Necessity for the Life Insurance
Guide:Life Insurance
is far from simple, and in order to get the best policy for you
that will provide for your loved ones you need to have all the
facts. The last thing you want is to think you are getting life
insurance to protect your loved ones, only to have them suffering
later because you did not get adequate coverage. To make the life
insurance buying process easier, here is a guide with some of the
most important keys to life insurance.
How Much
Life Insurance You Need: Many insurance brokers will try to
convince you that you should have at least four times your annual
income in Life Insurance
to support your family when you are gone. For most people, however,
this creates an impossible premium, because the more life insurance
you have the more you have to pay each month for the policy. How
much life insurance you need is really based on several factors.
First, you should consider at least one if not two years worth of
annual income to support your family while other income
arrangements are being made. You should also make sure that your
insurance policy will cover all funeral costs, as well as any debts
that may be left behind. Finally, if your family does not have an
emergency fund, additional amounts may need to be added to your
life insurance policy to ensure that unexpected expenses such as
car and home repairs can be covered easily by the remaining spouse.
Education expenses for children may also need to be
considered.
What Type of Policy Do You Need:
If both you and your spouse work full time, as is the case in most
households today, you probably do not need the added expense of a
whole life insurance policy. The biggest difference between term
policies and whole life is that you gain cash value on whole life
policies. Term life policies are perfect for parents who just want
to make sure that their children are well provided for in case of
their death. These policies can be taken out in twenty year terms,
ensuring that the children are full grown before the policy is
terminated.
Borrowing Against Whole Life
Policies: The biggest difference between term life and whole
life, besides the fact of how long the policy is good for, is that
your whole life insurance policy will gain cash value over time.
This is very desirable for some who feel that life insurance is an
investment in their life not just their family’s
future.
However, borrowing against a Life Insurance
policy is not always wise. First, it lowers the value of the
policy. Secondly, when you borrow against a whole life insurance
policy you have to pay a low interest rate on the money borrowed.
Basically, you are paying interest on money you already paid to the
Life
Insurance Companies. If the amount borrowed plus interest goes
over the amount you paid for the policy, the policy is terminated.
The best way to remove the temptation to use this cash source and
keep Life
Insurance policies for their intended use is to stick with term
life insurance policies that do not incur cash value and cannot be
used in any way other than intended.