  is  money,"  he  must  spend  his  time  with  the  utmost 
economy  and  care.  As  he  is  not  tied  down  to  office  hours  or  office  rules, 
he  will  be  constantly  tempted  to  waste  this  time-money.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  character  of  his  work  is  such  that  he  needs  every  moment  of 
the  time  he  can  spare  from  the  hours  necessarily  devoted  to  eating, 
sleeping  and  resting;  for  in  mapping  out  his  work,  going  from  place  to 
place,  and  waiting  for  interviews,  some  of  his  time  will  necessarily  be 
wasted. 

The  best  safeguard  against  waste  of  time  is  system,  provided  it  is 
simple,  compact,  and  diligently  followed. 

He  must  be  mentally  alert.      People  may  be  divided  into  three  classes: 

Those  who  have  brains  and  use  them. 
Those  who  have  brains  but  don't  use  them. 
Those  who  are  without  brains. 

The  second  of  these  classes  is  the  largest  of  the  three,  and  any  insurance 
salesman  who  finds  himself  in  that  class  will  do  well  to  get  out  of  it,  and 
into  the  first  class,  as  quickly  as  possible. 

He  must  exercise  common  sense.  Nothing  is  to  be  gained  by  urging  the 
blind  to  see,  or  the  deaf  to  hear.  And  as  commom  sense  is  the  intuitive 
faculty — the  knowledge  of  those  things  which  we  ought  to  recognize 
without  being  told — the  man  who  is  wholly  lacking  in  common  sense 
is  to  be  pitied  rather  than  censured.  But  the  difficulty  in  most  cases  is 
that  those  who  have  this  faculty  fail  to  cultivate  and  develop  it. 

He  must  have  tact.  Common  sense  tells  a  man  what  to  do,  and  tact 
tells  him  how  to  do  it.  Tact  enables  him  to  advise  another  without 
irritating  him;  to  reprove  him  without  offending  him;  to  draw  him 
without  letting  him  know  that  he  is  being  led.  Tact  should  be  diligently 
cultivated  by  every  man  who  hopes  to  succeed  as  an  insurance  salesman. 

He  must  be  optimistic.  He  must  be  cheerful,  hopeful,  and  encouraging. 
He  must  offer  life  insurance,  not  death  insurance.  He  must  frame  every 
proposition  in  such  a  way  that  it  will  appeal  to  the  man  who  expects  to 
live. 

139 


He  must  exercise  self  control.  He  must  always  be  cool  and  collected. 
He  must  never  permit  himself  to  become  irritated,  no  matter  how  un- 
reasonable or  aggravating  those  with  whom  he  has  to  deal  may  be. 

He  must  be  a  judge  of  character.  He  must  know  himself  and  study  the 
minds  of  those  with  whom  he  has  to  deal.  If  he  learns  to  read  character, 
he  will  succeed.  Otherwise  he  will  form  false  judgments  in  consequence 
of  his  indifference  or  lack  of  attention. 

He  must  have  imagination.  If  he  has  imagination,  he  will  be  able  to 
put  himself  in  his  client's  place;  be  what  he  is,  feel  what  he  feels.  He 
will  know  what  will  please  and  what  will  displease  him.  He  will  then 
be  like  the  great  actor  who  becomes  in  turn  a  king,  a  peasant,  a  millionaire, 
a  day  laborer.  He  will  know  intuitively  what  will  appeal  to  the  tastes  of 
people  of  all  stations  and  temperaments;  and  his  imagination  will  aid 
him  in  making  a  striking,  original,  picturesque,  attractive  appeal  in  every 
instance. 

He  must  be  direct  and  clear.  He  must  carefully  adapt  his  statements 
to  the  knowledge  and  intelligence  of  those  whom  he  wishes  to  convince. 
He  must  avoid  technical  phrases,  and  deliver  his  message  in  clear,  simple 
and  direct  language.  He  must  avoid  the  capital  blunder  of  talking  too 
much,  and  must  also  be  a  good  listener. 

He  must  have  an  insurance  education.  He  must  understand  life  insur- 
ance, know  the  company  he  represents,  and  be  familiar  with  all  the  policies 
it  offers,  in  order  that  he  may  in  every  case  fit  the  contract  to  the  needs 
of  his  client.  And  in  order  that  his  advice  may  be  sound  and  appropriate, 
he  must  gather  in  advance  all  the  information  he  can  about  each  customer. 

He  must  be  prepared  to  give  intelligent  answers  to  all  questions,  but 
although  he  must  know  it  all,  he  must  not  tell  all  he  knows.  As  a  rule  a 
client  will  want  to  know  only  three  things: 

What  insurance  will  do  for  him. 
What  policy  will  fit  his  case. 
What  that  policy  will  cost. 

There  is  another  and  an  equally  important  reason  why  the  insurance 
salesman  should  be  thoroughly  posted.  It  is  this:  If  he  knows  of  his  own 
knowledge  that  life  insurance  is  founded  on  scientific  principles,  is  abso- 
lutely safe,  and  altogether  efficient,  his  own  convictions  will  be  so 
strong  that  he  will  have  little  difficulty  in  convincing  others. 

He  must  render  genuine  service.  His  primary  duties  will  always  be  to 
explain  the  dangers  of  delay,  to  persuade  people  to  insure,  to  show 
them  what  they  need,  and  then  to  aid  them  in  obtaining  it.  But  his 
responsibilities  will  not  end  there.  He  must  be  ready  to  serve  his  clients 

140 


in  many  other  ways.  He  must  show  them  that  if  insurance  is  worth 
getting,  it  is  worth  keeping;  that  the  premature  surrender  of  any  policy 
means  sacrifice;  that  as  a  man's  responsibilities  and  resources  increase, 
he  will  as  a  rule  need  additional  protection. 

He  must  be  constantly  prepared  to  warn  his  clients  against  the  injury 
which  results  from  mortgaging  life  insurance  policies;  for  the  man  who 
gets  a  loan  on  his  policy  from  an  insurance  company  is  really  borrowing 
the  money  from  his  wife  and  children. 

He  must  do  his  full  share  in  educating  the  public.  He  must,  for 
example,  teach  them  that  if  insurance  companies  are  taxed,  the  taxes  are 
necessarily  paid  in  the  end  by  the  policyholders  themselves. 

He  must  be  quick-witted.  He  must  learn  to  distinguish  between  genuine 
arguments  and  mere  excuses.  Most  people  hesitate  to  pay  out  good 
money  for  advantages  which  are  not  expected  to  materialize  until  some 
uncertain  period  in  the  future.  Hence  many  reasons  are  given  for  not 
insuring,  or  for  postponing  action,  which  are  simply  for  the  purpose  of 
defeating  the  salesman's  arguments.  An  experienced  salesman  quickly 
recognizes  the  character  of  such  objections,  and  either  ignores  them  or 
brushes  them  aside,  with  the  result  that  when  his  customer  finds  that 
they  have  failed  to  serve  his  purpose,  he  also  will  abandon  them.  After 
that  he  will  be  more  likely  to  recognize  the  wisdom  of  the  agent 's  argu- 
ments. 

