Give yourself the gift of peace of mind with Life Insurance

Give yourself the gift of peace of mind with Life Insurance

One of the biggest stressors of the holiday season can be money or more specifically, not having enough to purchase the presents we think we should. In the U.S., we live in a country that is obsessed with stuff — both giving and receiving it. While there is nothing wrong with having nice things, there comes a point when the getting of these things can become very stressful. Instead of accumulating more stuff you really don’t need, an alternative is giving yourself a gift that can help protect you and your family versus causing more stress. One such gift is life insurance.

Life insurance can be a great way to show the people you care about the most, just how much you love them. During this season of gift-giving, people spend $128 on average on their loved one for a special occasion. Yet only 55% say they have life insurance, which can be just $13 a month.1

Life insurance is designed to provide financial protection for your loved ones in the event you were to pass away unexpectedly. But what could this really mean for your family? It may seem counterintuitive that empty nesters or retirees need life insurance, but some still have dependents, such as disabled adult children. Many also still have financial obligations, such as the mortgage on a home or second home, that could become a burden if a spouse died or becomes disabled. More importantly, if you died today, your spouse could outlive you by decades. Would they have to make drastic lifestyle changes to make ends meet? Your death could reduce the Social Security benefits they’d been counting on. It could also bring unplanned medical and funeral expenses.

Life insurance coverage can preserve the retirement plan you worked so hard to put in place and ensure your estate will be passed on, intact, to your survivors. A policy’s death benefit can help foot the estate tax bill from Uncle Sam and provide a legacy for your children and grandchildren, even if you use up most of your assets during your lifetime. For all these reasons, if you’ve been thinking about dropping your life insurance coverage, you may want to reconsider.

What if you’re retired or nearing retirement and you don’t have life insurance? You may think that you’ll no longer qualify due to your age or health conditions you may have. That’s not necessarily the case. Final expense insurance is a form of life insurance that requires little or no underwriting, which means almost anyone can qualify. Policies are available in face amounts typically ranging from several thousand dollars up to a maximum of $50,000 or $75,000—much less than a standard life insurance policy.1 That’s because these policies are only intended to cover final expenses and not longer-range expenses like ongoing living costs or college and retirement funding.

Final expense insurance typically comes in two varieties. Immediate full benefit policies, which pay the full face value upon your death, are generally available to people with no serious health concerns. Graded benefit policies provide limited benefits during the first few years and are available to people with serious health concerns. These policies can provide the peace of mind of knowing that your survivors won’t struggle to pay for your funeral or be saddled with outstanding medical bills and other debts. To find out more about life insurance and what type of coverage you may need, be sure to contact your financial professional.

Information for this article was provided by Life Happens, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping consumers make smart insurance decisions to safeguard their families’ financial futures: www.lifehappens.org.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which investments or products may be appropriate for you, consult with your financial professional.

 

Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuing company.

 

Sources:

1The 2017 Insurance Barometer Study, Life Happens and LIMRA

 

Adult Financial Education Services (AFES)
December 2017

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Source: Adult Financial

Give yourself the gift of peace of mind with Life Insurance

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