Can You Afford Not to Have Life Insurance?

Ask yourself a serious question – can your family afford to continue paying bills and living their lifestyle if you were to die tomorrow?

As hard-hitting of a question as it is to answer, it’s an important one to think about. With the average life expectancy of an American at roughly 78 years as of 2015, families are living for a long time.

But what makes a long life difficult is a growing amount of debt. Last year, the average American family had over $15,000 in credit card debt. Add that to an average $173,000 mortgage, vehicle payments, student loans or any other types of debt, and you see that Americans are paying back money for a very long time.

So what would happen if you were to die unexpectedly? If you purchased life insurance for yourself and your family, they would be okay.

Here are a few key reasons why you just can’t afford not to have life insurance in today’s world:

Don’t Let Them Shoulder the Financial Burden

Although no one plans for sudden death to happen, you cannot predict the future. Even though you are more likely to live to a ripe old age, it is a good idea to prepare for the chance you won’t.

Life insurance can replace the loss of income your family would experience if you were to die suddenly. If you have people dependant on your income, this is important for you. Even if there is another source of revenue generated in your family, losing one source can be hard to handle.

Not only can life insurance cover that income, but it can also be used to help pay for expenses related to death. Helping to cover the funeral costs, continuing mortgage payments, or allowing your family to keep a vehicle – life insurance can help with all of these.

Protect Your Family’s Future

Set up a plan using life insurance that will protect your children’s future. Whether it be to help the family cover costs or provide money for college, including your children in your policy is something to consider. You can also make your kids the beneficiaries, in which case they would receive the death benefit payout if you were to pass.

Build Cash Value for Something Else

Certain life insurance products allow you to grow cash value. Although premiums on a product like this can be more expensive than on a simpler product like term insurance, it does open the possibility of allowing you to build cash value that you can use to help supplement retirement income or other needs.

There Are Options Available

Life insurance is not a one-size-fits-all sort of deal. Many different policies offer varying amounts of protection, so you can choose the one that best suits you and your family’s needs. Term life insurance and permanent life insurance are your two most common options.

Term life insurance offers policies over a specified period (usually 10, 20 or 30 years). The coverage is only available over the allotted time. It is often the cheapest policy that allows you the option to renew the coverage or let it expire once the policy term is over.

Permanent life insurance offers policies for your entire lifetime and tends to have more expensive premiums. Some permanent life insurance products offer a cash value component, which can be used to help supplement things like retirement income, or sending the kids to college.

So discuss with a financial professional the different life insurance products that are available. Shop around and do your research to find the best policy at the best price for you and your family. Don’t leave their future to chance, and prepare for the unexpected.