Do You Need Life Insurance? | Compare Quotes

You work hard to provide for your family now, but have you stopped to consider what would happen to them financially if a freak accident or fatal disease took you from them?

When you have term life insurance in place, you don’t need to worry, because you know that in a worst-case scenario, your loved ones would have the financial resources they need.

Life insurance isn’t an exciting topic but should be considered essential for anyone who has another person depending on their income. This includes seniors raising their grandkids, a single woman caring for a parent with a disability, a child-free couple with six figures’ worth of student loan debt, and a married couple with two kids.

It provides financial support for your surviving family in your absence. It’s not difficult to understand how much and which type of life insurance you need, and you will be surprised at how simple and affordable it is to purchase.

Term life insurance is ideal because of its affordability. Most term policies allow you to lock in premiums for the life of the policy, so the earlier you buy it, the less you will pay overall.

Insurify makes buying term life insurance so easy that you could have a policy in place today. Fill out a short form and instantly get 10 or more life insurance quotes. Choose the policy that provides the type of coverage in the amount that your loved ones will need, then fill out and submit the application online or speak to an insurance agent over the phone. It’s really that easy!

Who should buy life insurance?

Not everyone needs life insurance, but chances are it is something you should seriously consider. The simple question to ask yourself is “Does anyone depend on my income?” If the answer is yes, you need it. Even if no one depends on your income, single people or couples who don’t have kids or whose kids are adults can find life insurance useful to their overall financial plan.

Couples with Children

Raising a family is expensive and requires a lot of hard work. You work tirelessly to have money for necessities, vacations, and college funds. Parents need life insurance and should keep it in place until their last child is an adult. Life insurance gives you peace of mind knowing that if you pass away, your partner can take time off from work to grieve and give the kids extra attention without worrying how the bills will get paid.

It’s not just working parents who need life insurance coverage. Your partner may temporarily give up their career to save on child care costs. In doing this, they also take on a larger share of getting the kids to school and activities, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and dozens of smaller tasks that get overlooked but provide an economic value to your family.

But when the stay-at-home parent suddenly passes away, the surviving parent needs to hire or outsource tasks previously handled by the stay-at-home parent. Life insurance will cover the expenses of things like hiring a nanny and a house cleaner and using a meal prep service. These services all cost money that wasn’t accounted for in the family budget. A life insurance payout will give the surviving partner the freedom to focus on the family, hire the help they need, and not worry about finances while grieving.

Married Couples

The benefit of life insurance for couples who don’t have kids or whose children are grown is additional financial protection. If one partner passes away before retirement age, the other will have access to money that’s not tied up in retirement accounts. Not all pension plans have survivor benefits, so if a couple lived easily on a pension and Social Security before the wife’s passing, would the husband be able to live in a similar way when her portion of the money went away?

Additionally, if you and your partner are homeowners, you should definitely buy life insurance so the mortgage can be paid off if one of you passes away. This alleviates the financial burden on the surviving partner.

Single People

Single people may want life insurance to cover final expenses like funeral and burial costs or caring for and rehoming a pet.

Life insurance is essential if you have debt, are a cosigner on a car or mortgage, or are a part-owner of a business. Receiving a life insurance payout upon your passing ensures your business partner or creditors get paid what they are owed.

Additionally, you can use your life insurance payout to support a charity, museum, or even an educational institution if you’d prefer.

There’s really no reason not to take out a term life insurance policy since you can lock in a low rate for the next 10 to 30 years. You can always change the beneficiary in the future to account for a partner and children, and if health issues arise as you get older, your coverage can’t be taken away.

It never hurts to buy a life insurance policy, and with a comparison site like Insurify, buying a policy takes mere minutes! Compare life insurance quotes on Insurify today, to secure your future tomorrow.

How does life insurance work?

When you take out a life insurance policy on yourself, you are the owner and the person who is insured. Then, you name a beneficiary who will receive the money, known as the death benefit or insurance payout, upon your passing.

Generally, the beneficiary is your partner or close family member, but in the case of a complex estate, it could be put in a trust and managed by a trustee. Upon your death, the insurer will issue a payout to the beneficiary.

Before choosing a life insurance policy, you’ll need to decide which type to get and how much of a death benefit, or payout, you want. There are two main types of life insurance: term insurance and permanent insurance.

Types of Life Insurance Policies

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance covers you for a set length of time before coverage expires. It is ideal for individuals who want to lock in low rates and have an extra financial safety net.

It is typically offered in increments of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. Because there is a definite end date, the life insurance company has a much lower risk of paying out a death benefit, so premiums are low. Life insurance premiums are usually level, meaning they don’t increase during the life of the policy. However, it’s better to get a policy now than to wait 5 to 10n years, as your age does affect the cost of the premium.

Permanent Life Insurance

The other type of life insurance is a permanent life insurance policy. Whole life insurance and universal life insurance are the two most common types of permanent life insurance.

They are more expensive because permanent life policies stay in effect until you pass away. These are better suited for people who need the certainty of life insurance or want to take advantage of the cash value that builds up within the policy.

