Life insurance is a constant safety net in the development of our professional and personal lives. It gives us the breathing room that we need in order to chase after hobbies and interests that we might shy away from without the protection offered by a life insurance policy. It might sound trite, but the truth is that everyone needs to consider the benefits that life insurance coverage provides, and at a number of key transition periods in our lives.
Term life insurance protects your growing family at a critical moment.
Term life insurance is a fantastic safety net for a young family looking to protect its financial assets against sudden tragedy. The sad truth is that an accident can strike any one of us down at any moment. Statistics show that 3,700 people die in traffic-related accidents every single day — that’s 1.35 million roadway deaths every year.
Term life insurance is a ward against an untimely death caused by this or any number of other threats to our very mortal selves. This gives you coverage for a specified term and is a great option for families with young children. In a household where one or both parents work full time, the loss of a portion or the entirety of the monthly income that you rely on can be devastating. You need these funds to provide for your mortgage, food, clothing, and savings for vacations, college, and larger or special purchases like birthday presents, or new vehicles.
Add this crucial loss of cash flow to the mourning felt at the loss of a parent or spouse and you may find yourself in a hole that cannot be climbed back out of. Term life insurance protects a family against the double jeopardy of this sort of tragedy. By paying monthly premiums, your beneficiaries can rest assured that their expenses will be taken care of if anything were to happen to you during these all-important working years. Life insurers provide this structure to give you a unique peace of mind during your thirties, forties, and fifties, while family and time at home are at the top of your mind.
Whole life insurance protects older adults’ assets.
Whole life insurance is the second main type of insurance coverage that men and women all over the world buy into in order to protect their futures. With this type of coverage, you will pay your monthly premiums until you pass away, but the death benefit often represents a large lump sum payment. Whole life insurance doesn’t expire, as long as you keep your insurance policy current by paying your monthly payments and is most often used as a hedge against debts. When we die, we leave assets and liabilities to our heirs to sort through. Hopefully, we will leave an estate for our beneficiaries to use as they see fit. But not everyone dies with a home, or car totally paid off, and of course, there are funeral arrangements to pay for as well.
However, many older adults are finding that a viatical settlement is a great way to extract a majority share of the cash value from their life insurance policy early in order to take advantage of this asset as a quasi-investment vehicle. A viatical settlement is an arrangement where you sell your policy’s face value — it’s death benefit — to a third party broker in order to receive a lump sum cash payment. You can stop paying the premiums and use the cash payout on whatever you choose. It’s a great way to roll out this security net into a new investment opportunity or to splurge and take a vacation for those who are living debt-free already.
Considering your life insurance choices, including viatical settlements, at these crucial stages of life is an important part of your financial health. Make sure you take the time to understand your options.