Finally,  the  insurance  salesman  can  never  hope  to  excite 
enthusiasm  in  others  unless  he  is  enthusiastic  himself,  or  to 
inspire  confidence  in  a  company  in  which  he  lacks  confidence 
himself,  or  even  with  which  he  is  out  of  sympathy.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  he  believes  with  all  his  heart  and  soul  in  the 
institution  of  life  insurance,  in  the  stability  of  his  own  com- 
pany, and  in  the  efficiency  of  its  management,  he  will  have 
only  himself  to  blame  if  he  does  not  succeed. 


A  policy  of  life  insurance  is  the 
cheapest  and  safest  mode  of 
making  provision  for  one's 
family. 

Benjamin  Franklin. 


141 


Sixty  years  ago  the  man  who  insured  for  the 
benefit  of  his  family  was  looked  upon  by  the 
average  citizen  as  a  kind  of  cross  between  a 
well-meaning  crank  and  a  blasphemous  dare- 
devil who  presumed  to  cast  dice  on  the  in- 
scrutable decrees  of  Providence. 

Thirty  years  ago  the  average  insurance 
man  was  regarded  by  his  neighbor  as  a 
nimble-tongued  schemer  who  gained  an  easy 
living  at  the  expense  of  other  people's  cre- 
dulity. 

Today,  the  man  who  isn't  insured  some- 
where, somehow,  for  the  benefit  of  some- 
body, is  likely  to  be  a  bad  risk  of  some 
kind — either  physically,  mentally,  or  mor- 
ally. 

Insurance  is  as  much  a  part  of  modern  life 
as  the  telephone  or  the  street  railway,  and  we 
have  fully  awakened  to  the  fact  that  the 
insurance  man  to  be  a  success  must  be  not 
only  clever,  quick  witted,  energetic  and  world- 
ly wise,  but  must  be  a  man  of  reputation  and 
probity,  and  must  live  up  to  that  reputation— 
or  get  out  of  the  insurance  business. 

The  Los  Angeles  Express. 


142 


APPENDIX 

1.  The  Natural  Premium. . .  §304. 

2.  The  Single  Premium.  . . .  §305. 

3.  The  Level  Premium §306. 


4.     Annuity  Charges §308. 


143 


IMPORTANT  NOTES. 

1.  In  actualpracticemostpoliciesareissuedtocontinue 
during  the  lifetime  of  the  Insured.      But  if  such  a  policy 
should  be  used  in  the  following  explanations  each  compu- 
tation would  cover  many  pages  of  figures.    Consequently 
a  policy  extending  over  a  period  of  only  five  years  has 
been  selected.    Thus,  as  the  principle  is  the  same,  we 
gain  the  advantage  of  a  short  and  simple  explanation 
instead  of  a  long  and  complicated  one. 

2.  It  must  be  borne  constantly  in  mind  that  the  pure 
premium  is  lower  than  the  premium  actually  charged. 
The  premium  which  the  policyholder  must  pay  — the  gross 
premium — is  the  pure  premium  plus  a  "loading"  for  ex- 
penses and  contingencies. 

3.  In  these  explanations  no  attempt  is  made  to  de- 
scribe the  manner  in  which  actuaries  compute  premiums. 
They  have  a  great  variety  of  mathematical  short  cuts 
and  tables  which  enable  them  to  do  work  of  this  kind 
with  ease  and  dispatch.    The  aim  here  is  simply  to  show 
(a)  that  correct  charges  can  be  determined,  and  (b)  that 
these  charges  are  not  the  result  of  guess  work  but  rest  on 
a  strictly  scientific  basis. 

4.  The  premium  rates  quoted  throughout  this  book 
are  believed  to  be  the  highest  in  general  use  by  any  of 
the  "regular"  companies.    Some  companies  charge  a 
little  less  than  others,  but  the  variations  are  slight.      It 
must  be  remembered  that  the  pure  premium  is  necessarily 
the  same  in  every  case  where  the  same  table  of  mortality, 
and  the  same  interest  rate,  are  employed.    Such  dif- 
ferences as  exist  in  such  a  case  will  be  in  the  gross  pre- 
mium, and  will  be  due  to  differences  in  the  "loading". 
Other  things  being  equal,  the  smaller  the  loading  the 
lower  the  gross  premium,  and  vice  versa. 


144 


THE  NATURAL  PREMIUM 

304.     How  to  determine  the  natural  premium 

In  §13  we  discovered  how  to  find  from  the  Mortality  Table 
the  proper  "natural"  premium,  before  taking  interest  and 
expense  into  account. 

Let  us  now  seek  to  determine  the  pure  natural  premium; 
namely,  the  same  rate  after  making  an  allowance  for  interest 
(still  disregarding  expense.) 

•  In  computing  premium  rates  it  is  assumed  that  all  premiums  will 
be  paid  annually  in  advance,  but  that  the  death  claims  falling  due  during 
each  year  will  not  be  payable  until  the  end  of  the  year.  (See  §  18.) 
Gonsequently,  it  is  assumed  that  all  the  money  disbursed  to  meet  policy 
claims  will  have  earned  interest  for  a  period  which  can  in  no  instance 
be  less  than  one  year. 

When  premiums  are  paid  on  the  natural  basis  interest 
does  not  cut  much  of  a  figure,  because,  as  each  premium 
pays  for  the  insurance  for  one  year  only,  the  interest 
deducted  from  each  item  must  be  for  one  year  only. 

PURE  RATE. 

It  was  shown  in  §13  that  the  natural  rate  for  $1000  of  in- 
surance, at  age  50,  for  one  year,  as  derived  from  the  Mortality 
Table,  is  $13.78.  To  obtain  the  pure  rate  we  must  (as  stated 
above)  make  an  allowance  for  interest.  This  is  done  in  the 
case  under  consideration,  by  discounting*  $13.78  at  3%,  for 
one  year. 

When  this  has  been  done  we  find  that  the  pure  premium  is 
$13.38. 

The  Natural  Rates  for  all  five  years  beginning  at  age  50, 
are  shown  in  the  following  table: 

*The  manner  in  which  sums  of  money  are  discounted  is  shown  on  page  149. 

145 


ANNUAL  RATES  FOR  $1000  OF  INSURANCE 
FOR  A  TERM  OF  FIVE  YEARS. 

Based  on  the  American  Experience  Table  of  Mortality  and  3%  Interest. 

Age 

Rates  on  the  Natural 
basis,  derived  from  the 
Mortality  Table. 

Same  rates  discounted 
at  3%,  thus  obtaining 
the  Pure  Natural  Premium 

50 
51 
52 
53 
54 

$13.78 
14.54 
15.39 
16.33 

17.40 

$13.38 
14.12 
14.94 
15.85 
16.89 

GROSS  RATE. 

By  adding  to  the  pure  premium  a  "loading"  for  expenses  and 
contingencies,  the  gross  rate  is  obtained — the  rate  which  the 
company  actually  charges.  At  age  50,  for  example,  the  pure 
premium  is  $13.38,  while  the  gross  premium  would  be  $21.67. 

As  the  natural  rate  of  charging  is  seldom  employed,  we 
shall  not  consider  the  gross  rate  further  at  present.  That 
part  of  the  subject  will  be  dealt  with  when  we  take  up  the 
computation  of  the  level  rate. 

