What happens if the term insurance company closes?
This depends on the jurisdiction, but such companies are typically subject to regulations (and audits) that require them to keep the customers' accumulated premiums very strictly separated from the company's own assets, liabilities and expenses. Additionally, they are typically only allowed to invest the capital in very safe things like government bonds. So, unless something truly catastrophic happens (like the US government defaulting on its bonds) or people in the company break the regulations (which would invovle all kinds of serious crimes and require complicity or complete failure of the auditors), your premiums and the contractual obligation to you would still be there, and would be absorbed by a different insurance company that takes over the defunct company's business.  Realistically, what all this means is that insurance companies never go bankrupt; if they do badly, they are typically bought up by a competitor long before things get that bad.
Medicare, company liability for employee healthcare, increased disability insurance, increased work comp insurance from indirect medical cost increases.... 0.9 could end up closer to 9% or more.  It's not about Rich people being less rich, they'll always be ok, but at a certain point you get deminishing returns on your efforts. If the government deincentivizes having a larger work force or this or that, some companies will simply sell and close shop.   I've seen it happen to hundreds of independent retailers who are in their senior years. Cost overhead is up, margins are down, why put yourself through the stress for less and less??  Don't worry though, the government (that changes every few years) will take care of you! "What is a 403b? A 403(b) plan is a tax-advantaged retirement savings plan available for public education organizations, some non-profit employers (only US Tax Code 501(c)(3) organizations), cooperative hospital service organizations and self-employed ministers in the United States. Kind of a rare thing. A bit more here: http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/teacheroptions.htm under investment options Equity Indexed Annuities are a special type of contract between you and an insurance company. During the accumulation period — when you make either a lump sum payment or a series of payments — the insurance company credits you with a return that is based on changes in an equity index, such as the S&P 500 Composite Stock Price Index. The insurance company typically guarantees a minimum return. Guaranteed minimum return rates vary. After the accumulation period, the insurance company will make periodic payments to you under the terms of your contract, unless you choose to receive your contract value in a lump sum. For more information, please see our ""Fast Answer"" on Equity Indexed Annuities, and read FINRA's investor alert entitled Equity-Indexed Annuitiies — A Complex Choice. So perhaps ""equity indexed annuities"" is the more correct thing to search for and not ""insurance funds""?" You are asking about what happens when an ETF/mutual fund company goes bankrupt. If you were asking about a bank account you would be asking about FDIC coverage.  Investment funds are different, the closest thing to FDIC protection is provided by  Securities Investors Protection Corporation (SIPC) SIPC was created under the Securities Investor Protection Act as a   non-profit membership corporation. SIPC oversees the liquidation of   member broker-dealers that close when the broker-dealer is bankrupt or   in financial trouble, and customer assets are missing. In a   liquidation under the Securities Investor Protection Act, SIPC and the   court-appointed Trustee work to return customers’ securities and cash   as quickly as possible. Within limits, SIPC expedites the return of   missing customer property by protecting each customer up to $500,000   for securities and cash (including a $250,000 limit for cash only). SIPC is an important part of the overall system of investor protection   in the United States. While a number of federal and state securities   agencies and self-regulatory organizations deal with cases of   investment fraud, SIPC's focus is both different and narrow: restoring   customer cash and securities left in the hands of bankrupt or   otherwise financially troubled brokerage firms. SIPC was not chartered by Congress to combat fraud. Although created   under a federal law, SIPC is not an agency or establishment of the   United States Government, and it has no authority to investigate or   regulate its member broker-dealers. It is important to understand that   SIPC is not the securities world equivalent of the Federal Deposit   Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which insures depositors of insured   banks. Unfortunately I've seen every single example you've provided from the health care providers perspective.  Trust me, they aren't happy about the situation either - hence the reason they will demand up front payment from you based on who your insurance carrier is.  I could name a few of the top brand name insurance companies in this country that do all of this to their clients.   Medical billing is an incredibly over complicated beast.  One that insurance companies have been doing everything they can to make worse over the years.  The codes can change annually and there are MANY different codes which can cover the exact same situation.  Sure the insurance company might cover gallstones, but if you happen to be pregnant, well, that may not covered even though the treatment is the exact same. What can you do? Consider locating a new insurance company.  