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How Much Life Insurance Coverage Do I Really Need

There are many questions that life insurance shoppers have, but perhaps the most common is “how much coverage do I need?”. There is of course no one right answer to this commonly asked question, since every person’s circumstances will be unique. The key is to find an amount that neither leaves your family underinsured nor wastes money by purchasing too much coverage.

In order to determine the optimal level of life insurance coverage it is important to consider which family members should be covered and how much support they will need in the event of your early demise. Adult children living comfortably on their own will likely not need such largesse, while minor children with years of schooling and support ahead of them may need a great deal of support. Likewise a working spouse with a good income will need less financial support than a non-working spouse with a houseful of kids to take care of. It is important to take these matters into consideration in order to come up with the right size death benefit.

The amounts of any home mortgages or home equity loans is an important factor as well. In fact many people purchase term life insurance coverage equal to the outstanding amount of the mortgage, for the express purpose of paying that mortgage off in the event of the death of the policyholder. This can be an excellent and cost effective strategy for homeowners, and the amount of coverage can be adjusted as the balance remaining on the mortgage goes down.
 
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NOTE: Information contained on this website is general in nature and may not be relevant to your individual personal and financial circumstances. The material does not represent any recommendation, legal or taxation advice. You should obtain professional advice before doing anything in reliance on this information or opinions. Please refer to the Product Disclosure Statements of individual insurers before deciding to purchase any financial product mentioned on this website.
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