Many permanent policies come with a cash value component, which allows some of your premiums to be available to you now. Universal life insurance offers flexibility in payments and coverage amounts in addition to the cash value component. Permanent life insurance policies are a useful tool for investing for some people. Your financial planner can advise you on using life insurance as a part of your financial plan.

Adding Life Insurance Riders

Most life insurance policies allow you to add riders for an extra charge. Life insurance riders provide additional coverage that customizes your life insurance policy to your specific needs. Examples of riders that you might want are child protection, which pays for the final expenses if your child passes away, and waiver of premiums, which will pay the life insurance premiums for the remainder of the policy if you become disabled.

The Bottom Line

Buying term life insurance is the best option for most people because your premiums are considerably lower than permanent life policies. As you get older, your financial responsibilities generally decrease while your savings increase. By the time your 30-year term policy expires, you will have less need for life insurance than you did at age 25.

To find the best term life insurance policy for you, check out Insurify. Insurify allows you to explore all your life insurance policy options and costs in one place for free!

How much life insurance should you carry?

Life insurance needs vary by individual, but the main consideration is that those who rely on your income should be able to maintain their lifestyle with the life insurance proceeds.

The rule of thumb is to get a policy that pays out 10 to 15 times your annual income. Let’s say that you earn $70,000 a year and your wife earns $80,000, then your policy should be a minimum of $700,000, and hers should be $800,000.

Of course, you need to consider other factors, such as minor dependents, the cost of your mortgage payments, and your monthly living expenses. A life insurance policyholder in New York is going to need more coverage than one in Nebraska.

You want your term life insurance policy to last until you no longer have any need for income replacement. This means that if you have a partner, they are able to live off their own income or investments. Generally, the older you get, the less need you have for life insurance because your income increases while expenses like a mortgage and student loans decrease.

Singles and couples who don’t have dependents may want to buy a whole life policy to cover final expenses or estate taxes. Funeral and burial expenses cost around $10,000, so a whole life policy with an equivalent death benefit is enough. People with complex estates can purchase a policy to cover expected taxes on their estate in order to preserve the inheritance of their heirs.

Individuals with kids or those planning to add to their family should err on the side of caution and choose the longest term length to account for the expenses of raising kids. In 10 years, you can get a new policy and essentially extend the length of your coverage. Insurify makes it easy to shop for a new policy at any time and from anywhere.

Even if your employer provides life insurance, you need your own self-purchased life insurance policy. Employer-sponsored policies tend to have low death benefits, so any proceeds beyond funeral expenses will be minimal.

The other more important reason is that should you be laid off or have to quit for medical reasons, you will no longer have coverage. In the case of leaving due to health issues, it will be challenging to find a policy that will protect your life insurance needs.

With so many life insurance companies out there, how do you know which one is best for you? Let Insurify help. A quick search will give you the lowest prices available from top-rated insurance providers. Then, do a side-by-side comparison to see how the top contenders stack up against one another. Once you choose one, you’re just a few clicks away from having a policy in place.

How Much Life Insurance Costs

You’ll be surprised at how affordable a term life insurance plan can be. Premiums increase with age, so it’s best to buy when you’re young and lock in a lower rate. Due to shorter life expectancies, men will pay slightly higher premiums than women. Whole life policies can be up to 10 times the cost of a term life policy, especially with policies that don’t require a medical exam.

Here’s a table showing the cost of a 10-year life insurance policy for healthy individuals, according to their age.

As you can probably guess, life insurance policies are significantly cheaper the younger you are. That’s why you should buy a life insurance policy as early as possible. Compare life insurance quotes and policies on Insurify today, to secure your family’s financial future tomorrow.

How to Buy the Right Life Insurance Policy for You

Life insurance should be a part of your financial plan to ensure that your loved ones have a secure financial future. Insurify helps you get free quotes so that you can compare policies and premiums and choose the right amount of protection.

Buying the right term life insurance or permanent life insurance policy is easy with Insurify. Just answer questions about the type of policy and coverage amount that you want, plus a few personal questions, and you’ll get a list of quotes from the nation’s top insurance companies in minutes. Once you find the one that meets your life insurance needs, you can apply and pay online with your credit card.

Do You Need Life Insurance? Frequently Asked Questions

Who should buy life insurance?

Any adult with dependents who rely on your income should have life insurance. Parents of three young children have a clear need for income replacement, but an elderly couple with a small nest egg and a single man who has private student loans cosigned with his parents need life insurance as well.

How much life insurance should you carry?

The amount of life insurance you carry should be about 10 to 12 times your annual income. A person who earns $75,000 needs a minimum of $750,000 coverage. Stay-at-home parents should opt for $300,000 to $500,000 in life insurance coverage. For those who just want life insurance to cover burial and funeral costs, a policy with a $10,000 to $15,000 death benefit is enough.

What’s the best way to buy life insurance?

Buying life insurance online is the best and fastest way to get a term life insurance policy. Insurify removes hours of comparison shopping; with just a few clicks of your mouse, you can compare policies, the amount of coverage, and prices on one page. Once you find one that works for you, fill out the online application or speak with an insurance agent to get life insurance coverage in place and feel good that you will leave your loved ones with enough money.