Do I need life insurance?

The question of who needs life insurance is very personal. An easy way to know if you do is to consider if someone would suffer financially if you were to pass away. If the answer is yes, then there’s a good chance that you should consider life insurance.

There are several different types of life insurance. What they all have in common is that they pay cash to your loved ones if you pass away. This lets your nearest and dearest remain on firm financial ground even though your earnings have stopped.

Life insurance can help your loved ones cover virtually any expense they currently (or will someday) face if your financial contributions were no longer in the picture. Just a few include funeral costs, rent or mortgage payments, and childcare expenses.

Some of the people who most commonly consider life insurance include:

Married or partnered people

Those left behind often find it difficult to cover daily and future living expenses without a partner’s financial contributions. This is often as true for young couples as it is for empty nesters eying retirement. Life insurance can help ensure your surviving spouse or partner can maintain the standard of living you worked so hard to achieve.

Parents

It’s estimated that it costs $233,610 to raise a child to age 18. And that number only increases if you plan on contributing to your child’s college education.

Statistics like this underscore how incredibly important it is for parents to consider life insurance. This is as true for working parents as it is for stay-at-home parents whose unpaid contributions to the family would be expensive to replace. And we can’t forget single parents supporting families on their own—they have an especially important need for financial protection in the form of life insurance.

Retirees

Surviving partners often must make do with less Social Security and pension support. They may also have unforeseen funeral costs to cover. This can seriously hamper their finances.

What’s more, if you’re planning on leaving money to heirs, they could be required to pay estate taxes of up to 45%. Life insurance, which is almost always exempt from federal taxes, can be immensely helpful in any of these situations.

Business owners

Surviving family members are often not prepared to take over a business when an owner passes away. This pain is only compounded when a business has debts that are backed by assets like the family home. What’s more, a family that wishes to continue running a business may need to buy out a partner’s shares. Life insurance can be a financial lifeline in all of these situations, with many business owners pairing life insurance with a buy-sell agreement that lets the surviving partners buy out the deceased partner’s shares via the life insurance payout.

In addition to the instances above, there are certain life events that should make you ask “Do I need life insurance?” They include:

Having someone cosign on a loan you take out

Changing jobs

Starting or buying a business

Buying a house

Getting married

Having or adopting a child

Deciding to go back to school

Deciding to stay home with children

Becoming a single parent

Getting divorced

Starting to support someone financially like an aging parent

Starting to save for a child’s college education

Getting close to retirement

As you can see, there are many reasons to consider life insurance. The good news is that getting life insurance is simpler and more affordable than most people think. One of the best ways is to call Cory Flaugh at 269-925-0611 to discuss what types of Life Insurance and amount of Life Insurance is best suited for you and your lifestyle.

For all insurance questions and inquiries, contact Flaugh Insurance. Flaugh Insurance is an independent, family owned, local agent who writes with several national carriers for auto insurance, home, insurance, farm insurance, and so much more. We can service all of your insurance needs no matter where you are located – Benton Harbor, St. Joseph, Stevensville, New Buffalo, Hartford, Coloma, Watervliet, Berrien Springs, and many more! Call our office today to review your insurance at 269-925-0611 or visit Flaugh.com to fill out a FREE quote form 24/7!