choosing a life insurance beneficiary Archives

Do I Need Life Insurance if I Don’t Have Dependents?

If you’re single and have no children, you’re not alone in thinking that life insurance is not a necessity for you. But even if you don’t have anyone who financially depends on you. There are a lot of reasons why life insurance is important. Not only do situations change over time, but if you wait until you’re older to purchase a life insurance policy, it will cost more than it would if you were to purchase one right now!

Why You Need Life Insurance Even if You Don’t Have Dependents

You Might Have Dependents One day

Life is full of unknowns, including where your future will take you. Just because you don’t have any dependents now doesn’t mean you won’t later on in life. If you meet that special someone, and get married and decide to have children later in life, you will need to consider a life insurance policy. When it comes to life insurance, it’s generally best to think about the future, rather than your present situation.

You Want to Help with Your Funeral Expenses

Even though you might not have any dependents, someone in your family is going to have to be financially responsible for your death. On average, a funeral can cause around $15,000. Which is a lot of money to expect your family to take on in the event of your passing. Having a life insurance policy, even if it’s a basic one such as a final expense life insurance policy, can ensure that these expenses are covered. So no one in your family has to be financially burdened with the costs.

You’re a Family Member’s Caretaker, or Might Become One

As parents or grandparents age and potentially become ill, one of their children/grandchildren will often take on the responsibility of taking care of them. This can include cleaning the house, cooking, helping pay bills, and doing any number of household chores. If you are or might end up in this situation, and something were to happen to you, everything that you did for your parents would have to be done by a nurse. Which could cost your family money they might not have. Having a life insurance policy would provide your family members with enough money to get the care that they need.

You Have Other Potential Beneficiaries

Just because you don’t have any dependents, doesn’t mean that you don’t have possible beneficiaries. It could be anyone in your life that could benefit from a life insurance payout. Like your parents, siblings, or anyone else you choose to leave money to.

Finding the Right Plan

A life insurance policy is the right choice for everyone, no matter if you have dependents or not! But if you’re not sure which policy is best for you, your best bet is to compare policies from different companies. There are many great affordable life insurance options to choose from that will provide enough money for your beneficiaries, for a low monthly price. The best way to find the right life insurance policy for you and your specific needs is by working with an agent who specializes in life insurance.

We have provided the top life insurance companies in the nation below; each offers hassle-free assistance and the most competitive rates. Always check multiple sites to make sure you have bargaining power and know the advantages of each company. Make sure a hard time isn’t made harder by a financial burden, check life insurance rates today.

How To Choose a Life Insurance Beneficiary

If you’re searching for a life insurance policy, you probably have a checklist of what you want in a policy, such as affordability and adequate coverage. But have you thought about who you will name as your beneficiary or beneficiaries? You want to make sure that you designate the right person/people as your beneficiaries so that your final wishes are honored. So how should you go about choosing a beneficiary?

Choosing A Beneficiary

When choosing your beneficiary, you should be aware of some special considerations in the case of certain kinds of beneficiaries:

Underage beneficiaries– If you have children, you might want to name them as beneficiaries of your life insurance policy. But you need to be aware that if they are not of age to receive the death benefits, you will have to set up a trust or appoint a guardian to control the money until they are of age.
Unreliable beneficiaries- If the person that you would like to name as beneficiary is not responsible with money, you might want to consider putting the money into a trust or appointing someone else to manage it. In this case, you can provide instructions for how the money should be given out.
Secondary beneficiaries– Sometimes it’s good to have a second beneficiary listed in case something happens to your first beneficiary: for example, if they pass away before you and you don’t get a chance to update your policy. The secondary beneficiary will be listed as a contingent beneficiary, and will receive the money if the primary beneficiary is unable to.
No beneficiaries– If you feel like you don’t want to leave any money behind to anyone, but you have a policy and don’t want it to go to waste, you do have the option of choosing no beneficiary. You can put all the money into a trust, pay off debts, or leave it to a charity of your choice.

When you choose a beneficiary, make sure that you have all the necessary information listed on your policy, such as their name, their relationship to you, and how your insurance company can reach them. In addition, make sure that you notify your beneficiary so that they are aware of your policy; you should also be sure to leave them a copy of any documents they need for when the time comes to claim the death benefits. This will make the process go more smoothly for them at a difficult time.

