As unpredictable as life may seem, if you step back and look at the big picture, you’ll see it tends to flow in an orderly fashion. You’re born, go to school, find a job, get married, have children, and so on.
In many ways, your insurance needs follow an equally predictable path. In fact, they tend to change in lockstep with many common life events:
Marriage: When you’re just starting out, your primary financial concern is usually income replacement. Since you haven’t had much time to save, term life insurance can be an affordable first step for many newlyweds.
Adding a child: As your family grows, so do your responsibilities. Not only do you have more mouths to feed, but a host of future expenses – such as college – to consider. Permanent life insurance can address both needs by giving you dependable, lasting protection, plus the growth potential of cash value.
Changing careers: When you switch jobs, chances are any life insurance you had through your employer will come to an end. Buying an individual policy before you leave will eliminate any gap in coverage, and give you the freedom to take your coverage with you wherever you go.
Transition to retirement: There are many reasons to add permanent life insurance prior to retirement. Not only are you likely to lose your employer-sponsored coverage (see above) but you can also use the cash value to help pay retirement expenses. Having life insurance at the time of retirement may also allow you to enjoy the higher monthly payments of a single life pension (since your spouse will have a death benefit to live on after you are gone).
Creation of an estate: In addition to paying final expenses and eliminating outstanding debts, life insurance can help you leave behind a substantial legacy. Even if you have no other assets, your death benefit is a tax-free give that can make a real difference to your loved ones – or favorite charity.
If you are about to experience these common or major life events, please give me (Larry Cook) a call at 858-361-0734 for assistance you may require. That way you can make sure that your life – and life insurance are headed in the same direction.
Larry Cook specializes in life, health, disability and long term care insurance planning for individuals, families and businesses. Larry has an ability to offer multiple types of insurance coverage from many different insurance companies. Larry’s motto is to tailor the insurance plan to the individual’s needs, preferences, and budget.
“There is no need to shop, we shop for you.”
On January 1, 2013, the federal estate exemption is scheduled to fall from $5,120,000 to $1,000,000 and the federal estate tax rate is scheduled to rise from 35% to 55%.
