ENSURING YOUR LIFE MATCHES YOUR LIFE INSURANCE
To be effective, your life insurance needs to be a living document. Your policy shouldn’t be sitting in a drawer for years, gathering dust; it should be growing and changing along with you. You should review your policy on a regular basis, especially when you reach the following milestones.
Marriage
Congratulations! You’ve just brought someone in your life in a big way! You should make sure your policy reflects this by checking that your coverage is still adequate. You may also consider getting insurance for your spouse, adding them to your beneficiary list, and including any name changes.
Growing Your Family
Whether through birth or adoption, the added responsibilities of caring for a child may make more coverage necessary. The skills of a child’s primary caretaker are not easily replaced, and child care can be expensive. As with marriage, this is a great time to update that beneficiary list!
Home Ownership
If you’ve purchased a new home or have refinanced your mortgage, extra coverage may be necessary. You need to ensure your beneficiaries can continue meeting mortgage requirements after you’re gone.
Savings Goals
Your family’s financial goals, such as funding a college education or saving for retirement, may be affected by your death. Insurance proceeds may be used to help make these goals attainable. Also, if your policy allows for loans or withdrawals, you can supplement retirement income or tuition during your lifetime. Use these loans and withdrawals sparingly. They can reduce the cash value of your policy and increase the chance the policy will lapse.
Change of Employer
If you change jobs or become a small-business owner yourself, it’s important to know how this transition will impact your policy. For starters, you need to factor in the loss of your old employer’s benefit plan. Then, if you have a new employer, you can add their benefits. If you are your own boss, consider ways your policy can be used as a tool to help your business, including naming business partners as beneficiaries.
Estate Planning
Life insurance is included in almost every estate plan and serves as a source of support, education-expense coverage, and liquidity to pay death taxes, pay expenses, fund business buy-sell agreements, and sometimes to fund retirement plans.
The Law Offices of DuPont & Blumenstiel are experts in estate planning law. We are ready to help with all of your estate questions and answers. Call us today and ask about our estate planning services.