At Bedel Financial, we do not sell life insurance, in fact, we do not sell any products. We simply give unbiased financial planning advice to help you and your loved ones reach your goals.
Why are we waking up each morning to go to work? Are we working for ourselves, or are we driven to attain success in order to support the well-being of our family? If your answer is the latter, then you should take a few moments to think about how their lives may be affected from your passing. I assume both your friends and family will be heart-broken, but what about the financial stability of your loved ones? Will your spouse be able to pay off the mortgage without your income? Will your spouse be able to pay for your children’s college education? Will a budget cut stop retirement savings? When the family income is reduced or eliminated, sometimes the family’s short- and long-term goals are unattainable. So will your family be forced to create new realistic goals, or instead, will you anticipate the unexpected by being properly insured? (This is not meant to scare you, but simply make you think.)
Life insurance is an inexpensive way to protect your family from unforeseen events. Upon your passing, the last thing you want to do is leave your spouse and family with unmanageable bills during a time of grieving. None or minimal life insurance protection may force your family to downsize their home, change their standard of living or take on additional credit card or personal debt, just to name a few unfortunate circumstances. In calculating your life insurance need, a number of factors should be taken into consideration:
- Emergency fund (short-term cash needs)
- Outstanding mortgage balance
- Other outstanding debt balances
- Future college education costs (education inflation is between 6-8%)
- Annual living expenses of surviving family members
- Retirement income need for spouse
- Funeral expenses (between $5,000-$10,000)
- Other underfunded savings goals, unique to your situation
When we analyze your life insurance need, we also take into account a number of different factors which may offset your insurance need, such as accumulated wealth. By allowing a professional to listen to your unique situation, you will better understand your family’s financial dependency with the absence of your income. Remember, even though you may have life insurance through your employer, this does not necessarily mean you are properly protected. During this tough economic time, you are one lay-off away from leaving your family completely uninsured.
Proper life insurance protection is one of many important risk management tools. If you would like to discuss your personal situation, please feel free to contact me at anytime.