Do I need life insurance?
If you have financial dependents – in other words: other people who rely on you financially, who’d be financially affected by you dying – it’s likely you have a need for life insurance. This guide explains why.
The simple answer to Who needs life insurance is in most cases: anyone with dependents.
Life insurance is an insurance policy designed to give financial support to the loved ones you’d leave behind if you died – so you may only need it if you have other people who’d be financially affected by your death. This often includes:
- Couples
- Parents
- Single parents
- Homeowners
- Renters
- Self-employed people
Generally speaking, your household and family circumstances determine whether or not you need cover (and how much). This is why the need for life insurance typically arises, or changes, after certain life events – like buying a house, getting married, or becoming a parent.
These are common triggers for buying life insurance; but it’s also worth bearing in mind that the younger you are, the cheaper it can be to buy life insurance. If you’re planning a family, it can be a good idea to get cover in place sooner rather than later.
Life insurance for couples
If you’re one half of a couple, it’s likely you’ll have some shared financial commitments, or that you’ll depend on each other financially in some way. This is usually the case if you’re married, civilly partnered, or cohabiting. If one of you were to die, the other could be left struggling financially. Having life insurance in place is a way of protecting your other half –Helping to give them the means to clear any shared debt and maintain the lifestyle you previously shared.
Life insurance for parents
Naturally, children are financially reliant on their parents – and bringing up children can be expensive. If one parent was no longer around, would your family still be able to pay for everything you’d need to?
Most families budget according to the money they have coming in – so if one income was suddenly missing, it could lead to financial struggles. Life insurance is a way of helping to make sure that your partner and children could cope financially if the worst happened to you.
Life insurance for single parents
If you’re a single parent, your children might be even more financially reliant on you – and therefore financially vulnerable if you died. This could mean it’s even more important to have a plan in place to provide for your children in case you’re no longer here.
Life insurance is a way of helping to make sure the cost of their guardianship would be taken care of – so you’d know they’ll have a lump sum payment they could use for life’s essentials until they reach an age when they can support themselves.
Life insurance for homeowners
A mortgage is the biggest debt most of us ever take on in our lifetime. Having protection in place in case something happens to you can be important – and life insurance can be a great way of achieving this for a mortgage, as it pays out a lump sum if you die.
This money can be used to pay off whatever’s left of your mortgage, so your home is left to your loved ones. You can even get what’s known as ‘decreasing’ life insurance, so the level of cover you have in place decreases over the term of the mortgage.
Life insurance for renters
People often think they don’t need life insurance if they don’t have a mortgage – many renters can have a need for protection too, especially if you’ve got a partner or children.
Your rent is usually your biggest monthly outgoing. Would your family be able to pay it without your income? If not, life insurance is a way of helping to make sure they’d have the money they’d need to keep paying the rent.
Life insurance for the self-employed
Being self-employed means you won’t usually have any protection in place through work – like ‘death in service’ cover, for example. Without this, it can be even more important to get your own plan in place. If you’ve got financial dependents who rely on you having an income, you could have peace of mind , if the worst happened and you were no longer around. Life insurance can give you exactly that.
Polly Summary
- Anyone with financial dependents usually needs life insurance – because it means they have people in their life who rely on them financially in some way
- Life insurance can be a way of making sure the loved ones you leave behind could cope financially without you and your income
- Life insurance is usually cheapest when you’re young, fit and healthy, so it can be a good idea to get some cover in place as soon as you need it
- Your life insurance needs might change as your life changes, so it can also be a good idea to review the cover you have in place after particular life events (like getting married, buying a house, or becoming a parent)
