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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 (62)
- How Much Does Life Insurance Cost in Texas? 2026 Rates by Age · 7 min
Real Texas monthly premiums by age, sex, health class, and coverage amount — plus the five factors that move your rate more than which carrier you pick.
- Is Life Insurance Taxable in Texas? Payouts, Cash Value, and Estates · 8 min
Life insurance death benefits are generally income-tax-free in Texas. Here are the exceptions that actually create a tax bill — interest, transfers, estates, and policy loans.
- VGLI vs. Private Life Insurance: A Texas Veteran's Guide · 5 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 · 5 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 · 4 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.
- What Is Final Expense Insurance? A Plain-English Guide for 2026 · 11 min
What final expense insurance is, what it costs by age, how level, graded, and guaranteed-issue plans differ, and when it beats term. Get a written quote today.
- Final Expense Claims in Texas: What the Family Actually Receives · 8 min
How a Texas final expense claim is paid: timing, waiting periods, contestability, funeral-home assignment, and the state protections on the money. Get a quote.
- 1035 Exchanges in Texas: Trading an Old Life Policy for a Better One Without Taxes · 4 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 · 4 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 · 5 min
How Texas insurers treat cannabis in 2026 — frequency, method, THC labs, application wording, reclassifying. Compare non-smoker rates today.
- Life Insurance with a DUI or DWI in Texas: How Long It Follows You · 6 min
How long a Texas DWI affects your rate, what else underwriters check, and a three-year plan back to Preferred. Compare DUI-friendly quotes today.
- Life Insurance with Depression or Anxiety in Texas: What Carriers Actually Ask · 6 min
How Texas carriers underwrite SSRIs, therapy, and hospitalizations, and which insurers price these cases best. Get a confidential quote today.
- Life Insurance Payout Options in Texas: Lump Sum, Installments, Annuity, and Retained Asset · 6 min
Lump sum, installments, annuity, and retained asset accounts in Texas — taxes, claim filing, unclaimed benefits. Talk through your options today.
- Funding a Texas Buy-Sell Agreement with Life Insurance: Cross-Purchase vs Entity Redemption · 5 min
Cross-purchase, entity redemption, wait-and-see, and trusteed buy-sells for Texas owners — plus valuation drift. Book a buy-sell review today.
- Key Person Life Insurance in Texas: Sizing, Ownership, and Deductibility · 6 min
How Texas businesses size key person coverage, book it correctly, and meet SBA collateral assignment rules. Book a key person review today.
- Return of Premium Term Life in Texas: The Math Behind the 'Refund' · 5 min
The real premium math on ROP term in Texas, the lapse trap, and the rider clauses that shrink your refund. Compare Texas term quotes today.
- Divorce and Life Insurance in Texas: Beneficiary Rules, Court Orders, and Coverage After · 6 min
Texas beneficiary law after divorce, enforceable decree provisions, and how to verify court-ordered coverage. Get post-divorce coverage today.
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs) in Texas: When Estate Planning Meets Insurance · 5 min
Three-year lookback, Crummey letters, community-property funding, and annual trustee duties in Texas. Book an ILIT coverage review today.
- Term vs Whole Life Insurance in Texas: The Real Cost Comparison · 9 min
Term vs whole life in Texas with real March 2026 rates, break-even math, and who each product actually fits. Compare your options and get a Texas quote.
- IUL vs 401(k) in Texas: An Honest Side-by-Side Comparison · 8 min
IUL vs 401(k) compared honestly: caps, fees, the employer match, and when an IUL actually belongs in a Texas plan. Run the numbers and get a Texas quote.
- Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance in Texas: When It's the Right Choice · 6 min
How the two-year graded death benefit works, typical Texas premiums by age, and cheaper alternatives. Compare guaranteed issue quotes today.
- Life Insurance for Seniors Over 60 in Texas: Options, Costs, and Traps · 6 min
Realistic premiums after 60 in Texas, underwriting thresholds, and the senior-market sales traps to avoid. Get a senior Texas quote today.
