When was the last time you looked over your life insurance policy? If you’re not sure, this is a good moment to double-check your policies.
September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, a program organized by industry experts to educate customers on the value of life insurance as part of their overall financial planning. Life insurance is a low-cost monthly investment that protects individuals who rely on your income, such as your spouse or children.
If you have individuals who rely on you financially, you should seriously consider life insurance. A term policy is quite affordable I believe most people underestimate how much it will cost.
What month is National insurance Month?
September has been declared “National Life Insurance Awareness Month” by Congress, and most states have followed suit. The National Life Insurance Awareness Month campaign is projected to attract more than 100 insurance companies and industry trade groups.
While many Americans understand the importance of life insurance to safeguard loved ones, far too many do not have appropriate coverage. The goal of National Life Insurance Awareness Month is to get people thinking about their life insurance needs. This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the advantages of life insurance for you and your family.
Protecting Your Loved Ones with Life Insurance
The size of your family, the nature of your financial responsibilities, your professional stage, and your ambitions will all influence how much life insurance you need. When you’re young, for example, you may not have a large need for life insurance. However, when your duties grow and your family expands, you’ll need extra life insurance.
Here are some questions to consider when determining the amount of life insurance you require:
- What urgent financial obligations would your family have if you died (e.g., debt payments, funeral expenses)?
- How much money would you like to leave for unique circumstances after you die, such as supporting your children’s education, making charitable gifts, or leaving an inheritance to your children?
Types of life insurance policies
Term life and permanent (cash value) life insurance are the two most common types of life insurance. Term policies provide life insurance coverage for a set amount of time. Your beneficiary receives the policy’s death benefit if you die during the coverage period. Unless the policy automatically renews for a new time, if you live to the end of the term, the insurance simply terminates. Term insurance are normally offered for one to thirty years and can be renewed until you reach the age of 95 in some situations. A common type of guaranteed level term insurance keeps both the premium and the quantity of coverage constant for a certain length of time.
Permanent insurance policies give coverage for the rest of your life, regardless of your health, as long as you pay the premiums required to keep the policy active. A percentage of each premium payment is deposited into the cash value account. The cash value contribution accounts for a major amount of each premium payment throughout the policy’s early years. The fraction of your premium payment devoted to the cash value reduces as you get older and the genuine cost of your insurance rises. As long as the policy is in effect, the cash value grows tax-deferred. You can borrow against the cash value of your policy, but outstanding policy loans can lower your beneficiary’s death payout. You’ll be entitled to the cash value of the policy minus any debts and surrender charges if you surrender it before you die (i.e., cancel your coverage).
- You usually make level (equal) premium payments for the rest of your life. The death benefit as well as the cash value are fixed and guaranteed (subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company). The only thing you have to do after purchasing the coverage is pay the fixed premium.
- Universal life: As long as the policy expenses and the cost of insurance coverage are met, you can pay premiums at any time and in any amount (within certain limits). The amount of insurance coverage can be altered, and the cash value will grow at a predetermined interest rate that may fluctuate over time.
- Variable life: You pay a flat premium for your entire life, just like whole life. The death benefit and cash value, on the other hand, change based on the success of investments in subaccounts. A subaccount is a collection of investor funds that is professionally managed to achieve a specific investment goal. You choose which subaccounts the cash value should be invested in.
- A mixture of universal and variable life is known as variable universal life. Premiums can be paid at any time and in any amount (within restrictions), as long as policy expenses and insurance coverage costs are satisfied. The level of insurance coverage can be modified, and the cash value fluctuates according to the performance of the subaccounts’ assets.
With so many different types of life insurance policies to choose from, you’re likely to find one that fits your needs and your budget.
Choosing and changing your beneficiaries
When you buy life insurance, you must name a primary beneficiary who will receive the policy’s proceeds. A person, business, or other legal entity might be your beneficiary. You can identify several beneficiaries and tell them how much of the net death benefit they will get. If you include your minor child as a beneficiary in your will, you should also name an adult to be the child’s guardian.
What type of insurance is right for you?
Consider the cost of the policy and any potential savings before determining whether to acquire term or permanent life insurance. Keep in mind that your insurance demands will likely vary as your family, employment, health, and financial situation evolves, so you’ll want to factor in some flexibility when making your pick. In any event, here are some common reasons for purchasing life insurance, as well as which sort of insurance may be most appropriate for the situation.