THE  SINGLE  PREMIUM 
305.     How  to  determine  the  Single  Premium 

Having  discovered  the  correct  pure  natural  premiums, 
at  age  50  for  $1000  of  insurance  for  five  years,  the  next  problem 
will  be  to  determine  what  pure  single  premium  will  be  equiva- 
lent to  these  natural  premiums.  This  is  not  determined  by 
averaging  the  natural  premiums,  but  in  another  way. 

The  problem  is  to  discover  what  a  group  of  69,804  persons, 
at  age  50,  must  pay  in  advance  in  order  that  a  sufficient  fund 
shall  be  immediately  established  from  which  to  pay  all  the 

146 


$1,000  death  claims  that  will  fall  due  during  the  following' 
five  years.    A  part  of  the  Mortality  Table  is  inserted  here 
for  ready  reference. 


SECTION   OF   MORTALITY    TABLE 

Number  surviving 

Deaths 

Age 

at  each  age 

each  year 

50 

69,804 

962 

51 

68,842 

1,001 

52 

67,841 

1,044 

53 

66,797 

1,091 

54 

65,706 

1,143 

This  table  shows  that  during  the  first  year  962  will  die.  Consequently, 
the  death  claims  for  that  year  will  aggregate  $962,000.  But  as  the 
premium  must  be  paid  in  advance,  and  as  it  is  always  assumed  that  the 
death  claims  will  not  be  due  until  the  end  of  the  year,  the  amount  needed 
to  pay  the  death  claims  of  the  first  year  will  not  be  $962,000,  but  that 
sum  discounted  at  3%  for  one  year;  namely,  $933,981. 

The  computation  for  the  whole  period  is  shown  in  the 
table  on  the  following  page: 


As  a  young  man  when  I  was  first 
looking  forward  to  the  obligations  of 
manhood  and  the  duties  of  father- 
hood, I  realized  that  there  was  only 
one  way  in  which  a  poor  man  without 
capital  could  protect  his  family  from 
the  vicissitudes  of  fortune  and  make 
proper  security  against  the  day  that 
must  come  to  us  all,  and  that  was 
through  life  insurance. 

Charles  E.  Hughes. 


147 


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148 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  FOREGOING  TABLE. 

The  death  claims  for  the  first  year  amount  to  $962,000. 
But  as  they  are  not  due  until  the  end  of  the  year,  the  premium 
which  must  be  paid  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  will  be  a 
smaller  sum;  namely,  a  sum  which,  increased  by  3%,  will 
amount  to  exactly  $962,000.  What  that  sum  is  we  discover 
by  discounting  $962,000  at  3%  for  one  year.  This  is  done  by 
dividing  $962,000  by  1.03,  which  gives  us  the  sum  desired, 
namely  $933,981.  ($962,000  -  1.03=  $933,981.) 

The  correctness  of  this  is  obvious.  $933,981  invested 
for  one  year  at  3%  would  yield  $28,019  of  interest.  And 
$933,981  +  $28,019  =  $962.000. 

The  death  claims  payable  at  the  end  of  the  second  year 
amount  to  $1,001,000,  and  this  item  must  be  discounted  in 
the  same  way.  But  as  these  claims  will  not  fall  due  until 
two  years  after  the  premium  has  been  paid  the  item  must  be 
divided  twice  by  1.03.  ($1,001,000  +  (1.03)2  =  $943,539.) 

The  next  item  must  be  divided  three  times  by  1.03,  and  so 
on. 

When  the  five  items  thus  discounted  are  added  together,  we 
have  the  aggregate  premium  to  be  paid  in  advance  by  the 
whole  group,  namely,  $4,788,229;  that  being  the  sum  which, 
increased  by  the  addition  of  3%,  will  pay  all  the  death  claims, 
amounting  to  $5,241,000,  as  they  fall  due. 

As  the  aggregate  Single  Premium  is  $4,788,229.,  the  share 
which  each  member  of  this  group  of  69,804  persons  must  pay 
will  be  $68.60;  for  $4,788,229  -=-  69,804  =  $68.60. 

The  Pure  Single  Premium  for  $1,000  of  insurance,  beginning 
at  age  50,  and  extending  over  a  term  of  five  years,  is,  therefore, 
$68.60.* 

*This  is  the  rate  to  the  nearest  cent.    The  exact  rate  is  a  trifle  less.    The 
item  carried  to  four  decimal  points  is  $68.5953+. 

149 


That  this  is  the  correct  premium  the  following  computa- 
tion proves. 

DEMONSTRATION 

Showing  the  correctness  of  the  Single  Premium. 

Each  of  69,804  persons  pays  $68.60.     69,804  x  $68.60  =  $4,788,554.40 
Add  one  year's  interest.  .03%  X  $4,788,554.40  =       143,656.63 


Total  4,932,211.03 

Deduct  962  losses  of  $1,000  each.  962  X  $1,000  =       962,000.00 


Balance  end  of  first  year  3,970,211 . 03 

Add  one  year's  interest.  .03%  X  $3,970,211.03  =       119,106.33 

Total  4,089,317.36 

Deduct  1,001  losses  of  $1,000  each.         1,001  X  $1,000  =    1,001,000.00 


Balance  end  of  second  year         3,088,317 .36 
Add  one  year's  interest.  .03%  X  $3,088,317.36  =        92,649.52 


Total  3,180,966.88 

Deduct  1,044  losses  of  $1,000  each.         1,044  X  $1,000  =    1,044,000.00 


Balance  end  of  third  year  2,136,966 .88 

Add  one  year's  interest.  .03%  X  $2,136,966.88  =        64,109.01 


Total  2,201,075.89 

Deduct  1,091  losses  of  $1,000  each.         1,091  X  $1,000  =    1,091,000.00 


Balance  end  of  fourth  year  1,110,075.89 

Add  one  year's  interest.  .03%  X  $1,110,075.89  =        33,302.28 


Total  1,143,378.17 

Deduct  1,143  losses  of  $1,000  each.          1,143  X  $1,000  =    1,143,000.00 


Balance  end  of  fifth  year  378 . 17* 


*At  first  blush  it  may  seem  that  some  error  has  been  made  in  this 
computation;  for  the  last  deduction  ought  to  exhaust  the  fund — there 
should  be  nothing  left — there  should  be  no  balance  of  $378.17,  or  any 
other  sum.  But  this  apparent  error  is  simply  due  to  the  fact  that  to 
avoid  a  long  and  cumbersome  calculation  a  premium  of  $68.60  has  been 
employed,  whereas  the  exact  rate  is  nearly  half  acentless  ($68.5953+).  If 
the  exact  rate  should  be  employed,  this  balance  of  $378. 17  would  disappear . 

>  fe 

150 


GROSS  SINGLE  PREMIUM 

As  we  have  seen  the  pure  Single  Premium  for  $1000  of  in- 
surance at  age  50  for  a  term  of  5  years,  is  $68.60.  The  cor- 
responding gross  rate  is  $86.09. 

The  following  are  examples  of  gross  premiums  on  a  "life" 
policy — a  policy  not  limited  to  a  term  of  5  years  but  running 
during  the  lifetime  of  the  Insured  and  maturing  at  his  death: 


CONDENSED  TABLE 

OF 

GROSS  SINGLE  PREMIUMS 
For  $1000  of  Insurance  for  Life. 


