The flowers. The music. The … lifelong commitment. Yes, a wedding really has it all.
If you are newly married, or about to get married, or have been married for a long time and are suddenly curious about providing financial protection for your spouse and other loved ones, you are in the right place. That’s because life insurance is an excellent way to provide just that.
To learn more about why married couples (and unmarried couples too) should buy life insurance, keep reading.
Why couples should get life insurance
Here are three situations – married without children, married with children, and single with or without children ̵
1; and why life insurance for married couples makes sense in all three.Life insurance protects married couples without children
Many people think of life insurance as something to have in place after they have children. But if you’re getting married, you’ll likely combine your finances as well. (That is, if you haven’t already.) This could mean helping to pay off your spouse’s debt (or vice versa); it can mean your combined income goes towards paying rent or mortgage, not to mention car payments, food and so much more.
All of this is to say, even without children, there is now another person relying on your salary to get by. And if something were to happen to you, your spouse may not have the income to cover those expenses.
Life insurance provides financial protection in the form of a death benefit that is paid to your designated beneficiaries in the event of your death. This money usually comes in the form of a tax-free lump sum, which can be used for funeral expenses, unpaid debts or anything else. Your widow can even use it to offset the cost of time off work to mourn your loss.
Of course, you can have other people who depend on you, even partially, even without children. For example, a niece or nephew whose tuition you help cover, or an aging parent who relies on you to help cover expenses. If someone is dependent on your income to pay for life’s necessities, life insurance is a good idea should the worst happen.
Life insurance protects married couples with children
If you are married and choose to have children, life insurance is essential to protect your family financially. The expenses and responsibilities of parenthood are considerable (as you well know); paying for things without your income would be a heavy burden for a spouse.
And it’s not just the daily necessities like clothes, food, diapers, toys, and gas to haul your kids back and forth. There are also long-term expenses to consider, such as tuition and the potential cost of housing. If you’re hoping to leave a financial legacy to your children, that’s also something to consider.
If you’re a stay-at-home parent or otherwise don’t work outside the home, life insurance may still make sense. That’s because the cost of your labor is worth nearly $200,000 a year, according to some estimates. Without you around, your spouse would have to cover that work somehow, either through hired help or by making some sort of career adjustment.
For many families, it’s a good idea to get life insurance coverage that lasts until the kids finish school (or expect to graduate from college).
Life insurance protects unmarried couples with long-term commitments
You don’t have to be married to protect someone with life insurance. If you have a long-term relationship with someone who shares your home, potential children, a bank account, etc., you should consider getting life insurance to help protect them in case something happens to you.
Types of life insurance
You have many choices when it comes to choosing life insurance. Here are two of the most common types of life insurance:
Term life insurance
Term life insurance is coverage for a certain period, called the term. You can usually choose anywhere from 10 to 30 years of coverage, and many people decide to get coverage that lasts until the kids finish school, the mortgage is paid off, or the insured retires.
In other words, you get insurance that lasts during the years you earn money and cover someone else’s expenses, and ends when those things no longer add up. This also makes life insurance one of the most affordable options.
For most people, getting insurance worth 5 to 10 times their annual salary is good coverage. This is known as the life insurance rule of thumb. Haven Life offers coverage amounts from $250,000 to $3 million.
At Haven Life, a 30-year-old man in excellent health can get a 30-year policy worth $500,000 for $34.99 per month, which translates to just over $1 per day. Not bad for three decades of peace of mind.
All life insurance
Whole life insurance (a form of permanent life insurance) covers you for your entire life. If you’re 32 now and buy whole life insurance, your beneficiary will receive a payout if the worst happens, whenever that happens.
Whole life insurance also builds cash value over time, and these gains are tax-deferred. You can usually borrow against the cash value of your policy, but these loans will reduce the total death benefit and cash value and may result in a tax liability if the policy terminates before your death.
The trade-off is that whole life policies are often much more expensive, with higher life insurance premiums. They cover the years when you are older and your health is likely to deteriorate.
For a $500,000 term life insurance policy, a 35-year-old man in excellent health might pay $562 per month, according to a recent quote from State Farm. That’s $525 more per month than a comparable 30-year term life policy for the same man – or $189,000 more in premiums over the life of a comparable policy.
How Haven Life can help
Whether you’re married or not (or have children or not), life insurance can help protect your partner in unforeseen circumstances.
Haven Life offers affordable life insurance that you can apply for online in minutes – you can even do it on your lunch break. Get started by getting a free quote online today.
Source link