Mortgage or long-term debt: For the vast majority of people, their home is both one of their most valued assets and the source of their most significant debt. An early death could result in the loss of a principal source of income that could be utilized to pay the mortgage. Term insurance, which provides life insurance for the duration of the mortgage, can compensate for the lost income. If you die before your mortgage is paid off, your term life insurance pays your beneficiary an amount equal to the remaining mortgage debt.
Protection for your family: Your income not only covers day-to-day expenses, but also offers a cushion for future expenses such as college tuition and retirement income. Twenty-year or longer term life insurance can cover immediate monetary needs as well as provide income for your survivor’s future needs. Cash value life insurance, such as universal life or variable life insurance, is another option. Even if you don’t die, the cash value of these plans can be used to support future income demands for college or retirement.
Small business requirements: To protect their business interests, small business owners require life insurance. As a business owner, you must consider what would happen to your company if you pass away unexpectedly. Life insurance can help pay for the purchase of a partner’s or shareholder’s interest from a deceased person’s estate. Life insurance can also be utilized to cover the costs of a key employee’s untimely death.
Review your coverage
Once you’ve purchased a life insurance policy, make sure to evaluate it on a regular basis because your demands will vary over time. Your review can be aided by an insurance agent or a financial professional.
Is September National life insurance Month?
Every September, the United States commemorates National Life Insurance Awareness Month. Life insurance businesses from across the country join forces to increase awareness about the necessity of life insurance during this educational program.
What is National insurance Day?
On June 28, National Insurance Awareness Day, individuals, families, and businesses are encouraged to evaluate their insurance plans and take steps to avoid being underinsured.
How much does life insurance usually cost?
The average monthly cost of life insurance is $27. This is based on Quotacy statistics for a 40-year-old buying a $500,000 term life policy with a 20-year term, which is the most frequent term length and amount sold. However, life insurance rates vary greatly depending on the applicant, insurer, and policy type.
What do u mean by insurance?
Insurance is a contract in which an individual or entity receives financial protection or compensation from an insurance firm in the form of a policy. The firm pooled the risks of its clients to make payments more reasonable to the insured.
What is the month of October awareness?
During awareness months, you can educate, promote, advocate, and raise funds for a variety of issues. Here are some ways you can participate this month.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, according to the American Cancer Society. For more than two decades, the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer has brought communities, businesses, and individuals around the country together in the fight to eradicate breast cancer, from large-scale traditional walks to unique local experiences and celebrations.
October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month, a time to honor the hundreds of thousands of people living with the condition in the United States. Every October, the Spina Bifida Association publishes community experiences that inspire us to promote awareness and help those impacted by Spina Bifida. Here are ten ways to promote awareness this holiday season.
Congress established Mental Disease Awareness Week (MIAW) in 1990 to educate and raise awareness about mental illness. Every year during the first full week of October, it takes place.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness is concentrating the week on their new awareness campaign, “Together for Mental Health,” which emphasizes the necessity of pushing for better mental health treatment for persons with serious mental illnesses (SMI). We’ll be featuring folks with lived experience every day this week to talk about SMI and the need for better crisis response and mental health care.
Every year, Mental Health America celebrates Mental Illness Awareness Week by reaching out to millions of individuals via the media, local events, and online screenings. In contrast to Mental Health Month, which emphasizes the importance of mental health and wellness for everyone, Mental Illness Awareness Week is an opportunity to raise awareness of mental illnesses and how they influence people’s daily lives.
Join the National Psoriasis Foundation in commemorating World Psoriasis Day on Friday, October 29. Psoriasis is a disease with an unknown etiology, marked by inflammation induced by immune system dysfunction. Psoriasis is a skin condition that causes inflammation in the body and affects over eight million people in the United States.
What percentage of the population has life insurance?
According to LIMRA’s 2020 Insurance Barometer Study, 54 percent of all people in the United States were insured by some sort of life insurance in 2020. The following are some of the study’s other findings:
- While most consumers favoured in-person transactions in the past, by 2020, they chose other distribution means such as phone, mail, and online.
- The percentage of consumers who choose internet/online commerce has increased from 17% in 2011 to 29% in 2020. This rise is due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which has reduced the appeal of in-person purchases.
- According to LIMRA, there was a 16 percent “needs gap” in 2020, which corresponds to 41 million consumers who claim they need life insurance but don’t have it.
- The cost of term life insurance is regularly underestimated by Americans. More than three times the actual cost of life insurance is estimated by half of the population.