Make Living Easier With Life Insurance

“Summer time and the livin’ is easy”—an appropriate song lyric for this time of year. But is living really easy? I don’t think so. Living can be very hard and so can dying—especially without proper protection for your family. The easy part is to take time right now and evaluate your particular situation. What would happen if you died too soon?

The subject of life insurance is a difficult one to discuss. Like developing a will or designating a guardian for our children, it centers on the idea that we are no longer here to enjoy and care for our loved ones. No amount of insurance can replace the emotional support we give the special people in our lives. However, it can provide them with an income they can use to continue—and grow—their lives.

There has never been a better time to consider life insurance as part of your financial plan and it is always good to review. Three common options are term life, whole life and universal life insurance.

Term life insurance can offer coverage from one year to 30 years or longer; it is often purchased to provide funds for financial obligations such as a mortgage or child’s tuition in the event the policy owner dies. A term policy contains no cash accumulation features.

Whole life insurance generally provides coverage throughout a person’s life with level premium payments, as well as a level death benefit. Unlike term insurance, a whole life policy may gradually accumulate a cash value, which you may be able to borrow against while the policy is still active or cash in upon surrender of the policy.

Universal life insurance offers more flexibility than whole life insurance. It allows policy owners to increase premium payments, subject to certain limits, which may increase the cash value of the policy. The death benefit, subject to continued insurability, may also be increased.

Selecting life insurance protection that’s right for your situation is a deeply personal decision. Your loved ones’ immediate and future expenses, the income that will be lost if you die and the amount of premium you can afford to pay are several of the factors that need to be considered. Do everything you can to make livin’ easy. TPW