Guest blog by Roy Lederman, CEO, Plan Inc Online
Ahhhhh, the month of September is upon us. The smell of Fall is in the air and my birthday is around the corner. But more importantly September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. Repeat after me, A-ware-ness. Awareness is the word of the month.
Webster’s dictionary defines Awareness as, having knowledge; being informed; alert; knowledgeable.
Many Americans have a general sense of what life insurance is. If I die my beneficiaries will receive an amount (The Death Benefit) to help pay final expenses. This statement is correct in one instance but it only skims the surface.
Now let me drop some knowledge on you and make you better informed about life insurance.
Did you know that 70,000,000 Americans do not have any Life Insurance?
If I was a baker looking to make a life insurance dish, I would guess that the recipe for life insurance usually involves one main ingredient, Love. Think about it. The main reason you buy life insurance is because you love someone. Think of it as the ultimate act of selfless love. In all likelihood, you won’t be around to see or experience the death benefits of a life insurance purchase. But the proceeds of a policy could benefit your loved ones for many years after you’re gone.
A life insurance purchase may be the wisest and most loving purchase you can make during these uncertain economic times. All of us have been hit with painful losses in the value of our homes and in our savings and investment accounts. One source of financial security still stands strong, however, and that’s life insurance.
Your current income or emergency savings may be paying today’s bills. But if you died tomorrow and your income disappeared, how would the bills get paid? While it may seem difficult nowadays to look beyond the bills that are due today, it would be a huge mistake to cancel or cut back on your life insurance if your need for coverage remains. In fact, with less savings to fall back on because of the state of the economy, you NEED to meet with a life insurance professional right away to make sure you have enough life insurance. When you die, the amount of life insurance in place could mean the difference between a future of financial security for your loved ones or a future filled with financial hardship and uncertainty.
Do the math!
If you died today do you have enough life insurance to cover the following immediate and on-going income needs:
- Do you want to be buried? $10,000 in the national average for a funeral. (Nothing Fancy).
- Pay off all liabilities including your Mortgage. If you are renting figure 10 years of rent payments.
- Do you want your children to go to college? PS. College is EXPENSIVE!
- Establish an emergency reserve fund usually 3 – 6 month’s salary.
- At least 50% of your salary needs to be paid yearly to your spouse for their lifetime. (70% if you have children at home).
Do you have enough coverage? I’m assuming probably not.
A recent study determined that approximately 85% of those that have life insurance do not have enough coverage.
Now that you have the AWARENESS, Plan for it Because it Happens!
Peter Dunn a.k.a. Pete the Planner® is an award-winning financial mind and a former comedian. He’s a USA TODAY columnist, author of ten books, and is the host of the popular radio show and podcast, The Pete the Planner Show. Pete is considered one of the foremost experts on financial wellness in the world, but he’s just as likely to talk your ear off about bass fishing.