Owning a life insurance policy may seem a little ridiculous to some people. After all, it is not like auto insurance or health insurance. The buyer of a life insurance policy is not likely to get any direct benefit from the purchase. So why bother with a life insurance policy? There are actually quite a number of good reasons.
Perhaps the single most important reason to have a life insurance policy has to do with those you will leave behind. You've shared your life with these people, and the last thing you want to do is place financial burdens on them once you are gone. What if you die after a lengthy hospital stay? Sure, you have life insurance, but chances are that any serious illness will exhaust that coverage and still leave deductibles and expenses above and beyond those covered. A good solid life insurance policy will take care of any medical expenses that were not covered by your health coverage.
In like manner, a good life insurance policy insures that your final expenses are taken care of in a way that lifts much of the burdens of financial matters off your survivors and allows them time to grieve. While many funeral parlors have pre-paid plans and there are insurance packages that specifically address death expenses, chances are neither of these options will completely cover everything. Just as your life insurance policy kicked in and made up the difference in your last medical bills, it can help cover those variable expenses related to your funeral and final resting-place.
Moving beyond the matter of your final expenses, there are other financial matters your life insurance policy will address. As an example, do you own your home? Or to be more specific, is your home owned jointly by you and the bank? If you are the sole source of income for your family, that revenue stream will dry up at your demise. Funds from your life insurance policy can keep the family afloat as they work through their grief and face the future. And that policy can ensure they have a roof over their heads while they adjust to you not being around.
A good life insurance policy not only provides assistance at the time of death; it also can have an influence well in to the years to come. For instance, careful planning will help you determine how much insurance you need to take out in order to help your family with immediate needs, but also have funds set aside that can help your children attend college later in life. By making sure your life insurance policy is adequate, you have made it possible for your children to continue their education and enter into careers that have meaning for them. What better legacy can a parent leave a child?
Also, your life insurance policy could provide funds that would assist your spouse in later years as well. Assisted living facilities and retirement homes are expensive. By making sure your life insurance policy allows for this possibility, you can help take care of the person you had planned on living with into ripe old age.
Even if you do not have a family to support, or if you are older and no longer have any relatives who depend on you financially, a life insurance policy is still a good idea. Chances are that you do have a cherished friend or a non-profit organization that means a great deal to you. Charities that depend on donations to keep going would welcome your support. If there is a charity or a place of worship that has occupied a special place in your heart, consider using life insurance as a way to ensure that the organization will continue to touch lives for many years to come. In like manner, if there is a close friend who has been there for you through thick and thin, provide him or her with one last parting gift of your resources, as one more way to let your friend know you care.
A life insurance policy can provide a lot of piece of mind. While it is true the policy will not directly benefit the buyer, it will provide the very important benefit of knowing that people and places that are near to your heart will continue to know you care.
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