Most of us need life insurance at some point in our lives. But don't buy a policy just because you heard it was a good idea. Life insurance is designed to provide your family with financial security in case you, your spouse, or a parent passes away.
Life insurance can help pay off your mortgage, help with college expenses, help fund your retirement, and help with estate planning. If you have loved ones who depend on your income for support, you should strongly consider getting life insurance.
You can use any number of planning tools to get an idea of the amount of coverage you'll need for your policy. The easiest way is to simply take your annual salary and multiply by eight.
Another way: Multiply your annual income by the number of years left before your retirement benefits kick in.
You can also add up the expenses you think your family will incur after your death, such as a mortgage, school bills, and car costs. Then take your ongoing yearly expenses and divide them by 0.07.
Once you figure out how much coverage you'll need, you’ll need to find the best insurance policy. Your main options are term life, which may better fit your current budget, or whole life, for permanent coverage that also grows cash value.
Consider term life for:
✅ Death benefit protection without cash value accumulation.
✅ Life insurance on a limited budget.
✅ Ability to convert to long-term life insurance.
Consider whole life for:
✅ Long-term death benefit protection.
✅ Stable cash value accumulation.
Term Life Insurance:
✅ Coverage for temporary needs with options that allow you to prepare for the future.
✅ Length of coverage is a set period of time, usually 10 to 20 years.
✅ Pay premiums for as long as your coverage lasts. With many policies, premiums are locked in for a set period, and may be less expensive than whole life premiums during that period.
✅ Has no cash-value accumulation
✅ Death benefits can be transferred to beneficiaries tax free.
Whole Life Insurance:
✅ Guaranteed lifetime protection and access to cash value that's guaranteed to grow.
✅ Premiums are guaranteed never to increase, and there are options for how often and how long you pay—monthly, quarterly, or yearly.
Joey Alfred