“Wait, you mean I need life insurance?”…Asked the inner monologue of my twenty-something (ok, maybe late or even WAY later twenties) year old self.
I wasn’t married, didn’t have kids, and nowhere near retirement. I thought life insurance was an ‘old person thing’ that you were required to purchase at a certain age or after some lifetime achievement.
I was wrong.
GASP! It doesn’t happen often, but that old, but younger me was indeed wrong.
At that time, I had been socked with a pretty serious illness (Cancer) and it was quickly brought to my attention that if I were to suddenly be gone, who would be responsible for my remaining debts and how would my final expenses get covered? Just because I wasn’t supporting a family didn’t mean that I was void of needing life insurance coverage. I didn’t want my mother or significant other stuck with the burden. Losing a loved one causes enough havoc on emotions and I felt it would be wrong to leave my financial obligations to someone else.
During my research for coverage and policies, I learned A LOT, including:
Everyone benefits from having life insurance, but it is true, some people may not need a major policy. Such as:
Those with zero dependents: If you’re single with zero children and nobody depends on your income, then you have no need to be insured.
Children: Unless you were Macaulay Culkin’s parents in the early 90’s, you’re probably not dependent on your child’s income, so there is no reason to purchase life insurance on a child.
Retired folks: If your only income is generated from money that you’ve already earned, you no longer need to insure against income that will be lost if you die. In retirement you’re living off income that is already earned, or income that will be generated from itself, not you. (20Somethingfiance.com)
The people that do need life insurance include:
Those with a mortgage or other large debts: Good and bad debt included.
Those with children: If you have a loved one who is dependent on your income to help pay for your children’s schooling or are a single parent, consider taking out a policy to cover the future expense of your children’s college education.
Those with other non-children dependents: This could include a partner, family member, or someone else who is dependent on your income, or will be dependent on your income in the future.
While the illness and situation were both scary and nerve-racking, I found the process of comparing life insurance coverage and getting quotes online to be very easy. I thought that I would be considered high risk and therefore denied life insurance coverage.
I wasn’t.
I was able to find affordable life insurance with the coverage that I needed. It was SO easy.
- While I still hate the illness I had to suffer through, I am happy it gave me the much needed push to examine the importance of having life insurance – even as a single, childless, non-retiree.
- I was wrong.
- We ALL need to be covered and protected in some way.
