How Much Life Insurance Should You Own?The rich get richer and the poor get poorer if they don't start doing the things that the rich do. You need
family protection
insurance. You are on a salary and you dutifully take care of your family financially. You pay your bills. Suppose you, the breadwinner, were taken out of the picture? You are dead. What would it cost for the family to continue? How much would it cost until the last child has graduated college...and is able to maintain...
himself or herself? What of the spouse, does she work? Does she have an income? How much would it cost her just to maintain a standard of living similar to what she maintains now? The answers to these questions will help you determine the amount of life insurance you need before you obtain a
life insurance quote
online.
Think of it this way...how much does it cost the family to live now. Think of rent or mortgage, the cost of food, clothing and utilities... the cost of tuition if you have a child or children in school or college. May be they are still quite young and this is something to come in the future. What does it cost to run and maintain your automobile? Are there two cars in the family? I am sure there are other costs you can think of.
Now, take yourself out of the picture and all the costs that are related to you. Examples are your automobile costs, estimates of your clothing costs, dry cleaning bill etc. Come to a firm amount of monthly costs for your family to maintain their standard of living. Now decide how much principal would be required to provide this income.
Let us assume your income requirement is $4000 per month. That would be tight living, but let us use that amount as an example. That is close to $50,000 per year. If you invested $500,000 at 10% you could earn $50,000 per year...
If you really want to use a safe amount of insurance I would suggest you buy $1,000,000 of life insurance. If the only return you get on your money is 5% the family will receive $50,000 per year and your principal will remain in tact. You should deduct whatever group life insurance, or any other insurance policies you own from the total required and then get a life insurance quote online for the difference. If you choose to get a life insurance quote online for a
10 year term
policy or a
20 year term
policy the costs should be quite
affordable.
