A Parent’s Guide to Life Insurance

For many individuals, life insurance is way to help loved ones carry on in the event of your passing. For parents, however, it is more than just a thoughtful gesture. Life insurance is a way to guarantee that your children will always be provided for, no matter what. Undertaking the task of finding the right life insurance to protect your family can be an emotional and overwhelming task. Thankfully, these tips can make the process simpler and easier to understand. Here is the parent’s guide to selecting a life insurance policy.

Who Needs Life Insurance?

If you are reading this, you probably need life insurance. The reality is that all parents, most couples and even many single adults should seriously consider having a life insurance policy. Parents with children need to ensure that their children are financially provided for in the event of death of the parents. Many parents assign guardianships for these instances without proving financial support, burdening loved ones with extreme costs. Couples should invest in life insurance to provide for their spouse or partner, and even single adults may want to know that their elderly parents or younger siblings are well taken care of. Keep in mind that although 93 percent of Americans say that life insurance is something that all adults need, only 41 percent of them have a policy themselves.

What Kind of Policy Should I Get?

Choosing from the many different types of life insurance policies may be challenging. Ultimately, you will be deciding between a term life insurance, which only applies for a set number of years, and whole life insurance, which guarantees rates, premiums and payouts for your entire life, no matter how long that may be.

How Does Payout Work?

Most life insurance policies will clearly stipulate whether the recipients will receive a lump sum payment or monthly payments over a set number of years. What you decide is best should be discussed among your family or whoever would be the acting guardian of your children.

How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?

This question is one that is asked time and time again among parents. While it is good to consider a life insurance policy, it is important that the coverage amount is adequate. When calculating what monthly or annual amount is appropriate, consider the cost of mortgages, insurance fees, land taxes, utilities, education, food and burial or final expenses. Remember that even those who do not earn income still have value, especially when you consider the cost of childcare. Each family’s policy will be different depending on their lifestyle and the premiums they can afford to pay.

Who Will Oversee My Finances?

Experts at the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education recommend that when it comes to picking someone to have power of attorney, “You should select someone that you trust who is financially stable and who has a great connection with your family.” This is the person who will officially receive your benefits if your children are underage in the event that the policy is used.

Life insurance is an important thing for all adults to consider. However, those who are parents should take extra care to protect their assets and provide for their loved ones in every event.

Trish Kotler writes for askforinsurance.com where you can learn about how often does social security review disability

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