by Daniel Griffin, President of Wesfair Agency, CIC, CPA
It’s likely you’ve told yourself you need life insurance every time you see it advertised. Then you begin to research it, and the act of actually getting it seems like a pain (plus, who wants to think about death). Or, maybe you have a small amount of life insurance through your work benefits. You suspect it’s not a great deal nor enough coverage, but haven’t taken the time to look into it. I’m here to tell you: Stop putting it off!
Here are five reasons you should call your independent insurance agent about life insurance.
1. Your family needs you, even when you’re not there.
The most important reason to get life insurance is that people rely on you. Your family, spouse, kids, relatives… how would they survive without you? In addition to the shock of losing a loved one, you don’t want to burden them with a serious financial deficit. If you’re the breadwinner, how would your spouse survive without your income? If you’re the main caretaker, how would your spouse account for an income plus being able to manage the household without you being there? Leave your family with the security that at least they can be provided for financially, even after such a tragic loss.
2. Life insurance isn’t always expensive.
In many situations, the right choice for life insurance is a simple Term Policy. Typically the cheapest option, this policy guarantees that your rate is locked for a set term and can’t change. For people looking for income replacement over a set term, this can be cheaper than a group policy purchase at work or through a professional group. For someone who just had a baby or bought their first house, a reasonably priced policy through a well rated carrier is a great option for life insurance.
3. To create a guaranteed estate for loved ones with special needs.
For clients that have children or dependents with special needs, they’ll need a guaranteed estate. We hope that day is years in the future after you’ve had time to create a long term solution, but the truth is that it could happen tomorrow. Whole Life and Guaranteed Universal life insurance can be great policies to make sure that the financing is there on day one or years in the future. These policies can also be paired with proper estate planning to make sure that trusted advisors are in charge of investing and distributing your assets within a special needs trust.
4. Because you're insurable today, but what about next year?
One of the risks of putting off buying life insurance is that your health affects the price of the policy. If you buy the policy when you’re healthy, your chances of getting a better rate go up. If you wait until after your health starts to decline and you begin to see a doctor, that may spark questions during underwriting, causing an increased rate or, even worse, making it impossible to buy ANY insurance. If you lock in a competitive rate when you’re healthy and insurable, you lower the risk of insurability issues down the road.
5. Life insurance can protect your business.
Often, life insurance is used in a succession plan to replace the deceased owner/partner’s share of the company. Imagine if you were a partner of a law firm and your partner passed away. The partner’s spouse will now own a portion of your firm. And, they may not even be a lawyer! Life insurance can be used to create a buy/sell agreement that automatically forces the spouse to sell to the remaining partners per the agreement. Those partners benefit because they don’t have to pay a large sum of cash for their increased equity in the partnership and the spou se benefits because they’ll receive the death benefits from the sale.
We understand the process of buying life insurance can be frustrating, but there are many reasons to buy it—and buy it soon. Reach out to us today to help get you the coverage you need.