Your family has financial obligations that will not go away when you are gone; they will need your help more than ever with expenses. Not only will they have to pay for your funeral expenses, but they will have bills to stay on top of without your help, debts, and more. The last thing you want them to worry about is money while they are grieving. There are many great affordable life insurance options to choose from that will provide enough financial security for your family, for a low monthly price. The best way to find the right life insurance policy for you and your specific needs is by working with an agent who specializes in life insurance. We have provided the top life insurance companies in the nation below; each offers hassle-free assistance and the most competitive rates. Always check multiple sites to make sure you have bargaining power and know the advantages of each company. Make sure a hard time isn’t made harder by a financial burden, check life insurance rates today.

Common Questions Expectant Mothers Have About Life Insurance

If you’re expecting a baby, congratulations! Before you know it, you will be holding your bundle of joy in your arms, and your strong instinct to protect your child will kick in. As an expectant mother, you might have some fears and questions about how you plan to raise your child and how you plan to keep them safe for their whole life, some of these questions and concerns might revolve around life insurance. Can you get a policy while pregnant? Will it be expensive because pregnancy is a pre-existing condition? What kind of life insurance should you get and how much coverage will you need? All of these are really good questions that we are going to answer for you!

Can I Get Life Insurance if I’m Pregnant?

When applying for life insurance, pre-existing conditions can either drive up the price of your policy, or prevent you from getting a policy altogether, so it is reasonable to wonder whether your pregnancy could prevent you from getting a life insurance policy. But as long as you apply early in your pregnancy and you have no medical complications, there is absolutely no reason you cannot get an affordable policy with substantial coverage to protect your unborn baby. But what about if you are further along in your pregnancy or have medical complications? Well, you can still get a great plan, but insurance companies will probably not insure you until after your baby is born.

How Much Will It Cost?

Life insurance prices are based on a number of factors, including your health, age, and family history. The younger and healthier you are, the cheaper a life insurance policy will be; life insurance companies see younger, healthier people as less of a risk to insure. If you are 30 or younger and healthy, you could get a plan for as low as $15 a month! But the answer to this question really depends on multiple variables, which can be best assessed by a life insurance agent. An agent can help you compare plans from different companies, so you are aware of all the options available to you.

What Type Of Life Insurance Is Best?

There are various kinds of life insurance policies to consider, which can make looking for the right one for you time consuming and frustrating. To help you get started in your search, the two most popular types of policies are:

Term life insurance, which will cover you for a set amount of years
Permanent life insurance, which will provide coverage for your whole life, as long as you continue to pay your premiums.

Both types of policy will provide coverage for your family’s needs in the event that you are no longer with them. Both policies will help pay debts, bills, funeral expenses and can even leave some money for your children to inherit. It all depends on whether you think you need a life insurance policy for 10, 20, or 30 years to cover major expenses like a mortgage, or if you want a policy that will provide coverage even after those expenses are paid off. Either way, you will be helping your family and providing money for your unborn child or children in the future.

Is My Employer’s Life Insurance Good Enough?

calculator on top of a notebook and pen next to it — *Your employer’s life insurance policy will not be enough, especially if you leave the company, then you lose it.*

If you are a working expectant mother, and your employer provides life insurance, you might think that you and your baby are adequately covered. However, this might not be the case, especially if you end up leaving the company, because you will lose your life insurance policy if you do so. In addition, the policy your employer currently provides most likely does not have enough coverage to provide for your family for a very long time, so that is something to take into consideration.

Pregnancy can be exhausting and exciting at the same time. You are busy preparing for your baby’s arrival, and you might have put life insurance at the bottom of your to-do list and forgotten about it. But if you are thinking about expanding your family, are an expectant mother, or are a new mom, life insurance should be on the top of your list, so that you and your family can have peace of mind. Now is the time to get your policy: the healthier you are, the lower the price and the better the coverage you can get. After all, life insurance rates increase by 4-9% each year as you age!

