It is easy to understand the necessity of life insurance when you are 35 and have a mortgage on your house, a business you hope will flourish even after you pass away, and a spouse and children to support. A good life insurance policy allows your your family to pay off outstanding debts and ensures that your business remains afloat, your kids go to college, and your spouse continues to has the financial stability and security you provide. But the traditional understanding was that once you reach a certain age and stage in life, you no longer require life insurance. However, Bob Dylan warned you that the times are changing, and unlike your parents, you may not want to drop life insurance even though you are approaching the age of retirement.
• Lifestyle:
The first concern associated with dropping life insurance is your spouse’s well-being. The baby boomers aren’t like any seniors America has seen before. When compared with their ancestors, they live longer, healthier lives, are more independent, and continue to work, drive, socialize, pursue interests, and serve as contributive members of their communities. But in order to ensure that your spouse can continue to enjoy the lifestyle s/he does for the remainder of his/her years, you may need to provider him/her with financial security. Sit with your significant other and discuss your current spending needs, ranging from daily expenditure, entertaining expenses, contributions to charities, membership charges for libraries, clubs and other organizations, etc. You might be surprised at the amount of money you spend every month, and without your income, your spouse may need to start cutting corners, which is not something s/he should have to do at this age.
• Debt: Any seniors today find that they still have unfinished ties with the world in the form of debts. Whether it is through credit cards or a mortgage, once you pass away, your spouse/children/estate will have to shoulder the burden of these debts. Your life insurance policy could be used to ensure that once you die, all these debts are taken care of.
• Economy:
The current economic crisis has changed the way society functions at a very fundamental level, and once you look at these changes, you may want to think twice about dropping life insurance. Back in the day, children became financially stable and sufficient when they were adults, and ceased to rely on their parents for monetary support after that. However, back in the day, jobs were easier to come by and keep, educational costs weren’t as high they are now, and the world was a less cut-throat place to live in. College degrees are becoming the minimum requirement for many jobs today, so more and more people of all ages, from all backgrounds are pursuing higher education out of necessity. So whether it’s your grandchildren, or even your children, those you leave behind may have to contend with crippling college debt. Even if your children are established professionally and bring in a decent income, you never know when they might fall on hard times. In the past five years, entire corporations have shut down and employees have been laid off by thousands because their companies couldn’t afford them. If you have life insurance and name them as beneficiaries on your policy, you could alleviate a part of their burden, and continue to support them in their financial goals even after you pass away.
• Medical Expenses:
Currently, the American healthcare system is unstable, and medical care is exorbitant, which is why you should measures to ensure that you don’t leave your family a heap of medical bills when you pass away. Your life insurance can make up for any holes, lapses or omissions in your Medicare coverage and ensure that your employees don’t have to pay for it.
• Funeral Costs:
As much as your family would want to honor your memory, they may not be able to afford to conduct the funeral they want, and stretch their finances thin in order to do so. A benefit of life insurance is that part of your pay-out can be put away for your funeral expenses. In order to understand whether or not you still require life insurance you should sit down and talk to your spouse, family, business associates, and loved ones to figure out how much they rely on your support. Then, you can decide whether you should drop life insurance, lower coverage, maintain the coverage you currently have, switch to whole/term life insurance, or increase the premium on your whole life insurance.
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