- Life Insurance Riders in Texas: Which Ones Are Worth Paying For · 6 min
What each Texas policy rider costs, which ones earn their price, and how to claim one without lapsing the policy. Compare rider options today.
- Burial Insurance in Texas: A Complete Guide for Seniors · 8 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 · 4 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 · 7 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 · 5 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 · 5 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 · 5 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 · 5 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 · 6 min
How to size coverage for a non-earning Texas spouse and get approved without a paycheck. Get a stay-at-home parent quote today.
- Life Insurance with High Blood Pressure in Texas: Rate Classes, Meds, and Approval Odds · 6 min
Rate-class breakpoints by BP reading, how the paramed is taken, and how to document control in Texas. Get a hypertension-friendly quote today.
- Life Insurance for Smokers in Texas: Rates, Quit Timelines, and How Carriers Actually Test · 5 min
How long Texas carriers require you to be nicotine-free, what cotinine testing detects, and how to reclassify. Compare smoker rates today.
- Survivorship Life Insurance in Texas: When a Second-to-Die Policy Actually Pays Off · 6 min
When a second-to-die policy pays off for Texas couples — blended underwriting, ILIT ownership, review cycles. Compare survivorship quotes today.
- The 'Million Dollar Baby Plan': Risks, Costs, and Better Alternatives in Texas · 8 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 · 6 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 · 9 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 · 7 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 · 5 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 · 6 min
How a VA disability rating affects civilian life insurance for Texas veterans — records, timing, VGLI vs private. Compare veteran rates today.
- Fixed-Rate Deferred Annuities in Texas: Safety, Returns, and the Fine Print · 4 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 · 7 min
Compare 2026 fixed-rate deferred annuity (MYGA) rates, CDs, and treasuries, then match fixed, indexed, or immediate annuities to real Texas retirement income. Get a free Texas annuity review.
- Life Insurance: What Texas Families Actually Need to Know · 6 min
How much coverage a Texas family needs, which policy type fits, and the five mistakes that cost the most. Get a free Texas family quote today.
- Term Life Laddering in Texas: Match Coverage to Real Obligations · 5 min
How to ladder two or three Texas term policies around your mortgage, kids, and income — sizing, underwriting, renewals. Compare Texas rates today.
- What Actually Shapes Your Life Insurance Rate in Texas · 3 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 · 3 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 · 6 min
What the MIB file, prescription history, and MVR tell Texas life insurers — and how to fix errors before you apply. Request a free rate review.
- Why Your Texas Life Insurance Quote Came Back Higher Than the Online Price · 3 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 in Texas: APS, MIB, and Your Rate Class · 23 min
How life insurance underwriting works in Texas: the 8 steps, APS and MIB disclosures, timelines, and what moves your rate class. Get a Texas quote today.
- No-Exam Life Insurance Quotes in Texas: What You'll Pay and Who Qualifies · 10 min
See real no-exam life insurance quotes for Texas — $500k 20-year term from about $19–$29/mo at age 30. Who qualifies and what it costs. Get a quote today.
- Employer Life Insurance vs. Personal Coverage: A Texas Worker's Comparison · 5 min
Group life's hidden costs, the 31-day conversion window, and how Texans layer personal coverage on top. Compare personal Texas quotes today.
- Accelerated Underwriting in Texas: Real Benefits, Real Limits · 3 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 · 4 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 · 3 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 · 3 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 · 6 min
Chronic-illness and LTC riders vs hybrid policies in Texas — claim triggers, indemnity vs reimbursement, pricing. Compare living-benefit quotes.
- Instant, No-Exam, or Full Underwriting: Which Texas Path Is Right? · 3 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 · 7 min
Buy-sell funding, key person coverage, executive bonus, and §101(j) compliance for Texas LLCs and S-corps. Book a business coverage review today.
- Why Every Texas Business Owner Needs Life Insurance · 3 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 · 7 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 · 3 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? · 3 min
Three honest methods to size coverage — DIME, income-multiple, and obligation-stack — applied to a real Texas household.