Author: Mike Armstrong
Life insurance offers you an opportunity to ensure the financial security of your family and loved ones, no matter what happens. Life insurance can be used to:
* Pay off any final expenses or personal debts like credit cards, car loans or a mortgage
* Offset the loss of your income for those who rely on you for financial support
* Contribute to the future education of your children
* Protect your estate by helping to pay the taxes due on an estate upon death
* Leave a legacy to your favourite charity
Who should buy life insurance?
The purchase of life insurance is often associated with major life events like getting married, buying a home, or having children. However, if these don't apply to you ask yourself the following questions. If you answer yes to any of them, you'll want to consider life insurance:
* Does anyone rely upon you for financial support? Whether it's a spouse, child, grandchild, parent or dependent adult, life insurance will help them protect their financial well being no matter what happens.
* Do you have a mortgage, or any other debts? If so, a life insurance policy can provide a way to take care of these outstanding bills along with any others like funeral expenses, legal fees and taxes, and medical expenses.
* Do you own a business?
o For sole proprietors, you're accountable for the debts your business owes. If you do not have enough life insurance to cover these debts, your personal assets could be liquidated to pay them off, possibly leaving little left for your family.
o If you're in a partnership, a life insurance policy where the other partner is the beneficiary means the surviving owner has the cash easily available to buy out your portion of the partnership from the estate.
* Do you want to leave a legacy? Life insurance policies can be used to leave money to your favourite charity.
How much will life insurance cost?
There's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all insurance policy. Insurance professionals need to look at a lot of different things before they come up with a final insurance rate. They'll consider your age, gender, whether you're a smoker, and your past and current health record and family history. Then they'll balance all that with the amount and type of policy that you're applying for.
What types of life insurance are available ?
There are two main types of life insurance, level life insurance also known as term life insurance and decreasing life insurance or mortgage life insurance.
Level life insurance as it suggests is level cover that stays constant during the full term of the insurance and a level lump sum pay out would occur upon death. The sum assured is decided from the outset of the policy.
Decreasing is most often used to cover a mortgage and works exactly the same as level life insurance however the sum assured decreases over the term of the policy this is ideal cover for a mortgage or any decreasing debts that maybe paid off over a period of time.