Age 


21 
25 
30 
40 
50 
60 
65 


Premium 


$394.08 
418.23 
452.96 
540.12 
653.81 
787.55 
856.46 


SEE  NOTE  4,  PAGE  144. 

THE  LEVEL  PREMIUM 
306.     How  to  determine  the  correct  Level  Premium. 

The  level  rate  must  be  the  equivalent  of  the  natural  rate, 
and  of  the  single  premium.  And  the  easiest  way  to  discover 
it  is  to  find  the  equivalent  of  the  single  premium  rather  than 
to  find  the  equivalent  of  the  natural  premiums. 

Our  problem,  then  will  be  to  find  out  what  level  annual 
premiums,  for  $1000  of  insurance,  paid  during  a  period  of 
five  years,  beginning  at  age  50,  will  be  the  exact  equivalent 
of  one  premium  paid  in  advance.  Before  trying  to  solve  this 
problem  some  technical  phrases  must  be  denned. 

151 


DEFINITIONS. 

1.  The  single  premium  is  the  "present  value"  of  the 
annual  premiums.     Consequently,  if  we  know  what  the 
annual  premiums  are  and  can  find  their  "present  value" 
(i.e.  find  what  sum  paid  in  advance  will  be  equivalent  to 
these  annual  premiums)  we  shall  have  the  single  premium. 

2.  Conversely,  if  we  know   the  amount  of  the  single 
premium,  and  regard  it  as  the  '  consideration  for"  (i.e. 
the  purchase  price  of)  a  five-year  Annuity-Due  *  and  then 
find  the  series  of  annuity  payments  (annuities)  which  that 
sum  will  produce,  we  shall  also  know  the  correct  annual 
rate;   for  the  "annuities"  produced  by  the  single  premium 
are  the  annual  premiums. 

HOW  TO  FIND  WHAT  ANNUAL  PREMIUMS  WILL  BE  EQUIVALENT 
TO  A  SINGLE  ADVANCE  PAYMENT. 

The  easiest  way  to  solve  the  problem  before  us  will  be  to 
begin  by  adopting  a  convenient  unit  of  measure.  To  this 
end,  let  us  assume  that  the  members  of  our  group  (which 
starts  with  69,804  persons)  agree  to  pay  into  a  common  fund 
annual  premiums  of  $1  each,  at  the  beginning  of  each  year 
during  a  period  of  five  years. 

The  amount  thus  paid  in  for  the  first  year  will  of  course,  be  equal  to 
the  number  of  persons  composing  our  group,  namely,  $69,804. 

The  amount  for  the  second  year  will  necessarily  be  less,  because  962 
of  these  people  will  have  died,  and  there  will  be  only  68,842  contributors. 
Hence  the  aggregate  paid  in  $1  premiums  for  the  second  year  will  be 
only  $68,842.     Here  is  the  entire  computation  in  tabular  form: 
Age        Survivors        $1  Premiums 

50  69,804  $69,804 

51  68,842  68,842 

52  67,841  67,841 

53  66,797  66,797 

54  65,706  65,706 


Total  Annual  Premiums  of  $1  each  $338,990 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the  total  amount  paid  in  $1  pre- 
miums during  this  period  of  five  years  aggregates  $338,990. 

*This  kind  of  Annuity  is  explained  in  §84. 

152 


Now,  without  trying  as  yet  to  find  out  how  much  insurance  these  $1 
premiums  will  buy,  let  us  see  if  we  can  determine  what  single  premium 
will  be  equivalent  to  this  aggregate  Oi"  level  premiums.  This  will  be 
determined  by  finding  the  "present  value"  of  these  annual  premiums. 

The  "present  value"  of  the  first  item  is  that  item  itself,  namely, 
$69,804;  for  as  this  sum  must  be  paid  at  once,  no  time  will  be  given  for 
it  to  earn  any  interest. 

But  the  second  item  is  not  payable  for  a  year.  Hence  we  discount 
it  for  one  year  (as  explained  on  page  149)  thus  reducing  it  from  $68,842 
to  $66,836.89. 

In  the  same  way  we  discount  the  third  item  for  two  years,  the  fourth 
for  three  years,  and  the  fifth  for  four  years. 

Here  is  the  computation  in  tabular  form: 


Age 

$1  Premiums 

Discounted  at  3% 

50 
51 
52 
53 
54 

Annual  Premii 

$69,804 
68,842 
67,841 
66,797 
65,706 

$T69,804.00 
66,836.89 
63,946.65 
61,128.72 
58,378.93 

ims  $338,990. 

"Present  Value"  of  \     $320(095.19 
Annual  Premiums  J 

By  adding  the  "present  value"  of  all  five  items  together,  we  get  the 
"present  value"  of  the  whole,  namely,  $320,095.19.  And  this  is  the 
single  premium. 

The  single  premium  for  each  member  of  the  group  will  be  the  single 
premium  for  the  whole  group  ($320,035.19)  divided  by  the  number  of 
persons  (69,804).  This  is,  to  the  nearest  cent,  $4.59,  or  more  exactly 

$4.5856+. 

($320,095.19  -r-  69,804  =$4.5856+) 

We  now  know  that  at  age  50  a  single  premium  of  $4.5856  +  is  equivalent 
to  an  annual  premium  of  $1 .  That  is  to  say,  a  single  payment  in  advance 
of  $4.5856  +  will  buy  the  same  amount  of  insurance  for  five  years  as  a 
premium  of  $1  payable  annually  for  five  years. 


153 


v  What  amount  of  insurance  will  that  be?  This  is  precisely  what  we  are 
trying  to  find  out;  and  as  we  do  not  know  we  turn  to  the  single  pre- 
mium of  $4.5856+  and  ask  what  amount  of  insurance  that  premium 
will  buy.  But  we  shall  get  no  immediate  answer,  for  we  do  not  know 
the  amount  of  insurance  which  a  single  premium  of  $4.5856+  will  buy; 
but  we  do  know  that  at  age  50  a  single  premium  of  $68.60  will  buy  $1000 
of  insurance.  (See  §305.)  In  addition  to  this,  we  know  that  $68.60  is  the 
"present  value"  of  the  ANNUAL  premiums  (annuities)  that  will  buy 
$1000  of  insurance.  Conversely,  we  know  that  if  we  take  a  five  year 
Annuity-Due  of  $68.60,  and  find  out  what  annuity  payments  it  will 
produce,  we  shall  have  the  correct  ANNUAL  premiums. 

The  correct  annuity  payments  can  be  determined  very  easily,  as 
follows: 

We  already  know  that  $4.5856+  produces  annuity  payments  of 
$1.  (i.e.  that  a  single  premium  of  $4.5856+,  and  five  annual  premiums 
of  $1  each,  are  exact  equivalents.) 

Now,  if  the  annual  premiums  corresponding  with  a  single  premium 
of  $4.5856+  are  five  premiums  of  $1  each,  and  if  the  annual  premiums 
corresponding  with  a  single  premium  of  $68.60  are  in  the  same  proportion 
(which  they  must  necessarily  be)  all  we  have  to  do  in  order  to  determine 
the  annual  rate  for  $1,000  will  be  to  find  out  how  many  times  $4.5856+  is 
contained  in  $68.60.  This  is  $14.96.  ($68.60  -5-  $4.5856+  ==  $14.96) 

Thus  our  problem  is  solved.  We  now  know  that  $68.60  is  the  pure 
single  premium  at  age  50  for  $1,000  of  insurance  for  five  years,  and  that 
the  equivalent  Pure  Level  Annual  Premium  is  $14.96.  This  is  proved 
by  the  demonstration  on  the  following  page. 

