'/%3e%3cstop%20offset='1'%20stop-color='hsl(217%2091%25%2045%25)'/%3e%3c/linearGradient%3e%3c/defs%3e%3crect%20width='96'%20height='96'%20rx='48'%20fill='url(%23bg)'/%3e%3ccircle%20cx='48'%20cy='38'%20r='16'%20fill='white'%20fill-opacity='0.95'/%3e%3cpath%20d='M18%2084c0-16%2013.4-28%2030-28s30%2012%2030%2028v12H18z'%20fill='white'%20fill-opacity='0.95'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)
Richard Parslow — Texas Life Insurance Broker
Independent Life Insurance Broker · Buda, TX
Licensed · NPN 20873424 · TX #3076729
About Richard
Richard is an independent life insurance broker based in Buda, TX, serving households, business owners, veterans, and active-duty service members across the state. He is not captive to any single carrier and holds appointments with more than 30 A-rated insurers.
He started Life Policy Pilot after years of watching consumers get steered into whichever product paid the agent the largest commission. Every article on this site is written or reviewed by Richard personally, cites primary sources (U.S. Code, Texas Insurance Code, TDI, IRS), and is updated when statutes or rates change.
How he’s paid
Carrier commissions only, and only when a policy is placed. Never salary, quota bonus, or reader fees. You pay the same state-filed premium whether you buy direct or through this brokerage. See the advertising disclosure for details on ad revenue.
Articles by Richard Parslow (56)
- VGLI vs. Private Life Insurance: A Texas Veteran's Guide · 13 min
Cost-benefit analysis of converting VGLI vs. buying private term life insurance as a Texas veteran, including underwriting nuances by condition.
- VGLI vs. Civilian Term Insurance for Texas Veterans · 12 min
Head-to-head premium comparison for Texas veterans: VGLI's five-year age bands vs. level 20- and 30-year civilian term rates.
- The Texas Life Insurance Contestability Period: What the 2-Year Rule Really Means · 11 min
How the two-year contestability period works in Texas life insurance — what carriers can and cannot contest, the difference between suicide and misrepresentation clauses, and how to protect a claim.
- 1035 Exchanges in Texas: Trading an Old Life Policy for a Better One Without Taxes · 11 min
How Section 1035 tax-free exchanges work for Texas life insurance and annuity policies — allowed swaps, the same-owner rule, MEC risks, and when the exchange is actually worth doing.
- Term Conversion in Texas: How to Turn Term Life into Permanent Without Underwriting · 11 min
The mechanics of converting a Texas term life policy to permanent coverage — conversion windows, available products, pricing, and when the option is worth exercising.
- Life Insurance for Marijuana Users in Texas: 2026 Underwriting Reality · 10 min
How Texas life insurers treat marijuana use in 2026 — occasional vs daily, edible vs smoked, THC positive on labs, and which carriers give non-smoker rates to cannabis users.
- Life Insurance with a DUI or DWI in Texas: How Long It Follows You · 10 min
How a Texas DWI conviction affects life insurance underwriting — the 5-year rating window, the impact of multiple offenses, and which carriers are most forgiving.
- Life Insurance with Depression or Anxiety in Texas: What Carriers Actually Ask · 11 min
How mental-health history affects life insurance underwriting in Texas — SSRI use, therapy, hospitalizations, suicide attempts — and which carriers price these applicants best.
- Life Insurance Payout Options in Texas: Lump Sum, Installments, Annuity, and Retained Asset · 10 min
How Texas life insurance beneficiaries can receive the death benefit — lump sum, fixed-period installments, life annuity, or retained asset account — and the tax treatment of each.
- Funding a Texas Buy-Sell Agreement with Life Insurance: Cross-Purchase vs Entity Redemption · 12 min
How Texas partnerships and closely held companies use life insurance to fund buy-sell agreements — cross-purchase vs entity redemption, valuation, and step-up in basis.
- Key Person Life Insurance in Texas: Sizing, Ownership, and Deductibility · 11 min
How Texas small businesses use key person life insurance to protect against the death of a critical employee — sizing methods, ownership structure, and the IRC §264 deduction rules.
- Return of Premium Term Life in Texas: The Math Behind the 'Refund' · 10 min
Whether return-of-premium term life is worth the extra cost in Texas — real premium ratios, effective rate of return, and when a plain term policy + investment beats it.
- Divorce and Life Insurance in Texas: Beneficiary Rules, Court Orders, and Coverage After · 11 min
How Texas divorce affects life insurance beneficiaries, court-ordered coverage for child support and alimony, and what to update in the policy after the decree is entered.
