Why Should I Insure My Life?

By Author: Marcus Stalder
Total Articles: 491
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The question of whether to insure one's life or not gets into the mind of many people at least once in their lifetime, especially people with families and financial responsibilities to meet. The simple realization that it's impossible to predict what will happen to you the next day is like a slap in the face for those who really care about their loved ones. Just imagine what will happen if you suddenly die in a car accident the next day, how your family will cope with all the problems once you are gone? That's exactly the situation when having your life insured is a very good way to protect your loved ones.

People are often offended by the concept of insuring one's life because it involves such a disturbing thing as death. Unlike all other types of insurance that provide benefits in unpleasant yet not tragic situations (car crash, illness, house damage, etc.) a person insuring their life clearly understand that he or she is not the one who will gain the benefits, which will be paid out only in case the policyholder dies. However, when you come to think of it from a less selfish perspective the purpose of this insurance ...
... type becomes very clear and rather positive. It's not designed for the person buying the policy to get the benefits but rather their dependents and loved ones.

Let's take an example of a typical family that can benefit from having life insurance coverage. One of the spouses is the main income earner in the household, there are two children being taken care of by the other spouse and the mortgage payments are to be made for the next seven years. A typical middle class family in our country. Now, what would happen if the main income earner would suddenly be diagnosed with a terminal illness and eventually die after an unsuccessful treatment? If there's no life insurance coverage the family is left with no source of income, has to move out of the house because they cannot pay the mortgage and also have significant funeral expenses. This is certainly devastating from the financial point of view and will be tragic taking in consideration the emotional aspect of losing someone you love.

Now when you have life insurance the same situation changes for the better. The amount of benefits provided by a typical policy is set in a way so that the family of the policyholder would have the main income replaced for a period of several years, which is enough to find another source of income without the drastic impact and risk of going bankrupt. Moreover, you can link the life insurance policy to your mortgage account in order to make sure that the debt will be paid off no matter what happens to you. Funeral expenses can also be included to the coverage provisions. So, while being emotionally affected by the loss of a family member, your loved ones won't be suffering financially and will have the necessary money to carry on living. Think about that if you really want your family to be happy no matter what.