Financial Q&A

When it comes to life insurance we think the first step is to determine how much you need … which sometimes doesn’t match with what you want. Paying off debts, providing income for your spouse and family, funding college are all common goals for life insurance. In fact, there are good life insurance calculators to help you figure out how much you need at the VA website as well as www.usaa.com.

So, for now we’ll assume you need the minimal amount of $25,000, but please go through the calculation exercise! The next question is how long will you need the insurance? If your need is temporary, say tied to a debt that you’re paying off or kids who will eventually get off the family payroll, term insurance is generally the most cost effective way to secure the coverage you need. A level term policy – a policy that has a level death benefit and level premium (makes for easier budgeting!) for a set number of years may be worth considering. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a policy that you’ll have for as long as you’re walking this planet, permanent insurance (whole life or universal life) may make sense. Although the premium will be higher initially, it would be probably be more cost effective to keep the policy in force over your entire lifetime.

Give one of our advisers a call at (800) 531-3392 to walk through your options.