How life insurance fits as part of your financial plan

When you pause and think about what you value most, what comes to mind?

While insuring investments like homes and cars is essential, there is also a way to help protect what many consider to be most important: the financial future of your family.

Financial planning for your family's future takes many forms, such as saving for a home, paying for your children's college education, helping your children buy their first home, and saving for your retirement. If you and your income were to unexpectedly leave the picture, though, the plan that provides a safety net for these other plans is life insurance. It can be both affordable and incredibly valuable, playing a key role in ensuring you and your family have the necessary coverage, security, and protection through life.

The importance of life insurance coverage

Nearly half of Americans¹ have avoided purchasing a life insurance policy because they believe the process will be too difficult. Others have put it off because they believe it will be too expensive, when in reality, the monthly cost can be less than what many would pay for video-streaming, food delivery service, or a couple cups of craft coffee.

Unfortunately, these misconceptions cause many to go about their lives without the additional coverage that life insurance can provide. While home and auto insurance provide necessary protection, those without life insurance may be vulnerable to long-term financial struggles from which they cannot recover.

Imagine there’s a protective circle being built around you and what you believe is most important. Income from your working years builds the circle, which is composed of things like your home equity, money for your children's future education, funds you might need to take care of older family members or other dependents, and a retirement nest egg.

When complete, this circle offers the protection you and your family need. But when there’s a gap in that circle—such as the possibility that you wouldn't be there to finish it—it opens your family up to potential hardship.

A simple way to begin the process is by calculating how much life insurance you need—what the cost of your financial plans look like, and how much your family would need to see these plans through to retirement.