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs) in Texas: When Estate Planning Meets Insurance · 12 min
How an ILIT removes life insurance from your Texas estate for federal estate tax purposes — three-year lookback, Crummey letters, and when it's actually worth the complexity.
- Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance in Texas: When It's the Right Choice · 10 min
How guaranteed-issue whole life works in Texas — the two-year graded death benefit, typical premiums by age, and how to know whether you actually need to skip underwriting.
- Life Insurance for Seniors Over 60 in Texas: Options, Costs, and Traps · 11 min
Term, whole life, guaranteed issue, and final expense for Texans over 60 — realistic premiums, health thresholds, and how to avoid the common senior-market sales traps.
- Life Insurance Riders in Texas: Which Ones Are Worth Paying For · 11 min
A plain-English guide to the life insurance riders offered in Texas — accelerated death benefit, waiver of premium, child, term conversion, LTC — and which ones actually earn their cost.
- Burial Insurance in Texas: A Complete Guide for Seniors · 13 min
Burial insurance in Texas explained: ages 50–85, $5,000–$40,000 face amounts, simplified vs guaranteed issue, and how to avoid graded-benefit traps.
- Final Expense Insurance in Texas: Costs, Carriers, and When It Beats Term · 10 min
How final expense (burial) insurance works in Texas — typical face amounts, monthly premiums by age, graded vs level benefits, and which carriers price it best in 2026.
- Best Life Insurance Companies in Texas: An Independent Broker's Ranking · 14 min
An independent Texas broker ranks the top life insurance carriers by AM Best rating, TDI complaint index, underwriting niche, and conversion privileges.
- Life Insurance for Diabetics in Texas: A1C Thresholds, Type 1 vs Type 2, and Best Carriers · 12 min
How diabetes affects life insurance rates in Texas — A1C thresholds, Type 1 vs Type 2 pricing, gestational diabetes, and which carriers offer the best rate classes.
- Mortgage Protection Life Insurance in Texas: What It Is, What It Isn't, and When Regular Term Wins · 10 min
Mortgage protection is just decreasing term life insurance in disguise. Here's how it compares to plain level term in Texas — and when it actually makes sense.
- Life Insurance After Cancer in Texas: Waiting Periods, Ratings, and Which Carriers Say Yes · 12 min
How long you have to wait after cancer, which stages qualify for standard rates, and which Texas-friendly carriers underwrite cancer survivors most aggressively.
- Life Insurance Beneficiary Rules in Texas: Community Property, Minors, and Divorce · 11 min
Texas community-property rules, minor-child limits, ex-spouse revocation, and probate exposure — how to name a life insurance beneficiary that actually pays out cleanly.
- Life Insurance for Stay-at-Home Parents in Texas: How Much Coverage the Non-Earning Spouse Actually Needs · 9 min
A stay-at-home parent's economic value in Texas runs $60k–$95k a year in replaceable services. Here's how much life insurance they should carry and why.
- Life Insurance with High Blood Pressure in Texas: Rate Classes, Meds, and Approval Odds · 10 min
Well-controlled hypertension usually still qualifies for preferred rates in Texas. Here's how carriers evaluate BP readings, meds, and the numbers that matter.
- Life Insurance for Smokers in Texas: Rates, Quit Timelines, and How Carriers Actually Test · 11 min
Smokers pay 2–3× more for life insurance. Here's how long you have to quit for non-smoker rates, what carriers test for, and which carriers are most lenient.
- Survivorship Life Insurance in Texas: When a Second-to-Die Policy Actually Pays Off · 10 min
Second-to-die policies pay only after both spouses are gone. Here's when Texas couples should use one, when they shouldn't, and what it costs.
- The 'Million Dollar Baby Plan': Risks, Costs, and Better Alternatives in Texas · 12 min
The 'Million Dollar Baby Plan' is just permanent life insurance on a child. Here's how a Texas broker weighs the fees, MEC traps, and 529 alternatives before you commit.
- Does SSDI Disqualify You From Life Insurance? A Texas Broker's Answer · 12 min
SSDI does not automatically disqualify you from life insurance. Here's how Texas underwriters actually rate SSDI applicants — and where SSI rules change everything.
- The Infinite Banking Concept: A Client-First Guide for Texas Households · 12 min
How a dividend-paying whole life policy can work as a personal financing tool — what's real, what's hype, and when infinite banking actually fits a Texas household.
- Texas Life Insurance: A Guide to TDI Rules, Taxes, and Claims · 12 min
A local broker's guide to the Texas Insurance Code, Texas Department of Insurance consumer protections, the 2-year contestability window, and how life insurance payouts are taxed for Texas beneficiaries.
- VGLI vs. Private Life Insurance: A Side-by-Side Cost & Coverage Guide for Veterans · 12 min
Compare VGLI to private term and permanent life insurance — cost by age, underwriting impact of service-connected disabilities, conversion deadlines, and when each one actually wins for veterans.
