Life insurance is one of the most important purchases a person can make. Not only can life insurance help your dependents – beneficiaries – in the event of your death, but it can help you and your dependents while you’re still alive. For example, if you find yourself in financial stress, you might be able to cash in your life insurance policy, depending on the kind of life insurance policy you have and the company from which you’ve purchased the policy.
Most people’s education on life insurance goes something like this: you buy a policy and your family members will get some money when you die. This is a haphazard way of looking at life insurance. No one should ever blindly purchase life insurance. Everyone should first evaluate their financial needs, and the needs of their beneficiaries, before deciding the amount and type of life insurance to purchase.
When you start thinking about purchasing a life insurance policy, you should first look at your assets. Are you wealthy enough to help with the bills you leave behind? If you are, you might not need a large life insurance policy. The money you leave behind may be enough to cover funeral and burial expenses as well as other bills such as estate taxes. Do you have enough money to cover lost income should you become unable to work? If you don’t have enough to act as a supplemental income, you may want to purchase a larger life insurance policy.
Then, take a look at your beneficiaries. How many do you have? Do you have a spouse? How many children? Are you supporting an aging relative? The answers to these questions will help you ultimately decide how much life insurance to purchase, because regardless of how wealthy you are, or how much money you have saved, if you have several dependents, or just one or two elderly dependents, every penny helps once you’re gone.
Written By: Elizabeth Newberry
