September is Life Insurance Awareness month and this post is in partnership with TermLifeInsurance.com, which helps spread awareness of the importance of term life insurance. Learn more about how you can protect your family and your finances.
Insurance. It’s one important part of a financial plan that can easily be put off – especially life insurance.
But here’s the thing – if you’re working really hard to get your financial life straightened out, not having insurance could literally erase all of the hard work you’ve done.
If you’ve been putting off applying for life insurance here are four big reasons you need it.
# 1 – You Have Kids
If you have kids there are many reasons to consider getting a life insurance policy:
Regular Financial Needs – The point of getting life insurance is to replace lost income in the event that you or your partner pass away. By getting a life insurance policy you’re guaranteeing that your children will be supported financially even if you aren’t around.
Education – Another thing to consider is your children’s education. If you don’t yet have a fully funded college savings account for your children, life insurance can help pay for that cost should something happen to you.
If something did happen to you your children are going to have a hard enough time dealing. The last thing they need is for their lives to be turned upside down because of financial matters.
# 2 – You Are Married
If something were to happen you how would that affect your spouse? What about vice versa? The point of life insurance is to protect financially.
You’ll want to seriously consider life insurance if you’re married and…………
Have Debt – Life insurance can help your spouse pay off debt that you’ve accumulated. This can include credit card debt, car loans, and student loans.
Have a Mortgage – Would your spouse be able to pay the mortgage or cover rent without you around? What about day to day bills? If not you need life insurance.
Another thing to consider is funeral costs. I know it’s something that we don’t like to think of but funerals are expensive (averaging around $6,560) and life insurance can help with this burden.
# 3 – Your Parents Co-Signed On a Loan for You
If your parents co-signed on any type of loan for you they may be on the hook for that debt even after you’re gone. Having enough life insurance to pay the debt back can ease your family’s financial burden in a time of mourning.
# 4 – You Own a Business
Last, but not least, if you have a small business you might want to put a life insurance policy in place for yourself. The proceeds of the life insurance policy can help keep your small business afloat.
Life Insurance is Important
Life insurance is an important element of any solid financial plan. It’s also not as hard as you think to obtain.
You can get life insurance by getting quotes from any of the sites on this list: Best Term Life Insurance Companies. From there you’ll get dozens of quotes on term life policies from different carriers and will be able to choose, and apply, to the best policy for you.
Don’t wait any longer! If you need life insurance get it today.
Do you have life insurance? Why or why not?
Robert Farrington is America’s Millennial Money Expert® and America’s Student Loan Debt Expert™, and the founder of The College Investor, a personal finance site dedicated to helping millennials escape student loan debt to start investing and building wealth for the future. You can learn more about him on the About Page, or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.
He regularly writes about investing, student loan debt, and general personal finance topics geared towards anyone wanting to earn more, get out of debt, and start building wealth for the future.
He has been quoted in major publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Fox, ABC, NBC, and more. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes.