In the light of day, no one wants to think about the unimaginable happening. But those are the exact thoughts that keep us up at night:
What will happen to my family if something happens to me? How will they survive?
According to research from the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association, or LIMRA, “nearly 4 in 10 families would face financial hardship within six months if the primary wage earner died. For 1 in 5 families, it would be within just one month.”
The costs are just too great to put off making a plan any longer.
“What does life insurance even do?”
Unless your employer offers some kind of life insurance policy, you might not even think about buying it. After all, you’re young and healthy; isn’t life insurance for people who are old and sick?
Here’s the deal: The purpose of life insurance is to cover the expenses left to your partner or family if something happened to you.
You’re the one they’ve trusted to provide for them. You’re the one they rely on. What happens if you’re gone?
You can’t predict the future to know what expenses your family will incur if something happens to you. But you do know, right now, what your monthly budget requires and how much you need to earn.
If you…
- still have a mortgage payment…
- don’t have money tucked away for your funeral expenses…
- planned to put your kids through college someday…
- have any credit card debt, school loans, or other lingering financial obligations…
- have a car payment…
- are the primary breadwinner in your household…
… then you should have life insurance.
Life insurance exists to cover the costs that will immediately hit your family if you’re no longer there to earn money. Even if you purchase the bare minimum insurance, it will still give your family space to grieve and process the unimaginable loss, without the added burden and chaos of financial strain.
“My employer offers a life insurance policy, so I’m fine, right?”
Not necessarily, Jack. (Or Jill.)
While that policy is certainly worth something, your employer hasn’t taken a close look at your personal budget to calculate how much you need to cover, like we described above.
It’ll help, but is it enough?
“But isn’t life insurance expensive?”
One of the top reasons people put off buying life insurance or choose not to altogether is because they think it costs more than it actually does.
Depending on your age, your health, and how much you need or want to cover, policies can be as low as a couple of Hamiltons a month, or even less.
(That’s two $10 bills, if you’re not up on your currency characters.)
“Can’t it wait until I’m older?”
Lots of young and healthy people wait until they hit middle age to buy life insurance.
But that can be a HUGE mistake.
If you wait until you think it’s more likely you’ll need health insurance, you could miss out on the lowest premiums, which are offered to younger and healthier individuals.
“How do I know how much life insurance I need?”
Unfortunately, no blog article is going to be able to answer that question for you. Your life is unique and complex, and it deserves the attention of an expert who can help you find the right life insurance policy.
That’s why Wichert’s family of independent local agents is here to help you evaluate your life circumstances and make the right decision, so you have just the right amount of insurance, no more, no less.
It’s time to get peace of mind and a good night’s sleep.
Quit putting off until tomorrow what could be done today… After all, none of us knows just how many tomorrows we’re going to get. Reach out to your local Wichert agent to request a free life insurance quote.