It’s often said that life insurance is one of those things that you often overlook and ignore until you actually need it. Unfortunately, once you need it it’s already too late. You have one shot to get it right with life insurance, and it’s as vitally important as leaving a will or trust for your family. There are several common myths that have continued to perpetuate in society, and they have given people a false comfort that they don’t really need insurance.
I have heard all too often that a couple without children has no need for life insurance and that the premiums would just be a waste of money. While every situation is unique, I would venture to say that there are plenty of times when a married couple would still benefit from some type of coverage despite having no kids. Consider that both are working full-time, and they make roughly the same salary each. It’s conceivable to think that they would have purchased a home together, or are pooling their money together for retirement. If one of them were to die could the other still afford the mortgage payment on their own? Then there is always the situation where the two incomes are disproportionate to each other and one makes significantly more than the other. In these situations, if the higher wage earner should pass, then it’s reasonable to think life insurance would be especially handy for the financial burden that would be placed on the surviving spouse.
Another common misconception is that a married couple with kids that has one stay-at-home spouse only has a need to take out a life insurance policy against the working spouse. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Consider all the responsibilities carried out by the stay-at-home parent like cooking, cleaning, and caring for the children. Should anything happen to them the working spouse would need someone to still handle all of those responsibilities. That means they would most likely need to hire a nanny, pay for day care, and even with help around the house. All of these things cost money, and were most likely not accounted for if they didn’t have an adequate insurance policy.
There is often quite a bit of debate about whether or not you should take out a term policy or whole life insurance. Truth be told, both have their pros and cons. A term policy is limited for a specific number of years and at time of expiration you need to renew. Then there is a whole life insurance policy, which basically means that the policy lasts your entire life. This can be beneficial a there is an investment option with these and health issues that arise cannot alter the coverage or premiums paid. In the end, I prefer to keep it simple and would advise you to obtain term life insurance quotes. Term is often easier to understand, makes more financial sense for a majority of people, and is more than adequate if you take out enough to cover you and your family in case of an emergency.