Whatever your age and circumstances, it is a good idea to evaluate your life insurance needs. It is always a good idea to plan for uncertainty and ensure your loved ones are looked after should something happen to you; and it is important you reevaluate your life insurance needs at different points in your life.
Evaluating Your Needs When You Are Young and Single
Even though your life expectancy is higher at a young age and you do not yet have your own family, you never know when tragedy may strike, so it is always best to be prepared. Getting a life insurance policy when you are young can be a good idea because of your high life expectancy. It means the cost of the insurance will be lower. If you have people who depend on you, such as aging parents, it is particularly a good idea to consider taking out a policy when you are young. You can use Policy Scout to compare different insurance policies and help you to evaluate all of your options.
Evaluating Your Needs When You Are Married
Once you have tied the knot, you will of course want to make sure that your spouse and children are looked after in the event of something happening to you. If you are the primary breadwinner of the household, ensuring your family’s future is protected becomes even more important. Even if there are two breadwinners in the house, without two paychecks, things like the mortgage, bills, and credit card payments would be difficult for just one person to keep up with. When you have responsibilities and people you love, it is definitely time to evaluate your life insurance needs.
Evaluating Your Needs When You Change Employment
If you gain a salary increase when you change jobs, your family will be depending on you financially even more, so it is important to protect their future should unfortunate circumstances arise. When you have a higher salary, it means you can afford to add extras to your life insurance policy. So, reevaluate your current policy and consider what changes you would like to make to best protect your loved ones. Also, bear in mind that if you have a group insurance policy with your former employer, it will probably end when you leave the job. So, make sure there are no lapses in coverage by getting a new life insurance policy straight away.
Evaluating Your Needs When You Get Divorced
Hopefully, you will have a happy marriage for years to come, but just like the reason you have for getting life insurance, unexpected events can occur, so you need to be prepared. If you get divorced, you need to rethink your life insurance needs. Remember that you will likely still have financial obligations with your spouse, such as credit cards, a mortgage, and education fees for your children. So, many divorced couples keep their life insurance policies in place. However, you may want to make certain changes to the policy or take out a completely new life insurance policy. There are also other options, such as keeping a policy in place until your children have grown up and are no longer financially reliant on you and your spouse. At that point, you may consider changing your policy so that only your children are the beneficiaries.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, the precise policy you take out needs to suit your personal circumstances, so only you can know what the best option is for your individual needs. The important thing is that you spend time reevaluating your life insurance requirements whenever you go through a milestone in life to ensure your loved ones are protected.
