Life Insurance

Mondays I try to talk about money matters or share ideas on saving money and living within your means. Today I want to share a few thoughts on the importance of life insurance.

If you are single you need to think about having enough life insurance to cover the cost of funeral expenses, possible high medical bills if your death is the result of an accident, and any other debts you may have such as student loans, car, or house debt.  You don't want to leave your parents or siblings responsible for these costs.

If you are married, you need to consider all the items above and also consider how much money your spouse and children would need to live on without you there to provide an income for them. In our case, my husband is the only income provider. We carry a lot more insurance on him for that reason. If he were to die, I want enough money to pay off the house and live 5-7 years at least without having to return to work so I can have all my children in school. If I were to die, he would need to have enough money to cover daycare expenses and possibly house cleaning, etc. Some money to replace his income for at least a few months would help him be available to help the kids through the mourning process. These were all things we tried to consider.

We were hit pretty hard with the reality of the need for life insurance with the birth of our last baby. Deliveries had always been the easy part of pregnancy for me. We went to the hospital thinking we were through the worst part and would just have to support a preemie baby in the NICU. Little did we realize that my body would struggle so much with the delivery that my life was seconds from slipping away. I endured some pretty horrific complications and thanks to wonderful doctors and a loving Heavenly Father,my life was spared.

James and I reconsidered the insurance we carried after all this though. You never know when someone will be called home. It can happen in an instant! So many families in Joplin, Missouri are struggling through this reality right now.

Check online to find calculators that can help you identify how much insurance you should carry. Usually term life insurance is the way to go. It is inexpensive and meets most everyone's needs. This is probably something you have considered doing, but may have pushed off. Don't push it off any longer. Begin researching today and set a date for when you will have completed applications and purchased your policy. If you already have a policy, review the amounts and decide if what you have is sufficient.