Life insurance provides you with two major benefits. First, it protects loved ones against the financial consequences of your death. Second, it offers living benefits.
The financial consequences of death can be extremely crushing. When you lose a spouse, parent, child, sibling or grandparent, the emotional trauma itself is overwhelming. Yet, the financial consequences can be even more destructive for survivors. If there is no life insurance, the surviving family members can find themselves facing extreme financial adversity. Not only do they have to deal with a possible the loss of an income, but also the death and burial generate unanticipated expense.
Mortality statistics show that a significant number of people die, every year, before they reach their normal life expectancy. If the deceased person happens to have been a breadwinner, the consequences of their premature death can be extremely tragic, in many ways. The survivors are not only dealing with personal grief, but they must also find a way to deal with the financial consequences. There are still daily living expenses, even though one income is now missing.
Funeral costs are not the only immediate expenses that crop up. Other expenses could include such things as executor's fees and estate administration. Outstanding debts like promissory notes, car loans, mortgages, the balance on credit cards and medical expenses must be paid. Not to mention there are death taxes, and state and federal taxes.
Also, consider the future security of loved ones. Living expenses, mortgage payments, and children to raise and educate, are only a few of the concerns, but in the end, it doesn't matter what financial obligations are left behind. The bottom line is bills must be paid, and that takes money. If you want to guarantee your family does not suffer through the financial devastation a premature death can generate, then you must make plans now, and ensure they have adequate funds available.
Some survivors may have a time during which it will be difficult to work, and some may have to think about a survivor's blackout period. This is a time where social security stops paying the surviving spouse, because dependent children are no longer a factor. These events are difficult if no monies are available. Also, some families try to plan for a surviving spouse's retirement needs. Because of the fact that life insurance can generate an immediate estate, at a time when it is most needed, it is a means of estate building.
Life insurance also supplies living benefits, as some types of permanent policies offer a cash benefit. In addition to the death settlement, they accrue a cash value, and this cash value belongs to the policyholder. Some permanent policies also permit withdrawals from the cash benefit, and these can be used for any reason the policyholder chooses. The policyholder can also take out loans from the insurance company, by using the policy's cash value as loan collateral.
Susan Reynolds is the webmaster for a leading South African Insurance Provider who specialises in Life Insurance Options.
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