Life Insurance
Life is unpredictable, and a premature death can leave loved ones with debt and uncertainty about their future that they may not be equipped to handle. Life insurance, aka the most un-selfish product one can buy, can help solve this problem and give you peace of mind that if the unthinkable were to happen to you, then your family would have the financial capability to pay off debt and may even have money for the future.
Life insurance comes in various forms, including the three types below.
Term Life
This type of life policy provides a set death benefit amount for a specified period of time (i.e. $10,000 for 10 years). Term life is used to cover short-term needs such as mortgage, education expenses, and other debt obligations. These policies have no cash value.
Whole Life
This type of life policy provides a set death benefit amount for the lifetime of the insured as long as premiums are paid. Premiums are usually fixed based on the age of issue and usually do not increase with age. These policies do accumulate a cash value.
Universal Life
This type of life policy provides a flexible death benefit amount and flexible premium to adjust to your ever-changing life needs. These policies do accumulate a cash value.
Note: Although some policies do accumulate a cash value, life insurance policies are not financial investment products and do not make a good investment for that reason. See our blog for some more useful information on Life Insurance.
Disability
Long-term disability insurance helps replace some of your earned income for a period of time when you are unable to work at all or can only work a reduced schedule due to a qualifying disability. We know what you are thinking, I’m healthy; there’s no way I will become disabled. But the statistics are there to prove the contrary…Just over 1 in 4 of today’s 20 year-olds will become disabled before they retire.1 You buy life insurance to protect your family if you pre-maturely pass away, maybe consider disability insurance to protect your family if you get hurt.
1U.S. Social Security Administration, Fact Sheet February 7, 2013.
Long Term Care
Long Term Care (LTC) insurance helps protect your finances from being depleted to pay for what is often very expensive in-home or facility care. LTC insurance provides a daily benefit amount (ranging from $50 to $250) that lasts for a chosen benefit period (usually 2, 4, 6, or 10 years) but only after a chosen waiting period (usually 30, 60 or 90 days) is met. The daily benefit amount may be reduced depending on where the care is received and the policy form selected.
See our Blog for some more useful information and some popular myth debunking!
NOTE: This list is not exhaustive. You should always meet with a qualified insurance professional to truly identify which coverages are important to protect yourself and your loved ones.