Friday, April 1, 2011

Evaluating Life Insurance Needs :

People tend to put off buying life insurance. The main reason may be that they do not want to think about their death. More often than not, though, it is also that they do not know how to evaluate their life insurance needs so that they have enough coverage. There are many things to take into consideration when determining what kind and how much insurance you need. It starts by figuring out if life insurance is needed in the first place. The primary purpose of life insurance is to replace the income lost due to your death. Therefore, if you have a spouse, children, or other people who are dependent on you to survive, then you need life insurance.

To determine how much you should purchase, first evaluate the cost of living for your family. Although the goal is to replace the income lost when you pass away, basing the amount of insurance you purchase on your yearly income often leads to buying too little insurance. You will need to buy enough insurance to cover your family's short term needs and long term obligations. This includes making sure there is enough money to pay for funeral, medical, and legal expenses as well as debts that are left behind.

You will also want to calculate what your long term expenses are going to be. For example, if you have children you will want to leave money for college. This can be hard to figure out especially since you don't know where they are going to end up. The best you can do is calculate the average cost of school and multiply by that by the number of children you have. Other long term expenses you may want to consider include family maintenance such food, utility bills, health care, transportation, etc for at least a year.

To avoid buying too much insurance, you should also take into account the resources your family has available to them. Personal savings, retirement accounts, social security benefits, and your spouse's income are all financial resources that your family can turn to for assistance. The total amount should be subtracted from the sum of the short term and long term needs. The difference will be the amount of life insurance to purchase. A lot of thought should be given to evaluating your insurance needs. If you need help, it is best to speak to a qualified insurance agent.or contact us
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Source : articlebase

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