Regardless of your age, you may want to start thinking about life insurance and estate planning. If others rely on you for income and support, you’ll want to address these important issues as soon as possible. But what the heck does life insurance have to do with estate planning? They’re somewhat related, but separate, right?
They shouldn’t be! When you sit down with your insurance advisor, he or she will likely also ask you about estate planning—even though your life insurance policy isn’t what you’d consider your “estate”, it could very well be a part of it.
Why Plan Now?
It’s easy to put off estate planning and purchasing life insurance. But the earlier you do this planning, the better off you’ll be. A few reasons why:
- Age matters. The younger you are, the less expensive your life insurance premium will be. Think of it this way: if you have ten years to pay for something, your payments will be larger than if you pay for the same item over the course of 30 or 40 years. The same holds true for your life insurance.
- Accidents happen. None of us want to think that tragedy could strike our lives or families. But the reality is that these things do happen. The whole purpose of a life insurance policy is to protect you when something bad does happen. Getting a policy will give you added peace of mind.
- Legal documents require a sound mind. In order to write a valid will, buy an insurance policy, or execute any other kind of legal action, you must be of sound mind and body. That means you’ll want to purchase life insurance and complete all your estate planning while you’re totally healthy.
Talk to your insurance agent about your life insurance policy options. You’ll want to learn the difference between different kinds of policies to determine which policy is right for you. Your agent can also help you calculate how much coverage you really need, so that you’re not over-paying or under-insuring yourself.
