Hi Adam. I can’t afford life insurance as I am on a fixed income but I do not want my family to be burdened once I am gone. What suggestions would you have for me?
Term Life Insurance
There are seemingly endless types of insurances that you can buy but the only one you are guaranteed to use is Life Insurance. Two of the more common types of life insurance are term life and whole life (final expense). Term policies are the least expensive option and offer higher death benefits but as you get older these policies are harder to find. In general, term life insurance is designed to cover an expense. For example, you would take out a 30 yr term policy to cover a 30 year mortgage. Or you take out a 20 year term policy to cover a child’s college fund. In doing so you insure that if you pass away during that time period (or term) those expenses are covered. And with regards to term life, if you out live the term of the policy you get no benefits.
Whole Insurance
Whole Life Insurance is more expensive than term life policies but they never expire and the costs never increase as you age. If a person is looking to simply cover their funeral costs then whole life policies are generally the way to go. In Mississippi, a $10,000 whole life policy can be purchased for a little more than $1.50 per day. And whole life policies accumulate cash value. So, not only will you get the guaranteed death benefit but the policy will also pay out any cash value added.
Life insurance rates are based on age and have health questions to qualify. So, the longer you wait the more expensive it becomes and your health could get to the point where you can no longer qualify medically.
-Adam