I currently have life insurance from my employer, but its only for $10,000. I figure if I were to die that would barely be enough to cover my funeral and my poor kids would be left with nothing. Lately I have been wanting to find some real life insurance, but have no idea where to begin. Does anyone have some advise?
It's good that you are looking into additional life insurance coverage. First you want to figure out what type of coverage (whole or term), how much you want in coverage ($2,000 to $100,000 or more) and how much you want to spend on that coverage (premium). Do you want whole life or term? Lots of advantages with whole life, the ability to earn a cash value which enables you to borrow against it in case of a financial emergency. What you want to look for when considering whole life is if there is a reduction in benefit amount after reaching a certain age, most common is 70 years of age. At that time the benefit amount can decrease by 50% (benefit $100,000 decreases to $50,000). Also you want to make sure if the premium will remain the same or if it increases over time. Term life is coverage for a specific number of years. That's it. Usually in 5 year terms and premiums can increase upon the next renewal period. Age plays a big factor and effects how much the premium will be. Term life is probably best to purchase at a younger age when premiums are lower. You may want to start by reading over your employer's insurance policy. Researching the company's insurance agency to make a comparison with another agency you might be interested in. I hope this helps.
