Do you know what would happen to your family if you weren’t in the picture anymore? While it’s certainly an unpleasant situation to consider, if you are a provider for your family, you need to have plans in place to ensure your family prospers regardless of the situation. Life insurance can help you protect your family’s lifestyle and eliminate the stress of making ends meet in the case of the unexpected.

How much life insurance do I need?

There isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” solution to life insurance. Several factors determine how much insurance your family might need in the case of an accident. Below are some important factors to consider when deciding how much life insurance you’ll need:

• Who do I want to protect? Often this includes your spouse and children, but also consider if you have aging parents or close family friends that may rely on you for assistance.
• How long will my loved ones need financial support? It is important to consider just how long someone will need financial support.
• Do I have any debt to pay off? Life Insurance can help pay of mortgages and college debt, credit card debt, auto payments and other loans.
• What other financial holdings do you have? It is important to consider the savings you have. Are there other avenues your loved ones can pull from to cover their expenses?
• What major expenses will my family have in the future? It is important to consider your spouse’s retirement or if your children will need funding for their education.

Considering all these factors can get overwhelming when determining how much life insurance you need, but there are some things that can help you. Life Happens is a non-profit organization that is committed to helping people protect their family’s future in the case of an emergency. They have a helpful calculator that will access your current situation and provide you with recommendations depending on the calculations.

What type of life insurance do I need?

Now that you have considered how much life insurance you may need, there are different types of life insurance you can get to ensure your family is covered.

Term Life Insurance

The first type of life insurance is term life insurance (a term policy). Term life insurance is a type of life insurance policy where it covers you only for a period of time. For instance, the typical terms are 10 years, 20 years, and 30 years.

Term life insurance allows for more affordability than other options. For example, a healthy 30-year-old person can get a $250,000 20-year term policy for about $12-$15 a month. Think about just how much that $250,000 could help a family in the case of an emergency.

These policies are often more simple than other options and allow for the most flexibility. They allow you to stop your coverage at a certain time and many not require a medical exam in order to get approved for a policy.

Permanent Life Insurance

Permanent life insurance is exactly how it sounds. It is a policy that covers you for the duration of your life. While these policies are generally more expensive than a term life policy, permanent life insurance policies bring several other benefits. Some benefits of Permanent Life Insurance are:

Lifelong Coverage: This coverage allows for peace of mind because it ensures that the owner of the policy will always be insured regardless of their situation.

Living Benefits: These policies can often build cash value over time. This allows for the owner of the policy to use their accumulated cash for other big expenses such as a college payment, down payments, and retirement.

Many options: There is also a level of flexibility to these insurance policies. Some permanent policies allow your money to gain interest through different investments while others ensure a guaranteed rate of return. There is also often the ability to increase and decrease premium levels depending on a change in lifestyle and the potential financial needs of you and your loved ones.

Who can help me get life insurance?

TIG Advisors has several skilled risk advisors that can help you determine your level of life insurance to ensure your family is covered regardless of circumstance. If you’re interested in starting the conversation today, click here or give us a call at 573-875-4800