Having  found  the  premium  for  $1,000  of  insurance,  we  can  find  it  for 
any  other  amount;  for  the  rate  is  always  the  same  whether  the  policy 
is  for  a  large  or  for  a  fimall  amount.  We  can  also  find  the  rate  for  a  dif- 
ferent period  of  years,  or  for  life,  either  at  age  50,  or  at  any  other  age. 

SEE  IMPORTANT  NOTES  ON  PAGE  144 


A  man  in  office  without  means 
must  abandon  the  hope  of  making  the 
future  of  his  family  luxuriously  com- 
fortable. All  a  man  can  do  under 
existing  circumstances  to  safeguard 
his  family  is  to  get  his  life  insured. 
William  H.  Taft. 


154 


DEMONSTRATION 

Each  of  69,804  persons  pays  $14.96.       69,804 X$14.96  =  $1,044,267.84 
Add  one  year's  interest.  .03  X  $1,044,267.84  =         31,328.04 

Total  1,075,595.88 

Deduct  962  losses  of  $1000  each.  962  X  $1000  =       962,000.00 


Balance  end  of  first  year  1 13,595 . 88 

Each  of  68,842  survivors  pays  $14.96.    68,842  X  $14.96  =    1,029,876.32 


Total  1,143,472.20 

Add  one  year's  interest.  .03  X  $1,143,472. 20  =         34,304. 17 


Total  1.177.776.37 

Deduct  1,001  losses  of  $1000  each.  1,001  X  $1000  =    1,001,000.00 


Balance  end  of  second  year  176,776.37 

Each  of  67,841  survivors  pays  $14.96.    67,841  X  $14.96  =  1,014,901.36 

Total  1,191,677.73 

Add  one  year's  interest.                      .03X1,191,677.73=  -35,750.33 

Total  1,227,428.06 

Deduct  1,044  losses  of  $1000  each.           1,044  X  $1000  =  1,044,000.00 


Balance  end  of  third  year  183,428 . 06 

Each  of  66,797  survivors  pays  $14.96.    66,797  X  $14.96  =       999,283 . 12 

Total  1,182,711.18 

Add  one  year's  interest.  .03  X  $1,182,711 . 18  =        35.481 .34 

Total  1.218,192.52 

Deduct  1,091  losses  of  $1000  each.  1,091  X  $1000  =    1,091,000.00 

Balance  end  of  fourth  year  127,192. 52 

Each  of  65,706  survivors  pays  $14.96.    65,706  X  $14.96  =       982,961 . 76 

Total  1,110,154.28 

Add  one  year's  interest.  .03  X  1,110,154 .28  =         33,304.63 

Total  1,143,458.91 

Deduct  1,143  losses  of  $1000  each.  1,143  X  $1000  =    1,143,000.00 

Balance  end  of  fifth  year  458.91* 

*This  small  balance  of  $458.91  does  not  indicate  an  error  in  this  com- 
putation. The  note  on  page  150explains  the  cause  of  such  discrepancies. 
The  premium  here  employed  ($14.96)  is  correct  to  the  nearest  cent, 
but  the  exact  premium  is  a  trifle  less  ($14.9588+).  If  the  exact  rate 
should  be  employed  this  balance  would  vanish. 

155 


307.     Tables  of  Gross  Premiums 

The  pure  level  premium  for  $1,000  of  insurance  at  age  50, 
for  a  term  of  5  years,  is  $14.96.  The  corresponding  gross 
premium,  the  rate  after  adding  the  "loading"  for  expenses 
and  contingencies,  is  $23.51. 

The  rate  for  a  term  of  5  years  is  low.  The  rate  at  age  50  for  an  "Or- 
dinary Life  Policy,  "  running  during  the  lifetime  of  the  Insured  and  ma- 
turing at  his  death,  is  of  course  much  higher.  The  Pure  Level  Pre- 
mium for  such  a  policy  is  $36.36,  and  the  Gross  Rate  is  $48.48. 


The  gross  rate  is  obtained  by  adding  33  H%  to  itself 


Pure  Premium  .........    $36.36 

of  Pure  Premium    12.12 


Gross  Premium 48.48 

The  following  tables  give  examples  of  gross  premiums  for 
different  kinds  of  policies.  In  considering  these  rates  note 
carefully  that  they  are  on  the  participating  (mutual)  basis, 
and  that  consequently  they  do  not  represent  the  ultimate 
cost  to  the  Insured.  The  ultimate  cost  will  depend  on  the 
amount  of  REFUNDS  (dividends.) 


American  life  insurance  will 
live  to  bless  our  people  as  long 
as  American  civilization  lasts, 
and  will  endure  and  grow  as 
long  as  civilized  men,  while  liv- 
ing, take  forethought  of  the 
event  of  death. 

Grover  Cleveland. 


156 


CONDENSED  TABLE  OF  GROSS  LEVEL  PREMIUM  RATES 

For  $1000  of  Participating  (Mutual)  Insurance 

LIFE   FORMS 

Kind  of  Policy. 

Ordinary 

Age 

Life 

10-A.P. 

15-A.P. 

20-A.P. 

25-A.P. 

30-A.P. 

21 

$19.62 

$48.56 

$36.00 

$29.84 

$26.26 

$23.95 

25 

21.49 

51.67 

38.35 

31.83 

28.05 

25.64 

30 

24.38 

56.18 

41.78 

34.76 

30.72 

28.19 

40 

33.01 

67.90 

50.92 

42.79 

38.28 

50 

48.48 

84.99 

65.16 

56.17 

60 

77.69 

111.47 

89.94 

65 

101.48 

131.13 

CONDENSED   TABLE  OF  GROSS  LEVEL  PREMIUM   RATES 

For  $1000  of  Participating  (Mutual)  Insurance 

ENDOWMENT  FORMS 

Kind  of  Policy. 

Age 

10-  Year 

15-  Year 

20-Year 

25-Year 

30-Year 

21 

$105.84 

$68.40 

$50.07 

$39.38 

$32.54 

25 

106.22 

68.82 

50.53              39.90 

33.15 

30 

106.84 

69.51 

51  31 

40.82 

34.25 

40 

108.96 

72.00 

54.31 

44.49 

38.77 

50 

114.24 

78.53 

62.34 

54.29 

60 

128.35 

96.07 

65 

142.47 

ANNUITY  CHARGES 

-> 

308.     How  to  determine  Annuity  Rates. 

A  "life"  annuity  is  the  converse  of  a  "life"  policy.  Similarly, 
a  five-year  Annuity- Due  is  the  converse  of  a  policy  granting 
insurance  for  a  period  of  five  years.  This  being  so,  if  we 
reverse  the  calculation  made  in  §306,  we  shall  be  able  to 
determine  the  correct  charge  to  make  for  such  an  Annuity. 

