When looking to buy life insurance, it’s only natural that you’re going to come across a number of different policies. Most likely, you’re going to be overwhelmed, and that’s okay! The insurance industry is incredibly complex, and you may have questions when it comes to comparing different policies. Here are some questions that may pop up when looking at different life insurance policies. 

Do I really need life insurance?

When you’re looking at different policies, one of the most basic questions that can come up is the question of whether or not you really need life insurance. More often than not, the answer to this question is a resounding “yes.” If you’re leaving a family behind, you naturally want to make sure that they’re protected after your death. Life insurance is one of the ways that you can ensure that the people around you can be okay if anything happens to you. It’s a good idea to have life insurance even if you’re someone with no kids. Your life insurance can go to a charity, a person you know, or even an organization that you’re passionate about. 

Which policy should I buy?

When looking at buying life insurance, you should familiarize yourself with the different policies that you can buy. By understanding the policies that are available, you can accurately purchase a plan that suits your needs. 

One of the insurance policies is term life insurance. This is an easier and more inexpensive life insurance option that has a payout of a number of years, like 10, 20, or 30 years. Unfortunately, once this term ends, the policy does as well. This is one of the best ways that you can ensure your family is protected while you all are young. 

Whole life insurance, or permanent life insurance, does exactly what it says on the tin– it lasts your whole life. Unfortunately, it’s more expensive than a term life insurance would be, but there are added benefits, like the ability to receive a portion of the premiums back as a loan. Another benefit of whole life insurance is the ability to use the premium to pay for future premiums through a savings component, also known as the cash value. 

How much do I need?

When you’re looking to buy life insurance, one of the things that you want to keep in mind is the payout of the life insurance policy. This is called the death benefit. This is the money that your beneficiary will receive when you pass away. Your beneficiary is picked when you buy the policy, and can be a single person, multiple people, or even an organization. 

When you’re calculating the amount of life insurance you have, you want to add up the debts that you have– this is all of your loans that you may have and your mortgage if you have one. Then you want to give enough money to allow your beneficiaries to maintain the life that they have, such as post-education if you have children that are minors, and consider how much your funeral will be. This will give you an accurate estimate of how much life insurance you should purchase.