September is Life Insurance Awareness Month

Now that summer is winding down and vacations are over, many people are starting to prioritize to get their financial lives in order prior to the end of the year. When many people think of financial planning, life insurance is one area that is often overlooked in the planning process. This article will discuss some of the important uses of life insurance and how it can be used to help protect families and loved ones from an unexpected death.

One inevitable fact is that there is currently no cure for death. It is a fact of life that many people do not like to discuss, but planning for the unexpected can help provide a gift for loved ones that could last for a lifetime or more. No one hopes or plans for an unexpected death, yet it happens every single day somewhere in the United States.  Here are some life insurance statistics:

·         30% of U.S. Households have no life insurance at all, only 44% have individual life insurance.

·         50% of U.S. Households (58 million) say they need more life insurance.

·         The average amount of life insurance for U.S. adults has declined to $167,000, down $30,000 from the average coverage in 2004

·         4 in 10 households with children under 18 now include a mother who is either the sole or primary earner for her family, yet among women who have life insurance, their coverage is only 69% of the average coverage on men in a similar capacity

Here are some of the main reasons consumers purchase life insurance:

·         Debt Repayment (Mortgage, Credit Cards, Car Payments, Family Loans, Co-Signing on Financial Aid etc…)

·         Income Replacement for the surviving spouse

·         Final Expenses

·         Estate Tax/Estate Planning

·         Transferring Wealth to Future Generations

·         College Planning

There are different types of life insurance to meet a variety of needs and budgets. Some of the more popular types are term insurance, universal life, indexed universal life and whole life to name a few. Another is employer-sponsored group life insurance. Many people believe that they are properly covered through their workplace coverage. Although in rare occasions this may be true, most time the employee either does not have enough coverage or lacks portability of coverage. Many people find that after leaving or being laid off from a job that they no longer have life insurance coverage. To compound matters, the employee may have a health condition that will not allow them to get coverage on their own. This is one of the most overlooked areas of life insurance.

The best way to find out about what your life insurance needs are is to speak with an independent life insurance agent about the proper amounts and plans of insurance. An independent agent will have a large amount of highly rated insurance carriers to choose from. This allows the agent to provide a comprehensive solution versus a single product based agent. Most independent agents will perform a complimentary analysis of your existing policies as well.

As the saying goes “If you can’t predict the future, you must plan for it”. Call your local independent agent to ensure that you and your family have the proper life insurance coverage in place.

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 Phil Richard Insurance, a full lines agency

  Phil Richard and Kathryn Coggeshall

 978-774-4338 or 1-800-287-4338

W L Winston Insurance Agency, a full lines agency

  Peter Lafond, 978-977-9467

 Circle Insurance Agency, Inc, a full lines agency

  Kathy Boudreau, 978-777-7030

 PJ Woods Insurance Agency, a full lines agency

Bill Woods, 978-531-2777

 Cross Insurance, a full lines agency

Tim Tramonte, (978) 532-5445

 Was Insurance Agency

 health, dental, life, disability and employee benefits insurance

Bob Was 978-887-9651

 Peabody Wealth Advisors

 life, disability, and long term care insurance for individuals

 Michael Murray,  978 -304-1212

 Aflac Insurance, voluntary employee benefits

  Chris Feazel, 617-331-4210