Just  here  two  important  points  must  be  kept  in  mind: 
(1)  We  are  dealing  with  the  pure  rate,  and  not  the  rate 
actually  charged,  which  consists  of  the  pure  rate  plus  a 
loading  for  expenses  and  contingencies.  (2)  The  companies 
do  not,  as  a  rule,  use  the  same  mortality  table  in  computing 
their  annuity  charges  as  they  use  in  calculating  premiums, 
nor  do  they  always  use  the  same  interest  rate.  Here  (simply 
for  purposes  of  illustration)  we  shall  use  the  same  mortality 
table  and  the  same  interest  rate  already  employed  in  com- 
puting premiums  (the  American  Experience  Table  and 
3%  interest)  in  order  that  the  policy  and  the  annuity  shall 
be  on  precisely  the  same  basis.  (See  Notes,  page  144.) 

It  was  shown  in  §306  that  at  age  50  in  the  case  of  a  policy 
extending  over  a  period  of  five  years,  on  which  the  single 
premium  is  $4.5856+,  the  corresponding  level  annual  pre- 
mium is  $1.  In  other  words,  a  single  premium  of  $4.5856+ 
would  have  the  same  purchasing  power  as  an  annual  pre- 
mium of  $1.  It  was  also  shown  that  $4.5856+  is  the  "present 
value"  of  a  five-year  Annuity- Due,  producing  income  pay- 
ments of  $1.  That  this  is  correct  the  computation  on  the 
following  page  indicates. 

The  foregoing  example  is  given  simply  by  way  of  illus- 
tration. Knowing  the  "present  value"  of  a  five  year  Annuity- 
Due  yielding  an  income  of  $1  for  five  years,  we  can  readily 
determine  the  "present  value"  of  an  Annuity  of  the  same 
kind  producing  a  larger  income  for  five  years,  or  for  any 
other  stipulated  period,  or  for  life. 

158 


In    the    same    way    the    proper    rates    to    charge    for 
other  kinds  of  Annuities  can  be  determined  also. 


DEMONSTRATION 

Each  of  69,804  persons  pays  $4.59.       69,804  X  $4.59  =$320,400.36 
Deduct  69,804  payments  of  $1  each  69,804 . 00 


Balance  250,596.36 

Add  one  year's  interest.  .03  X  $250,596.36  =  7,517.89 


Balance  end  of  first  year  258,114 . 25 

Deduct  68,842  payments  of  $1  each  68,842.00 


Balance  189,272.25 

Add  one  year's  interest.  .03  X  $189,272.25  =        5,678.17 


Balance  end  of  second  year         194,950.42 
Deduct  67,841  payments  of  $1  each  67,841 . 00 


Balance  127,109.42 

Add  one  year's  interest  .03  X  $127,109.42  =        3,813.28 


Balance  end  of  third  year        130,922.70 
Deduct  66,797  payments  of  $1  each  66,797 . 00 


Balance  64,125.70 

Add  one  year's  interest.  .03  X  $64,125.70  =        1,923.77 


Balance  end  of  fourth  year  66,049.47 

Deduct  65,706  payments  of  $1  each  65,706 . 00 


Balance  343.47* 


*For  the  reason  given  in  the  note  on  page  150  this  balance  does  not 
indicate  an  error  in  the  computation.  The  item  $4.59,  employed  above, 
is  correct  to  the  nearest  cent.  The  exact  amount  is  $4.5856+.  The 
overcharge  of  a  fraction  of  a  cent,  increased  by  interest,  in  the  case  of 
69,804  single  premiums,  produces  this  balance  of  $343.47. 

159 


EXTRACT  FROM  A  YALE  LECTURE 

By 
JOHN  M.  HOLCOMBE. 

Life  insurance  promotes  a  sense  of  respon- 
sibility, strengthens  family  ties,  and  thus 
elevates  the  general  character  of  the  nation. 
It  lessens  those  family  discords  which  end  in 
divorce.  It  checks  intemperance,  and  often 
by  its  requirements  brings  a  realization  of  the 
benefits  of  right  living.  .... 
There  can  be  no  doubt  furthermore  that  life 
insurance  curtails  the  expense  to  the  public 
treasury,  of  almshouses  and  police,  of  criminal 
courts  and  prisons,  and  of  the  various  other 
necessary  branches  of  the  public  service  which 
have  to  do  with  the  prevention  and  punish- 
ment of  crime,  the  relief  of  the  suffering  and 
unfortunate.  .  .  .  It  is  certain  that  in 
many  cases  the  proceeds  of  a  life  insurance 
policy  are  practically  all  that  remain  at  the 
death  of  the  one  responsible  for  the  support 
of  helpless  dependents,  and  in  a  vast  number 
of  these  cases,  were  it  not  for  this  aid,  many 
persons  would  be  forced  to  accept  public 
cnarity. 

L 


160 


WILLIAM   ALEXANDER'S 

Educational  Series  on 

LIFE    INSURANCE 

1.  What  Life  Insurance  Is  and  What  It  Does 

A  preliminary  text-book,  or  primer,  dealing  with  the  fun- 
mental  principles  on  which  all  round  life  insurance  rests. 

Price  $1.50 

2.  How  to  Sell  Insurance 

The  chief  aim  of  this  book,  as  the  title  indicates,  is  to 
teach  the  inexperienced  agent  how  to  do  his  work,  and 
build  up  a  remunerative  business.  While  it  is  intended 
primarily  for  the  new  agent,  it  embodies  a  great  deal  of 
instruction  that  ought  to  be  of  value  to  the  agent  of  ex- 
perience. It  will  also  be  useful  to  those  who  are  engaged 
in  the  work  of  training  inexperienced  agents.  Price  $2.00 

3.  The  Prosperous  Agent 

This  little  book  is  for  the  guidance  of  experienced  and 
inexperienced  agents  alike.  It  gives  a  catalogue  of  the 
characteristics — the  mental  equipment — of  the  successful 
business  man,  and  tells  how  these  qualifications  can  be 
utilized  to  the  greatest  advantage  by  the  insurance  sales- 
man. The  instrument  with  which  the  agent  does  his  work 
is  his  own  mind.  The  material  on  which  he  uses  this_  deli- 
cate instrument  is  the  mind  of  another  person.  It  is  all 
important,  therefore,  that  he  should  know  exactly  how  to 
utilize  his  mental  equipment.  Price,  paper  cover,  $1.00 
Bed  cloth  $1.50 

4.  The  Art  of  Insurance  Salesmanship 

This  volume  takes  up  the  instruction  of  the  agent  where 
the  second  volume  of  this  series  stops.  It  contains  more 
advanced  instruction,  and  one  of  its  aims  is  to  stimulate 
the  thought,  fire  the  imagination,  broaden  the  vision,  and 
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Price  $2.00 

5.  100  Ways  of  Canvassing  for  Life  Insurance 

This  concluding  volume  describes  many  ways  of  _  soliciting 
life  insurance  and  includes  numerous  canvassing  plans 
contributed  by  experienced  field  men,  with  the  author's 
comments  on  these  plans.  Price  $3.50 

THE   NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION   OF 
LIFE  UNDERWRITERS 

11  West  42nd  Street    .-.     .-.     New  York  City 


161 


INDEX 


The  following  figures  indi- 
cate    paragraphs,      not     pages. 


