Retirement is a significant life change. And it comes with a new set of financial considerations, including reevaluating your life insurance coverage.
Before you make a decision, consider your current or future retirement situation:
- Empty nester
- Preparing for retirement
- Planning your estate
Empty nester
If you’re an empty nester, you may feel you can reduce your life insurance because you don’t have future employment earnings, college tuition, or a mortgage to cover.But that doesn’t necessarily mean that Social Security and your savings will take care of whatever lies ahead. If you die today, your spouse will still be faced with daily living expenses.
What if your spouse outlives you by 10, 20 or even 30 years? Would your financial plan, without life insurance, enable your spouse to maintain the lifestyle you worked so hard to achieve? And would you be able to pass on something to your children or grandchildren if you wanted to?
Speak with a Planning Consultant at 1 877 276-9429, or have a Planning Consultant call you.
- Empty nester
- Preparing for retirement
- Planning your estate
Preparing for retirement
There are several reasons why this is an important time to reevaluate your coverage. If you’re covered by a life insurance policy through your employer, you may lose this benefit when you stop working – or it may continue at a reduced benefit.Either way, you’ll want to think about what kind of personal coverage you’ll need. A retired married couple can count on receiving two Social Security incomes, but if one person dies, the other is entitled to only one Social Security income which will have to pay many of the same expenses. Life insurance can help make up the shortfall.
Speak with a Planning Consultant at 1 877 276-9429, or have a Planning Consultant call you.
- Empty nester
- Preparing for retirement
- Planning your estate
Planning your estate
Depending on the size of your estate, your heirs could be hit with a large estate tax payment after you die (which can be up to 45% of your estate).The proceeds of a life insurance policy are payable immediately upon proof of death of the insured, allowing heirs to take care of estate taxes, funeral costs and other debts without having to liquidate other assets hastily, often at a fraction of their true value. And life insurance proceeds are generally income tax free and can be arranged to avoid probate.
If you and your spouse are concerned about estate taxes, you may want to consider survivorship life insurance, which pays benefits only after both spouses pass away and insures both lives at a cost that is generally less than two separate policies. Beneficiaries can then pay estate taxes with the proceeds of your policy. Consult your tax or legal advisor concerning estate and gift tax consequences of policy ownership and distributions under federal, state and local law.
Speak with a Planning Consultant at 1 877 276-9429, or have a Planning Consultant call you.
