Do you need life insurance?
If you have dependents, the answer is "yes."
Life insurance provides a death benefit for your loved ones, if the unexpected should occur. It can cover one-time expenses such as funeral costs, medical bills, and estate taxes. Life insurance can also provide income for your dependents for years to come.
In some cases, you may consider purchasing extra life insurance, so the additional benefits can help cover a college education, pay for the special care of a loved one, or leave the lasting legacy you envision.
The more people who depend on your income - children, a spouse, or elderly parents - the more life insurance you're likely to need.
In other cases, the answer may also be "yes."
Even if you don't have dependents, you could still benefit from adding life insurance to your overall financial strategy. First, the death benefit can be used to cover your final expenses.
Additionally, some types of life insurance can provide the potential for cash value accumulation, which you may be able to access under certain circumstances through loans or withdrawals.1 You can even use it as supplemental income in retirement.
And if you own a business, you may be surprised to discover that life insurance can play a valuable role in helping you reward and retain employees, reduce your tax liability, and protect the future of your business. Ask your agent for more details about how life insurance can be part of your business continuity strategy.
1 Policy loans will reduce available cash values and death benefits and may cause the policy to lapse, or affect guarantees against lapse. Additional premium payments may be required to keep the policy in force. In the event of a lapse, outstanding policy loans in excess of unrecovered cost basis will be subject to ordinary income tax.