Be Very Careful Who You Listen To About Buying Whole Or Term Life Insurance
I've seen a few things recently that bother me and I thought that it was important that I express my worries with you before anyone makes a big financial mistake that could potentially hurt them and their loved ones down the road.
A little while ago I saw a page online that, unfortunately, I can't share because of liabilities that stated that you only need to have life insurance that amounts to three times your annual take home. This bothers me and no, not because I tell people that everyone should purchase more than that as a general rule, but because everyone and their families are unique and have different personal needs, family needs and obligations. There's simply no way that a qualified life insurance agent will tell you this. Why? Read more.
Here's a brief example of why this couldn't work for most people.everyone. Imagine that we have a family of 4 where the children are young, ages five and seven, respectfully. Mom is a housewife and has no real job skills other than working at McDonald's as a teenager, which was a few years back. The husband brings home the money and makes a decent income of around $60k per year and, like most American families, has bills to match that annual salary.
They live in a nice three bedroom house that they're buying, have two cars financed Health Insurance which, even though it's an extra as a work benefit for himself (after deductibles), he still has to is required to} pay to have the family covered. They also must pay car insurance for two cars, life insurance for four people, in different amounts, homeowners insurance, dental benefits and let's not forget all of the other frequent expenses such as food, clothing, utilities, ect. Also, they need to send money every month to pay for his mother who is in a elderly home.
There are many other variables that could be mixed into this and I could very easily add more and more monthly bills but do you see how the bills stacked up for this family?
This may even be similar to your own circumstances, give or take. In the event that this man's unexpected passing do you really believe that three years worth of his annual income would be an adequate amount of life insurance for his family? Let's do some figures.
With the man of the home bringing home an annual income of $60,000.00, that tripled by three years would give his family $180.000.00 coverage of life insurance. This may be stretched into four more years worth of living expenses considering that the breadwinner is now gone, but that only brings the children to the ages of nine and eleven, what do they do now?
It's feasible that the man could have allowed for this happening, even beyond normal life insurance, by also buying a "Mortgage Life" policy that would pay off the home in the event of his death. He may have also made arrangements in the car contracts. But what if he couldn't? Even if he'd done this it still might have stretched the families living expenses another 3, maybe 4 years, depending on how much they did without unnecessary things. That would bring the kids to the ages of thirteen and fifteen now. What's going to happen the next five years until the younger child turns 18? What about college for both of them? Do the couple's parents have burial arrangements? They probably don't if this couple is already sending money each month for the mother's care.
This is all simply a unique example of a common family but I wanted you to just take a moment and really think about these things. The only way for you to determine how much life insurance you need for you and your family is to actually sit down and look at every bill that you pay now the bills that you know will be there in the future, all of the variables that might happen (if these didn't happen there might not be a need for insurance) and then when you think you've got a good number add another 20%, just in case. It's always better to have more than you need than not enough.
If you are the breadwinner of your family wouldn't you want to know for without a doubt that your family was going to be okay in the event that something happened to you, no matter what occurs? I thought so, me too. The only point that I'm trying to get across is to not let someone else pitch to you how much life insurance you need. Sit down with your other half and then contact a qualified agent. Do it right the first time because, unfortunately, there isn't a second chance in these life and death circumstances.
Joe Stewart is a former Life And Health Insurance Agent. He's made learning about life insurance easy for you. Go now and read these easy, detailed explanations about life insurance at his website TheLifeInsuranceGuys.com or by clicking on life insurance quotes Online
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