<<em>strong>When you need to protect your family’s financial situation, life insurance makes a lot of sense. Many employers offer group life insurance or your financial adviser can recommend a quality company. Life insurance can also be purchased from online sources, but it’s important to do your homework so you know what to buy.
Before purchasing life insurance, make yourself aware of what you need from your policy. There are online calculators that can help you figure out what it would take to cover your expenses associated with that of your surviving spouse or children, when they either finish college or reach adulthood, whichever comes first.
Life insurance can help ease the burden to your family by helping with funeral and burial expenses. Policies also pay your family an amount that you designate. For a relatively low monthly cost, your family can be covered $100,000, $250,000, $500,000, or another amount that is right for you.
Choose permanent life insurance if you want to build cash value. Building cash value in a life insurance policy helps you have additional cash for the future. The insured can borrow the cash value at a low interest rate. They can also use it to pay the premiums. The cash grows tax-free, and some financial planners recommend it as a way to cover estate taxes as part of a comprehensive financial plan.
Do not forget to adjust your life insurance whenever big changes happen in your life. Marriage, disability, divorce, deaths of family members, having children, or providing care for an elder can all impact your life insurance needs. Talk to your insurance agent or company as soon as these changes arise to find out how to adjust your policy or create a new one.
Improve the prices that you will pay for insurance by lowering your cholesterol, quit smoking and lower your blood pressure. This can save a significant amount of money by putting you in a lower risk group. Get an exam on your own before you buy the insurance so that you will not have any ugly or expensive surprises if you have to get a physical for the insurance company.
When considering purchasing life insurance you should think about your long term life insurance needs. Some policies can adjust to your changing needs through your life. If you have young children your life insurance needs will be far different from when your children are adults. This can be useful because they can insure your different needs based on the age you started instead of your current age, which can save a lot of money.
Determining when to purchase life insurance is a hard question for many people to answer. The best advice is to plan according to when you believe your dependents will no longer rely on your support. For example, once your children are out of college they will be financially stable and will no longer need as much of your help, so you can plan your insurance with this in mind.
Life insurance can help you sleep at night, knowing your family is well-provided for, if something should happen. Finding the right life insurance for you involves an assessment of your personal needs. Decide on the level of coverage you need and start making inquiries. Life insurance is more affordable now than ever.