The death of a breadwinner in a family can be financially catastrophic. At the ages people are when they start their families, the cost of insuring against a premature death is very small.
Taking out life insurance should be a no-brainer but many people who need life cover, simply do not have it. The reasons why people do or do not have life insurance are many and humans are not purely rational when it comes to financial decisions.
Studies show that while most people agree they need life insurance, they just don’t seem to be able to get around to it.
One way to overcome this procrastination is to think about how good you will feel just to get this niggle out of the way.
People struggle to know what is the right amount of cover they should have.
Life cover is designed to provide a family with some or all of the income lost due to the death of a breadwinner. This can be calculated by looking at the total annual ongoing expenses the family will need to cover, less any social benefits or income from other sources and the difference is the amount of income that needs to be replaced.
Death benefit is usually paid out in one lump sum. However, the benefit can be paid out as a regular income payment over many years, especially for those worried about their ability to manage their financial affairs well.
The majority of people have protection, think of public servants and employees of large multi-national companies who typically benefit from very generous protection packages as part of their conditions of employment.
Those missing out on these essential benefits include employees of some smaller businesses and the self-employed.
Financial advice involves focusing on your goals like children’s education, retiring comfortably, etc., and a key part of any financial planning strategy is to protect what you already have by ensuring that if you are not around, the family’s financial situation will at least be protected.