September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, a good time to take a fresh look at your life insurance coverage and make sure it still meets your family’s needs. Life insurance can help protect the people who depend on you financially. It can help with immediate expenses such as funeral costs, outstanding bills and a mortgage, while also providing support for everyday living expenses, education and other long-term needs.
When was the last time you reviewed your coverage? Has your family grown or changed? Have your financial responsibilities changed? If you have life insurance through your employer, do you know how much coverage you have and what happens to it if you leave your job?
This September, take a few minutes to review your life insurance needs. Contact the Home Office at 800.533.6682 to learn more about the life insurance products available through FCSU Financial®.
When the Kids Grow Up, Does Your Life Insurance Still Matter?
The years seem to go by quickly. One day you’re paying for braces, school activities and college expenses, and the next your children are living on their own, starting careers and building lives of their own. As your family’s financial needs change, it’s natural to wonder whether the life insurance you purchased years ago is still necessary. The answer may be yes. Life insurance isn’t only about providing for children. As you move into the next stage of life, your coverage may serve different purposes and help protect the financial plans you and your spouse have built together.
Your Children May Still Need Support
Even if your children are adults, they may not be completely financially independent. A child attending college, finishing a degree or getting established in a career may still rely on your financial support. Life insurance can help provide funds to continue those commitments if something happens to you before they are completed. It can help cover expenses such as tuition, housing and other costs that may continue even after a child leaves home.
Consider Who Depends on You
Children aren’t the only people who may depend on your income. You may also provide financial support to a spouse, aging parent, adult child or another family member. If someone relies on you financially, consider what would happen to that support if you were no longer there. Life insurance can help provide resources for the people who continue to depend on you.
Protect Your Spouse’s Financial Future
Once children are grown, many couples begin focusing more heavily on retirement. The loss of one spouse, however, can significantly change a household’s financial picture. Life insurance can provide your surviving spouse with money to help cover everyday expenses, pay outstanding debts and maintain financial stability while adjusting to a new situation.
Social Security survivor benefits may also be part of the equation, but they may not fully replace the income that was lost. The timing and amount of benefits can vary depending on individual circumstances.
Don’t Forget About Final Expenses
An unexpected death can bring more than emotional challenges. It can also create immediate expenses that a family may not have anticipated.
Funeral and burial costs, final medical bills, legal and administrative expenses and other costs associated with settling an estate can add up quickly. Life insurance can provide funds to help cover these expenses without requiring your family to immediately dip into savings or sell other assets.
Build a Financial Safety Net
Most financial experts recommend maintaining an emergency fund to help cover unexpected expenses. But when a household loses an income, even a well-established emergency fund may not be enough. Life insurance can provide an additional financial cushion for survivors. Having those funds available can give a family more time and flexibility to make thoughtful financial decisions rather than immediately using savings or taking on debt to meet everyday obligations.
Protect the Lifestyle You’ve Built
Many households make financial decisions based on two incomes. Mortgages, car loans, household expenses and other commitments may have been manageable because both spouses contributed financially. If one income suddenly disappears, those same obligations don’t necessarily disappear with it. Life insurance can give the surviving spouse greater flexibility to manage those expenses and protect the financial plans the family has worked hard to build.
Review Your Coverage as Life Changes
Your need for life insurance doesn’t necessarily end when your children leave home. In many cases, the reason for having coverage simply changes.
Marriage, home ownership, retirement planning, changes in income and family responsibilities can all affect how much coverage you may need. That’s why reviewing your life insurance periodically is an important part of a sound financial plan.
At FCSU, we’re committed to helping members protect the people and financial goals that matter most at every stage of life. If your children have grown and you’re wondering whether your current life insurance coverage still fits your needs, it may be time for a review.
Your family may have changed. Your life insurance plan should keep up.