Finding the Best Type of Life Insurance for Your Needs

Are you wondering whether life insurance may be a good idea for you? Chances are, the short answer is “YES!” However, life insurance isn’t one size fits all…once you’ve made the decision to get insured, the next step is to find the best type — and amount — of coverage to fit your personal needs.

In a perfect world, you would have enough life insurance coverage to help pay off any outstanding debt, take care of your final expenses, and leave your family sufficient funds to replace your income for years to come. However, if you, like many of us, are working with a limited monthly budget, you’ll need to define your priorities and look for coverage in your current price range that you feel will help best protect your family’s future financial needs if something were to happen to you. The good news is, there are many affordable options available!

Whole Life vs. Term Life

In any life insurance definition, you’re likely to come across the phrases whole life insurance and term life insurance. These are two common types of life insurance, and they both have advantages and disadvantages. Whole life could be compared to owning your home, while term life is more like renting a home.

A whole life insurance policy can gain cash value over time and will not expire (as long as the premium is paid). It may be a great choice if you have the budget for it, but whole life insurance typically tends to be quite a bit more expensive.

With term life insurance, you pay a set premium for a certain number of years, at which point your coverage expires, and you’ll need to purchase a new policy (usually at a higher rate) to remain insured. While term life insurance by definition ultimately has an expiration date, it’s typically a much less expensive option.

What are you covering?

One of the first things to ask yourself is, “What’s my plan for this life insurance? What would it need to cover if something happened to me?”

Some possible answers include:

• Paying off debt (mortgage, credit cards, student loans, etc.)
• Covering funeral costs
• Helping to cover college tuition for your children
• Leaving a stronger legacy for your loved ones to help better protect their quality of life

Once you’ve determined what exactly you’re aiming to help protect with life insurance, you can make a more educated decision about a coverage amount.

So how much life insurance do I really need?

There’s no one right answer to that question, but as an agent, I usually encourage you to get enough life insurance to cover the items such as:

• Replaced income for an appropriate number of years
• Payment of all outstanding debt
• Funeral expenses ($10k-$20k)

This could be achieved through a combo of a group life insurance policy through your employer, term and whole life insurance!

Typically, life insurance needs work like a bell curve…early in life, you may just need enough to cover final expenses, then as you do things like purchase a home, get married, start a family, and accumulate debt, you may need more coverage, and then later in life, as your kids grow up and become financially independent, you and your partner retire, etc., your life insurance needs might start to decrease again. Keep in mind, though, that this is a very general picture, and there are many factors at every stage of life that could affect the amount of life insurance you should consider carrying. Working with a financial planner may be helpful in navigating this journey!

A legacy for less

When you’re trying to decide how life insurance might fit into your overall financial fitness plan, it can be easy to get sidetracked. A savings account may feel like a more tangible way to leave an inheritance for your family, but life insurance could actually be a comparatively inexpensive method of improving your legacy.

For the sake of example, let’s say you’re able to get a $100,000 life insurance policy for $10/month. As long as you keep up with your premium payments, that benefit would be there for your family if tragedy were to strike unexpectedly, while if you were to put $10/month into a savings account, it could take over 100 years to reach $100,000.

How do I get started?

No matter what type of life insurance you decide on, or how much coverage you can afford, it’s so important to remember that some life insurance is better than none! As advisors at Our Life Covered℠, we’re here to help curate your life insurance shopping experience and point you toward the plan that best fits your individual needs…and because we know that life gets busy, we try to make it as easy as possible to get the guidance you’re looking for!

You can call us at 888–828–9760, email us at Emily@ourlifecovered.com, text us at 636–590–7416, or even live chat directly with me at here! The OLC team can’t wait to help you start better protecting the people you love with life insurance.

Want to learn more about life insurance and talk more about how to work toward a longer, healthier, more financially secure life? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, or send us a message directly to join the conversation.

Originally published at www.ourlifecovered.com.