Accident  benefit §  91 

Actuary 28,98 

Addition,  Dividend 99 

Additional  policy 100 

Admission  of  age 101 

Admitted  assets 102 

Admitted  surplus 103 

Advantages  of  life  insurance.     90 

Adverse  selection 37, 104 

Age 48,105 

Age    determines    premium ...     23 

Age  limit 106 

Age,  Proof  of 101 

Agency  manager 107 

Agent 44,46,47,108 

Agent,  Province  of 253 

Agent 's  characteristics 303 

Agent 's  contract 109 

Agent 's  development 303 

Agent 's  duties 51 

Agent's  education 303 

Agent 's  responsibilities 108 

Alternate  policy Ill 

American  experience  mortality 

table 12,112 

Amount    of    gross    premium 

unimportant 22 

Amount  of  insurance  a  man 

should  carry 94 

Annual  premium 306 

Annual  statement 113 

Annuitant 114 

Annuitants  live  long 81 

Annuities 78 

Annuity-certain 86 

Annuity  charges 308 


Annuity  contract.   §  117 

Annuity  converse  cf  insurance     78 

Annuity-due 84 

Appendix 304,  308 

Applicant 44,119 

Application 48, 12C 

Apportioning  surplus 121 

Assessment  insurance 77 

Assets 123 

Assets,  Admitted 102 

Assurance,  Life 124 

Average,  Law  of 10 

B 

Balance  sheet §  25 

Basic  principles 8 

Bed-rock  foundations 2 

Beneficiary 60,  62,  125 

Beneficiary,  Change  of 133 

Benefits 61 

Binding  receipt 126 

Birthday 48 

Bonus 127 

Brokerage  contract 128 

Business,  How  conducted ....     47 

Business  insurance 70 

C 

Capital §40,  123 

Capital  stock 40 

Careful  selection  means  profit     38 

Cash  dividend 131 

Cash  value. 57 

Change  of  beneficiary 133 

Characteristics  of  good  agent .  303 

Charges  for  annuities 80 

Charges,  Premium 134 

Child 's  endowment 71 

Claim..  .   137 


162 


Claim,  Contested §  143 

Classes 273 

Collateral  advantages 61, 91 

Commission  contract 138 

Commissioner  of  insurance .  .   139 

Commissions,  Renewal 263 

Company  departments 46 

Company,  Government  of .  .  .    182 

Company,  Mixed 41 

Company,  Mutual 39 

Company,  Non-participating..     40 

Company,  Proprietary 251 

Company,  Regular 205 

Company,  Stock 40 

Computation   of   premiums . .  304 

Conditional  receipt 126 

Consideration  for  annuity ...   142 

Contested  claim 143 

Continuous  instalment  policy  144 

Contract,  Agent's 109 

Contract,  Brokerage 128 

Contract,  Commission 138 

Contract,  Insurance 146 

Contract  of  insurance 44 

Contract,  Supplementary 284 

Conversion  privilege 147 

Cooperative  insurance 77 

Corporate  policy 149 

Cost  of  insurance 8,    9 

Creditor's  policy 150 

D 

Date  of  birth §  48 

Death  claim 151 

Death  claim,  Contested 143 

Death  rate 11,  35,  152 

Declaring  dividend 153 

Deferred  annuity 88 

Deferred  dividend 155 

Deferred  dividend  policy 156 

Deferred  premium 157 

Delivery  of  policy 158 

Department  valuation 159 

Departments  of  company ....     46 


Departments  of  insurance ....  §  34 

Deposit 160 

Development  of  agent 303 

Development  of  life  insurance  89 

Different  kinds  of  insurance.  49 

Disability 91 

Disability  privilege 161 

Dividend  declaration 153 

Dividend,  Deferred 155 

Dividend  notice 56,  163 

Dividend  on  paid-up  insurance  164 

Dividends 31 

Double  indemnity 91 

Duties  of  agent 51 


Education  of  agent §  303 

Endowment  insurance,  Origin 

of 62 

Endowment  period 166 

Endowment  policy 66 

Equitable  of  London 7 

Evolution  of  life  insurance . .  7 

Examinations 48 

Expectation  of  life 169 

Expectation  table 169 

Expense  savings 33 

Experiment  that  failed 76 

Extended  term  insurance 171 

Extension 55, 172 

Extra  hazard 173 

Extra  premium 173, 174 


Fallacies  about  life  insurance  §  96 

Family  history 175 

Financial   condition    of   com- 
pany      43 

Fire  insurance 2 

First  year's  premium 176 

Forfeiture 52,177 

•Forms,  Policy 178 

Foundations 8 


163 


Fraternal  insurance §  77 

Fully  insured 94 

G 

General  agents §  46 

Government  of  companies. . .  .    182 

Grace 54,  183 

Gross  premium 20 

Group  insurance 72 

H 

How  business  conducted ....  §  47 

How  refunds  used 32 

How  to  determine  age 105 

How    to    determine    annuity 

charges 308 

How   to   determine   premium 

charges 304,  305,  306 

How      to      discover      proper 

charges 12 

How  to  select  a  company ...     97 
I 

Immediate  annuity §  84 

Impaired  risk 173, 187 

Incidental  advantages 92 

Income  from  annuities 79 

Income  insurance 67 

Incontestability 190 

Industrial  insurance 69 

Inspection 191 

Instalment  policy 73 

Insurable  interest 193 

Insurance  commissioner 139 

Insurance    company    a    cor- 
poration      45 

Insurance  contract 44 

Insurance  denned 2 

Insurance  departments 34 

Insurance  in  force 196 

Insurance,   Life  income  plan    67 

Insurance,  Permanent 239 

Insurance,  Preliminary  term.  .   244 

Insurance  reserve 24 

Insurance  salesman 44, 303 

Insurance,  Sub-standard . .      .173 


Insurance  superintendent §  139 

Insured 48, 197 

Insuring  lives,  Cost  of 9 

Interest 18 

Interest  savings 33 

Interest  standard 199,  280 

Irregular  premium 200 


Joint  life  policy §  74 

K 

Kinds  of  insurance §  49 

L 

Law  of  average §  10 

Law  of  mortality 11 

Legal  reserve  company 205 

Level  gross  premium 306 

Level  gross  premium  rates. .  . .   307 

Level  premium 16,  306 

Level  pure  premium 306 

Liabilities 25 

Liberal  provisions 61 

Life  annuity 78 

Life  annuity  rates 80 

Life  company,  What  it  is. ...     44 

Life,  Expectation  of 169 

Life  income  policy 67 

Life  insurance  agent 44 

Life  insurance  company 6,  46 

Life  insurance  company  des- 
cribed      46 

Life  insurance  denned 3 

Life  insurance,  Evolution  of.       7 
Life  insurance,  Its  object ....       4 

Life  insurance,  Need  for 5 

Life  policy 211 

Life  policy,  Limited  payment 

form 62 

Limited  payment  policy  .  .  .62,  212 
Loading,  How  determined. ...     21 

Loans  on  policies 58,  59,  243 

Loan  value. .  .  214 


164 


M 

Making  a  valuation §  28 

Managers 46 

Maturity  of  policies 60,  215 

Maximum  of  permanent  pro- 
tection      49 

Medical  examinations 35 

Medical  examiner's  fee 216 

Medical  examiner's  report.  48,  217 
Methods  of  conducting  busi- 
ness  39,  40,  41 