- How VA Disability Ratings Affect Life Insurance Options in Texas · 10 min
A VA rating doesn't lock you out of civilian life insurance. Here's how Texas veterans get rated on current health, not service connection.
- Fixed-Rate Deferred Annuities in Texas: Safety, Returns, and the Fine Print · 12 min
MYGAs (multi-year guaranteed annuities) lock a fixed rate for 3–10 years. Here's how a Texas saver compares them to CDs, treasuries, and bond funds.
- Annuities Demystified: A Texas Consumer's Guide to Lifetime Income · 13 min
Fixed, indexed, variable, immediate — annuities sound interchangeable but behave very differently. A plain-English Texas walkthrough.
- Life Insurance: What Texas Families Actually Need to Know · 12 min
Term, whole, IUL, group — a Texas household's plain-English map to which type fits which season of life.
- Term Life Laddering in Texas: Match Coverage to Real Obligations · 11 min
Laddering term policies trims premium without leaving gaps. Here's how a Texas household structures three terms around mortgage, kids, and income.
- What Actually Shapes Your Life Insurance Rate in Texas · 11 min
Age, health, build, family history, prescriptions, driving record — and which ones a Texas applicant can actually move before applying.
- Why Laddering Life Insurance Protects a Texas Family Better Than One Big Policy · 9 min
Stacking two or three term policies of different lengths matches coverage to actual obligations and cuts 20–35% of lifetime premium.
- The MIB Report: The Quiet File That Sets Your Texas Life Insurance Rate · 9 min
The Medical Information Bureau keeps a coded 7-year file every life insurer reads. Here's how to pull yours and fix surprises before applying.
- Why Your Texas Life Insurance Quote Came Back Higher Than the Online Price · 9 min
Online quotes assume Preferred Plus health. Real Texas applicants land at Standard 60% of the time. Here's what shifts the number.
- How Life Insurance Underwriting Works for Texas Applicants · 10 min
From application to approval: the eight-step process every Texas applicant goes through, and the typical timeline for each.
- No-Exam Life Insurance in Texas: When It Saves You, When It Costs You · 12 min
No-exam (accelerated underwriting) can close in 48 hours. Here's who qualifies, what carriers actually approve, and when a paramed still wins.
- Employer Life Insurance vs. Personal Coverage: A Texas Worker's Comparison · 9 min
Free group life looks great until you change jobs. Here's why most Texans need personal coverage layered on top.
- Accelerated Underwriting in Texas: Real Benefits, Real Limits · 9 min
Skip the blood draw, get a policy in 48 hours. Here's who actually qualifies in Texas and where the algorithm draws the line.
- Beyond VGLI: Life Insurance Options for Texas Veterans · 11 min
VGLI premiums spike every five years. Here's how Texas veterans replace it with civilian term that locks rates for 20–30 years.
- Your Texas Life Insurance Next-Steps Checklist · 8 min
Eight concrete actions, in order, for a Texas household ready to buy or replace coverage this quarter.
- 2026 Texas Life Insurance: Policy Provisions & Regulations Guide · 10 min
Free-look windows, contestability, conversion, and the Texas-specific consumer protections every policyholder should know.
- Life Insurance for the Living: Hybrid Products Worth Considering in 2026 · 11 min
Long-term care riders, chronic illness riders, and hybrid life/LTC contracts — when they fit a Texas planning picture.
- Instant, No-Exam, or Full Underwriting: Which Texas Path Is Right? · 9 min
Three underwriting paths, three trade-offs. A Texas decision tree for choosing the fastest path that still gets your best rate.
- Life Insurance for Texas Business Owners: 6 Protection Strategies · 12 min
Buy-sell funding, key-person coverage, executive bonus, and split-dollar — the six structures every Texas LLC or S-corp owner should weigh.
- Why Every Texas Business Owner Needs Life Insurance · 8 min
Personal guarantees, SBA loans, payroll, partner obligations — three reasons your business doesn't survive 90 days without you uncovered.
- Infinite Banking, Whole Life vs. IUL: What Texas Buyers Should Watch · 13 min
The 'be your own bank' pitch sounds great. Here's what actually happens to a Texas buyer over 20 years, with numbers.
- 2025 Life Insurance Stats: What They Mean for Your Texas Family · 9 min
LIMRA's 2025 numbers translated for Texas households: coverage gaps, ownership rates, and where Texans are over- and under-insured.
- How Much Life Insurance Does a Texas Household Actually Need? · 10 min
Three honest methods to size coverage — DIME, income-multiple, and obligation-stack — applied to a real Texas household.