Do you need life insurance?

With National Life Insurance Awareness Month underway, now is a great time to reevaluate your personal needs for insurance.  In recent surveys, it was determined that 38% of Americans admit they don’t have any life insurance and an additional 40% don’t think they have enough coverage.  For many, the issue is they don’t know how or where to start.  If you are one of them, here are some useful questions to ask yourself:

Do you have anyone who depends on you?  If your income was to disappear suddenly, would anyone other than you be affected?  Would your spouse be able to pay all of the household bills on their salary alone?  Mortgage? Car payments? Do you have kids? Is there enough money put aside for their schooling? If you’re a stay-at-home parent, who would take care of your kids during the day now?  Would your spouse be able to pay for that additional expense? Do you have parents that you are taking care of?  How would their needs be taken care of without you?  Do you own your own business?  Do you have a plan in place for someone taking over the business?  Life insurance can help keep the company going or enable the person of your choice to purchase it.

Is there money put aside for your final expenses?  How is your funeral going to be paid for?  The average funeral costs $7-10k as of 2013, cremation about half of that.  Is there anyone that would want to travel to your funeral that might not be able to afford it?  What will the cost be of closing your estate? Do you have any possessions worth a large amount of money?  Will there be more than one person wanting it?  A common solution to this problem is to leave the item to one heir and an equal value of life insurance money to the other(s).

Do you have enough life insurance?  Many companies offer life insurance equal to 1 or 2 years salary.  Employees often think that is enough, and don’t bother with getting additional coverage.  But will it last as long as it’s needed?  Will it last until your children go away for school?  Until the mortgage is paid off? Until your spouse retires?

Do you want to leave a legacy?  Do you want your children or grandchildren to have a good foundation to start their own lives?  Is there a charity that you support that you’d like to make a donation to?  An organization that has helped you?

If after answering these questions you realize you or your family need more insurance, don’t delay in purchasing it.  You never know what might happen tomorrow.  Make sure the people you care about won’t be stuck in a bad situation.  Speak to an independent broker that you trust.  They’ll be able to shop around and find the best price for the coverage you need.