"I'm not married. Why do I need life insurance?" If you're like many single people — representing nearly 40% of this country's population — you may feel that your financial responsibilities are fairly minimal. But that may not be true.
Being single isn't necessarily the same as being alone. In all likelihood, your death could have a financial impact on other family members. Life insurance
helps you to meet those responsibilities if you are a:
Young Adult
If you are a young adult, you may be paying off — or still accumulating — education loans and other debts. If anything happens to you, who pays the bills you leave behind? Some may be buried with you. If you have few assets, many creditors may simply write off your obligations as uncollectible.
However, many education loans are taken out in the names of other family members, generally with a parent as co-signer. Under law, a co-signer is fully obligated to pay 100% of a debt if the other signer is unable to do so for any reason. Life insurance can help protect your family members from this obligation, in the event of your premature death.
When you die, there will be final expenses. They can run into the thousands of dollars. These obligations — which, once again, could fall on parents and other loved ones — can be met by owning an adequate amount of life insurance.
Perhaps most important of all, life insurance purchased today can protect your future insurability. Though single today, you may eventually have a family. Cash value life insurance, once issued, is in-force for life, assuming all required premiums are paid. This is the case in spite of any changes in your health that may develop in the future. It is even possible to lock in the premium rate for life. Premiums at issue are lower for younger men and women, increasing each year. However, you can "freeze" those rates at the age of issue, so it is possible to pay the same low premium rate when you are 70 that you did when you took out the policy at age 25.
Single Parent
If you are a single parent, you are the sole breadwinner in your household. That means you are responsible for the support and care of your children. What would happen to them if something happened to you? Of course, it is likely that other family members would step in to help. Nonetheless, you know all too well the cost of maintaining your children's standard of living. It takes money. If you died prematurely, your income would die with you. Where would that money come from?
Widow or Widower
If you are a surviving spouse with grown children, life insurance can help protect the estate you and your spouse accumulated over the years. That way, the bulk of it can be passed on to your children and grandchildren someday, rather than seeing it go to Uncle Sam or into state coffers.
In the past, life insurance rates could be prohibitively high for seniors. However, many of today's newer life insurance policies reflect the increased longevity and good health of our country's maturing population. As a result, premiums have become more affordable.
Accumulation is another good reason to consider life insurance, no matter what your current age or situation. The primary purpose of life insurance is to provide death benefit that can replace lost income in the event of a death. However, cash value policies also include an attractive accumulation element. These dollars can be used in the future for whatever purposes the policy owner desires — for a down payment on a home, to supplement retirement income, or to help meet educational tuition bills and other costs.
Be the first to Comment
= external link that opens in new window...