How Much Life Insurance Do You Need?

Life insurance policies offer regular premium payments called premiums in exchange for a lump sum known as the death benefit that will go directly to your beneficiaries upon your death. This money can help cover funeral costs, mortgage or debt payments and living expenses. Some policies even offer extra perks like access to cash value or terminal illness riders; you can purchase life insurance individually or through group policies provided by employers or associations in which you belong. Life insurance claim calculators can give you a good indication of the potential size of your payout, but for greater accuracy it's wiser to consult an experienced financial planner who will ensure your policy is structured appropriately, taking all possible sources of income into consideration and matching up with your unique goals and needs. Typically, the more costly a policy is, the larger its death benefit will be. Cost factors that impact cost include age, gender (women typically pay less for life insurance than men), health status and tobacco use; additional considerations such as family history of illness or dangerous occupation/hobbies/driving records could have an impactful on this cost factor as well. How much life insurance you require depends on where you are in life and who depends on you financially. For instance, when starting a family, sufficient income replacement will allow your partner to continue paying bills and raising children without you as an income provider. Once children leave home though, coverage should shift toward covering final expenses such as outstanding debt as well as legacy. If everdaylifeinsurance.com share a joint account with your spouse, review your beneficiary selections to ensure it will be distributed according to your wishes. Consider creating a revocable living trust as beneficiary for life insurance policies as this can help avoid disputes over how your estate is distributed; but first seek legal advice before initiating such plans. Beneficiaries are nominated on policies by their owner, who can change them at will. If an irrevocable beneficiary has been designated, any changes, policy assignments or cash value borrowing would require prior consent of both of their beneficiaries. There are exceptions to this rule, however. One such example is stranger-originated life insurance (STOLI). Investors have used STOLI as an investment strategy by encouraging elderly persons to buy life insurance on their behalf and designating them as beneficiaries, so as not to incur any loss upon the insured's death. Unfortunately, such practices run counter to life insurance's original intent, leading many jurisdictions to prohibit or discourage such practices altogether.