Every life insurance company treats pregnancy differently, which is why comparing quotes is essential to getting the most coverage with the most savings. The best way to find the right life insurance policy for you and your specific needs is by working with an agent who specializes in life insurance. We have provided the top life insurance companies in the nation below; each offers hassle-free assistance and the most competitive rates. Always check multiple sites to make sure you have bargaining power and know the advantages of each company. Make sure a hard time isn’t made harder by a financial burden, check life insurance rates today.

Choosing Life Insurance Beneficiaries

When you make the wise choice to purchase a life insurance policy, you have a lot of decisions to make. First, you have to decide if you want term life, whole life, final expense life, or another type of life insurance policy. Then, you need to decide how much coverage is needed to provide full financial protection for your family. After you have researched companies, found quotes and picked a policy, your next important step is to pick a life insurance beneficiary. This is the person who will receive the money in the event of your death. It sounds simple enough, but there are some details to be aware of before making the choice.

Know Your Options

a caucasian woman and afircan american man holding a baby — *You have different options when choosing a beneficiary; you can choose your spouse, or children, or a business.*

A beneficiary can be one person, multiple people, your estate, a charity, a business, or a trust. If the beneficiary is an individual, you can choose a relative, child, spouse, friend or anyone else. However, if you live in a common property state, also called community property states, life insurance beneficiary rules will require your spouse to waive their rights if you want to designate someone else as beneficiary. There are 9 common property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

If you choose to make your beneficiary a trust, that trust will manage the dispersal of the money; for example, you could arrange it so a trust manager would be in charge of paying for your children’s needs as instructed by you.

Legally making your estate your beneficiary is generally not recommended because, in this case, creditors would be able to go after your life insurance money. Once the creditors, court fees and lawyer are paid from the estate (however much that dips into your loved ones’ life insurance money), whatever is left will be divided among your beneficiaries.

Choosing A Beneficiary

When choosing who to name as your beneficiary, you should ask yourself who relies on you financially and will need help paying ongoing bills when you are gone. Would you like to leave some of the insurance money to charity? Do you want your business to continue? If so, you can make your business partner a beneficiary.

When you do choose who you want the money to go to, you will need to be as specific as you can and put everything in writing, including their Social Security numbers if possible, relationship to you, dates of birth and addresses. You can change, add or remove beneficiaries at any time.

Multiple Beneficiaries

pie chart with different colors for each piece — *If you choose to have multiple beneficiaries, the amount divided will have to equal 100%.*

If you want to give a payout to multiple beneficiaries, check your life insurance policy first. Some will have a limit on how many you can have. If you do decide to have multiple beneficiaries, you can also choose how much each beneficiary will receive. For example, your spouse can get 50% of the benefits, and the remaining 50% can go to your child. If you don’t specify how much you want each person to get, they will all receive an equal amount.

Primary vs. Contingent

You also have the option of naming both a primary and contingent beneficiary. Your primary beneficiary will be first on the list to receive the benefits after your passing. If your primary beneficiary dies before you, refuses the proceeds, or can’t be located, the contingent life insurance beneficiary will receive the benefits.

Naming Children As Your Beneficiaries

If you have minor children, they will not receive any of the money until they are 18. To make sure they can have access to it, you can:

Name their legal guardian as beneficiary.
Designate a custodian for the proceeds through the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. This person is then named as the beneficiary.
Create a trust for the child and make the trust your beneficiary. The trustee will oversee the money and distribute it as per your wishes.

What Happens If You Don’t Designate A Beneficiary?

If you do not name a beneficiary for your life insurance policy, the insurance company will issue the death benefit to your estate. The probate court will then decide how to distribute the funds, which will include settling your debts, which will mean less money for your loved ones.

Taking the time to make sure loved ones are protected with a life insurance policy is admirable. But in order to make sure that the proceeds go where you want them to, you have to choose the right beneficiary or beneficiaries. When choosing a life insurance company, ask about their beneficiary rules to make sure that the plan will meet your needs. To get more helpful information about different types of life insurance policies, and how you can get coverage that fits your budget, take a look below. We have provided information for top-rated insurance companies that specialize in life insurance, so check their rates today and see just how simple and affordable it is to protect your family. Always check multiple sites to make sure you have bargaining power and to know the advantages of each company. Make sure a hard time for your loved ones isn’t made harder by a financial burden, check life insurance rates today.