Methods  of  conducting  busi- 
ness compared 42 

Mixed  plan 41 

Mortality,  Law  of 11 

Mortality  savings 33 

Mortality  table 12 

Mutual  plan 39 

Mutual,  Purely 182 

N 

Natural  gross  premium §  304 

Natural  plan  undesirable 76 

Natural  premium 13,  304 

Natural  pure  premium 304 

Necessity  for  reserves 77 

Necessity  of  insurance 5 

Need  of  surplus 30 

Net  premium 19 

Non-forfeiture 177,   225 

Non-participating  plan 40 

N.  T.  O.  policy 228 

O 

Object  of  life  insurance §  4 

Office  premium 229 

Old  Equitable 7 

One  year  term  policy 231 

Options 232 

Ordinary  life  policy 49 

Outstanding  Insurance 196 

P 

Paid-up  policy §  234 

Paid-up  value 57, 235 

Participating  plan 39 


Period,  Endowment §  166 

Permanent  insurance 239 

Permit 240 

Perpetual  annuity 87 

Policies,  Valuation  of 28 

Policy  contract 44 

Policy,  Corporate 149 

Policy,  Creditor 's 150 

Policy,  Deferred  dividend ....  156 

Policy,  Delivery  of 158 

Policy,  Life 211 

Policy,  Limited  payment 212 

Policy  loan 58,  243 

Policy  loans  injurious 59 

Policy  maturities 60 

Policy,  Non-participating 227 

Policy,  One  year  term 231 

Policy,  Paid-up 234 

Policy,  Rated-up 173, 257 

Policy  reserve 24 

Policy,  Whole  life 302 

Policyholder 48, 197 

Policyholder 's  right  point  of 

view 95 

Popular  fallacies 96 

Popularity  of  level  premiums.     17 
Preliminary  term  insurance . .  244 

Premium,  Annual 306 

Premium,  Semi-annual 245 

Premium,  Quarterly 245 

Premium  charges 8,  23 

Premium,  Deferred 157 

Premium,  Extra 173, 174 

Premium,  First  year's 176 

Premium,  Gross 20 

Premium,  How  computed.  . .  304 

Premium,  Irregular 200 

Premium,  Level 16, 306 

Premium,  Natural 13,  14,  304 

Premium,  Net 19 

Premium  notice 53,  246 

Premium,  Office 229 

Premium,  Pure 19 


165 


Premium,  Renewal §  264 

Premium,  Semi-tropical 173 

Premium,  Single 15,  305 

Premium  term 247 

Premium,  Tropical 173 

Premium,  Waiver  of 91,  301 

Premiums  of  different  com- 
panies vary 135 

Present  worth 248 

Privilege,  Disability 161 

Privilege  of  conversion 147 

Privileges 249 

Profit,  Sources  of 33 

Profits 33 

Proof  of  age 101 

Proofs  of  death 60 

Proper  charges 9 

Proprietary  company 251 

Prospect 252 

Province  of  agent 253 

Public  service 93 

Pure  endowment 64 

Pure  premium 19 

Purely  mutual 182 

R 

Rated-up  policy §  173, 257 

Rates  for  life  annuities 80 

Re-capitulation 43 

Reduction,  Dividend 258 

Refund 22,   30 

Refund  annuity 82 

Refunds,  how  used 32 

Refunds,  their  composition . .     33 

Regular  company 205 

Reinstatement 261 

Re-insurance  fund 28 

Renewal  commissions 263 

Renewal  premium 52, 264 

Report  of  medical  examiner . .     48 

Reserve 24, 25, 26,  27,  28 

Reserve  a  present  liability ....     26 

Reserve  standard 280 

Reserves  on  individual  policies    27 


Responsibilities  of  agent ...  §  108 

Restoration 52, 261 

Restrictions 267 

Return  premium 31 

Return  premium  policy 75 

Right  point  of  view 95 

Risk 269 

Risks,  Extra  hazardous 173 

S 

Safety  of  life  insurance §  59 

Salesman,  Insurance 108, 303 

Savings 33 

Scientific  foundations 8 

Scope  of  life  insurance 90 

Selection,  Adverse 104 

Semi-tropical  rates 173 

Separate  classes 273 

Settlement 274 

Simple  endowment 64 

Single  premium 15, 305 

Single  gross  premium 305 

Single  pure  premium 305 

Soliciting  agent 46, 277 

Sources  of  profit 33 

Sources  of  savings 33 

Sources  of  surplus 29,  33 

Standard 280 

Standard,  Interest 199 

State  supervision 34 

Stock,  Capital 40 

Stock  plan 40 

Sub-standard  insurance 173 

Summary 11 

Superintendent  of  insurance . .   139 

Supplementary  chapter 303 

Supplementary  contract 284 

Surplus 25 

Surplus,  Admitted 103 

Surplus,  Sources  of 29, 33 

Surrender  value 57,  287 

Surrender  value  in  extended 

insurance 57 

Surrender  should  be  avoided.     59 


266 


Survivorship  annuity §  68 

Survivorship  annuity  rates . .     68 


Table  of  gross  level  premiums  §  307 

Table  of  mortality 12 

Table  of  rates 289 

Table  of  surrender  values 57 

Taxation 34 

Technical  knowledge  essential.       8 

Temporary  annuity 85 

Term  policy 63 

Three  methods  compared 42 

Three  methods  of  conducting 

business 39,  40;  41 

Three  per  cent  reserve 280 

Three  ways  of  charging .  14,  15,  16 
Total    and    permanent    disa- 
bility      91 

Tropical  rates 173 

Twenty-payment  life  policy .  .     62 

Twisting 297 

Two  life  annuity 83 

Two  life  policy 74 

Typical  company 25 


Use  of  mortality  table §  12 

V 

Valuation §  28 

Valuation    by    insurance    de- 
partment    159 

Value,  Loan • 214 

Value,  Paid-up 235 

Valuing  policies 28 

Various  uses  of  life  insurance    90 

W 

Waiver  of  premium §  91,  301 

Weakness   of   assessment   in- 
surance    77 

What  a  life  company  is 44 

What  a  life  company  is  not.  44 

What  insurance  is 2 

What  refunds  consist  of 33 

What  to  charge 12 

Whole  life  policy 302 

Why  a  corporation 45 

Why  insurance  on  natural  plan 

fails 76 

Why  people  insure 1 


SEE  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 
FOR    SECTION    HEADINGS 


167 


If  a  man  does  not  provide 
for  his  children;  if  he  does 
not  provide  for  all  who  are 
dependent  upon  him,  and  if 
he  has  not  that  vision  of 
conditions  to  come  and  that 
care  for  the  days  that  have 
not  yet  dawned,  which  we 
sum  up  in  the  whole  idea 
of  thrift  and  saving,  then 
he  has  not  opened  his  eyes 
to  any  adequate  conception 
of  human  life.  We  are  in 
this  world  to  provide  not  for 
ourselves  alone,  but  for 
others,  and  that  is  the  basis 
of  economy.  So  that  econo- 
my and  everything  which 
ministers  to  economy  sup- 
plies the  foundations  of  na- 
tional life. 

Woodrow  Wilson. 


THE  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGERS 


A     000  201  469     4 

cop.<9