You do have options and don't have to go with the one your company uses.  The downside is that this is going to take quite a bit of research on your part and it will end up costing you more money on your monthly premiums simply because your company won't be footing part of the bill.   Talk to other co-workers and see if their experiences match yours.  If so, try to get a large enough group together to approach management and demand resolution.   A third potential avenue is to get politically involved - but I'm enough of a pessimist that I doubt that would do any good.  From what I've seen, neither major political party's current position actually does anything to solve the problem. A fourth option is suing the insurance company - but that is going to be incredibly expensive and take forever.  You might have better luck getting together with a bunch of local people and demand your attorney general review the billing/payment practices. Again, this is going to require a LOT of effort. A fifth option is to attempt to cash pay your bills and submit them yourself to the insurance company for reimbursement.  If you do this you can likely negotiate lower bills with the medical provider.  For anything less than about $2,000 I negotiate the amount prior to service.  Believe me when I say that providers are more than happy to give decent discounts if they know they won't have to deal with the insurance companies themselves.  Slightly more work for you, but could be far cheaper in the long run. Randomly selected stocks would probably become worthless at a similar rate of all businesses going out of business do.  I'm not sure why you'd randomly select a stock though.  Stocks in the S&P500 (or other similar index), or large-cap stocks probably become worthless at a much lower rate. "Let's say, I have a Life Insurance for 20 years. Whether the money will be given back to the Policy Holder along with the Accumulated Interest on it ? This depends on the type of Insurance Policy.  If you have purchased a ""Term Plan/Policy"" then these do not give back anything. However the premium is very low and is essentially covering for the risk. If you have ""Cash Value type"" of policies [Whole Life, Endowment, Universal Life, etc] then you get something back at the end. This depends on the policy document. The premiums are substantially high. It is generally advised that Cash Value type of policies are not good and the returns they generate are poor than depositing the difference in premium in alternative investments and buying a Term Plan." "Your mortgage agreement probably gives you three options: Pay off your mortgage in full. Use the insurance company's deck-repair payment to fix your deck to be similar in quality to what it was when you took out the mortgage, allowing for normal wear-and-tear since you took out the mortgage. In other words, you can ""restore or repair the property to avoid lessening the Lender's security"". According to most American mortgages, if you can make the repairs for less than the insurance settlement, and the lender is happy with the work, you can keep the savings. Hand over the insurance company payment for the deck to your lender, and have them apply that amount toward the principal of your mortgage. If the repairs are not ""economically feasible"", and you are current with your payments, most American mortgages specify this use of the money. Here are some typical mortgage provisions in this regard.  This is an excerpt from the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac form 3048, which is the form used by most banks for mortgages in the state of Washington.  (I have added paragraph breaks and bolding for clarity.)  Many states have different wording, but the intent is the same: In the event of loss, Borrower shall give prompt notice to the insurance carrier and Lender.  Lender may make proof of loss if not made promptly by Borrower.  Unless Lender and Borrower otherwise agree in writing, any insurance proceeds, whether or not the underlying insurance was required by Lender, shall be applied to restoration or repair of the Property, if the restoration or repair is economically feasible and Lender's security is not lessened. During such repair and restoration period, Lender shall have the right to hold such insurance proceeds until Lender has had an opportunity to inspect such Property to ensure the work has been completed to Lender's satisfaction, provided that such inspection shall be undertaken promptly. Lender may disburse proceeds for the repairs and restoration in a single payment or in a series of progress payments as the work is completed. Unless an agreement is made in writing or Applicable Law requires interest to be paid on such insurance proceeds, Lender shall not be required to pay Borrower any interest or earnings on such proceeds. Fees for public adjusters, or other third parties, retained by Borrower shall not be paid out of the insurance proceeds and shall be the sole obligation of Borrower. If the restoration or repair is not economically feasible or Lender's security would be lessened, the insurance proceeds shall be applied to the sums secured by this Security Instrument, whether or not then due, with the excess, if any, paid to Borrower.  Such insurance proceeds shall be applied in the order provided for in Section 2." The smaller and more quantifiable and consistent risks will probably result (obviously in addition to smaller premiums) in a smaller spread in favor of the insurance company since there is a lot more leverage for companies like Tesla to negotiate with to drive down prices. It may reduce costs for Geico but it sure as hell will reduce profits too.