September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. According to the Insurance Information Institute, only 54% of all people in the United States have life insurance. That’s 106 million adults that lack life insurance or adequate coverage. In recognition of Life Insurance Awareness Month, we’ve outlined some reasons why you should consider it for yourself and your family or evaluate your current plan.
- It can help protect your family financially
- It can help replace loss of income
- It can help cover funeral expenses
- It can help pay for future education expenses
- It can help your loved ones pay off debt
Whether you’re married, a parent, single or a student, life insurance will help financially protect your loved ones. If you already have life insurance, be sure to keep your beneficiary designation up to date. We often forget as our lives change, our life insurance might change, too. For example, if you get divorced and remarried, forgetting to update your plan can mean your ex-spouse ends up receiving the policy. If you have term life insurance, make sure to keep track of when your coverage ends to avoid any gaps. And if you experienced any major life changes since you bought your policy, like getting married, changing jobs, buying a house, or having children, you might consider making changes to your policy.
Want t0 know how much life insurance you need? Every family’s needs are different, so think about how much yours would need to stay financially secure if you died. A few questions to consider:
- How much debt do I have?
- How much do I have in savings?
- Who do I want to protect?
- How long would they need financial support?
Finally, make sure that your loved ones know where to find your life insurance policy and what they need to do to collect their death benefit.
Check with your employer to see what life insurance options you have. Open enrollment is just around the corner.