Syndicated Financial Columnist, Host of the weekly talk show Steve Savant's Money, the Name of the Game, Scottsdale Arizona
Video Transcript: Today's question is, "How much life insurance should a married couple have?" Well, generally, married couples now are dual income. Everybody's working, it seems like, today. Their mortgage's usually predicated on two incomes, their debt is predicated on two incomes, all the ability for them to pay for college education and future retirement is generally predicated on those two incomes.
So you want to protect both of them and you want to be able to cover all those arenas, including by the way, income if one spouse dies. I want the death benefit to pay off all those obligations and all those indebtedness but I also want it to pay and generate an income so that my spouse can stay in the house, can go ahead and pay off those bills, and meet all our future obligations, especially if we have children involved.
Well, that's our consumer question for today. If you have any questions, just submit them to www.insurancelibrary.com
The amount of life insurance that a married couple should have will depend on many factors. Your income, your amount of debt, whether you have children, the things you want to use your life insurance for, and your budget will all enter in your calculations on how much life insurance to purchase.
You should contact a reputable life insurance agent to help you determine your need, and then help you find the best prices for the policies that best suit your needs.
President, Lane Independent Agency, Southern California
Married couples may have one or two of them earning outside income. They also may have one or more kids nor none. They may have a mortgage, or credit card debts. All these things need to be discussed and considered with a knowledgeable life insurance agent. As a New York Life Agent, I have experience in assisting couples to determine the appropriate insurance coverage. Most folks believe that a simple one or two times your income is enough coverage, but that is not always true. Consider what the survivor would be faced with upon the death of one spouse. We can work out a detailed expense sheet and come up with a plan. We can start with temporary insurance if funds are tight and build to whole life and a growing cash value, as things grow.
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So you want to protect both of them and you want to be able to cover all those arenas, including by the way, income if one spouse dies. I want the death benefit to pay off all those obligations and all those indebtedness but I also want it to pay and generate an income so that my spouse can stay in the house, can go ahead and pay off those bills, and meet all our future obligations, especially if we have children involved.
Well, that's our consumer question for today. If you have any questions, just submit them to www.insurancelibrary.com
You should contact a reputable life insurance agent to help you determine your need, and then help you find the best prices for the policies that best suit your needs.