Tomorrow I’m meeting up with our insurance agent to increase my life insurance coverage. I’m signing up for additional policy as I can’t just increase my original policy.
We’ve been discussing this for a few months and one of our financial goals in 2012 is to set things up should something happen to either of us.
One item on that list was examining our life insurance coverage and adjusting it since we’ve became parents.
Why Choose Life Insurance?
Basically you get life insurance to cover those who depend on your income, such as your spouse or children. Determining how much you need varies person to person, family to family. When looking at life insurance you have to figure out a few issues, such as:
- Final Expenses: How would you like to final arrangements to be handle? What are the costs for a funeral, burial, and other expenses?
- Family Debts: Do you have any debts (like a mortgage) you’d like to have paid off?
- Family Income: How do you expect your family to manage when you’re gone? Are you going to leave enough for them to get back on their feet or do you want to leave a bigger cushion?
If you’re married go ahead discuss what you’d like the life insurance money to accomplish. some couples just want the essentials covered while others may want to have the surviving spouse stay at home to raise the child(ren). These are your decisions, so there aren’t any right or wrong amounts.
Getting Life Insurance
Now that you have an idea of how much coverage you need, you can shop around to find the best deal. Term life insurance is a popular choice since you can get a good amount of coverage for a fraction of whole life insurance’s premiums.
Generally speaking, term life insurance premiums vary according to the term (length of the policy’s coverage), the amount of coverage, and the health of the person being covered.
That means that if you’re in your 20s and you’re healthy, your life insurance premiums will probably be the cheapest they’ll ever be. You also should find fantastic rates by comparing companies’ offerings.
If you’re looking for more information about life insurance, here are some posts to review later:
- Life Insurance: When and Why->Here are more questions to think about when determining how much coverage you need.
- I Just Got Hired…Help Me Choose My Benefits!-> Depending on where you work, you may be entitled to a small life insurance policy. Learn how to use it.
- Baby on the Way: Life Insurance & Making a Will-> Some ideas on what to do for your finances when you become a parent.
Thoughts on Life Insurance
I’d like to get your thoughts about finding the right amount of life insurance. How many of you are thinking about getting life insurance? How many of you already have life insurance?
