If something happens to you, the last thing you want is to leave a financial burden for your family. Unpaid debts, funeral costs, educational expenses, and other financial obligations can devastate your family, especially if you were the primary breadwinner. An affordable way for you to make sure your family is taken care of after you’re gone is to purchase a term life insurance policy.
A term life insurance policy provides a death benefit to your beneficiaries when you pass away during the term the policy when it is in effect. A term policy is usually in effect for a term that you choose, which can range from 5 to 30 years. The monthly premium payments remain the same throughout the term of the policy. If you decide to renew your policy at the end of the term, your premium payments may increase. A term policy does not accumulate any cash value, which means your monthly premiums will be lower than other forms of life insurance.
You can choose any amount of term life insurance you want. A general rule is that the death benefit amount should be ten times your annual income. For instance, if your annual income is $50,000, then you should have $500,000 in term life insurance. You can also name any person, organization, or charity as a beneficiary. When the beneficiary receives the death benefit, they can use the money any way they choose. Hopefully, you will choose beneficiaries who will be responsible with a sudden large amount of cash. They can receive the death benefit in one lump sum, or they can receive annuity payments in monthly installments.
Your term insurance policy will come to an end at some point. There are a couple of things you can do when this happens. You can either renew your policy or you can convert your term insurance to a permanent policy. Keep in mind that if you renew or convert your term policy, your monthly rate will go up. Talk to your local insurance agent to get the details about the best term insurance policy for your situation.