How Much Life Insurance Should You Have?
Purchasing life insurance is always a good decision to make, but the hardest part usually is choosing how much to get. Trying to decide how much life insurance to buy is often a big question people discuss with their spouses and with their life insurance agents, and the answer to this question always varies depending the person's unique life circumstances. Here are the top factors you should consider when buying life insurance.
Funeral expenses
One thing to consider is that many people use life insurance proceeds to pay for funeral expenses. If you already have your funeral paid for or a fund set up for this, then you would not need to worry about covering these costs with your life insurance policy. If you plan on your family using life insurance to cover these costs, you should figure in at least $10,000 for this expense, but many people figure even more than this just to be safe.
The debt you have
When determining how much life insurance to have, you should also think about the debt you have. You should periodically add up how much you owe on your house, cars, and credit card bills and make sure that your family would receive enough life insurance proceeds to cover all these things. By doing this, your family would not have to worry about the burden of paying these expenses if you passed away suddenly.
Your spouse and kids and their ages
Another factor to think about in this decision is your spouse and your children, as well as their ages. If you have young kids, you may need a bigger life insurance policy to leave your spouse with enough money to cover the costs of raising the kids and sending them to college. If your kids are older, you may not need to leave as much money for these types of expenses.
Your current income and finances
Finally, you may want to factor in your current income and financial situation in this decision. If you choose a policy with a really high payout, it will likely cost a lot more than a policy would cost if it had a lower payout amount.
Some agents may recommend purchasing a policy that offers a payout of approximately 10 times the amount of money you make, but you can base your decision on the factors listed here and your own needs. You can learn more by talking to a life insurance agent today.