How Much is Your Life Worth?
by
Pamela S Thibodeaux
(c) 2015

This may seem like an odd topic but let me ask again: How much is your life worth?

My husband was a huge fan of shows like City Confidential, Cold Case Files, and American Justice and you’d be amazed to know how many murders occur due to someone wanting to collect on life insurance. Though that may be a scary thought, what is even scarier is the cost of funeral and burial expenses. So today we’re going to talk about the importance of having proper life insurance.

First and foremost, unless you have a large savings account, life insurance is an absolute necessity! What kind of life insurance you get is dependent on your need but most financial analysts suggest a minimum of 1yr salary in insurance coverage. Consider whether or not that is really enough. 

When you take into consideration your individual needs, how much do you really need? Here are some questions to ponder.

Does your spouse work outside the home? Does he/she make enough in salary to totally replace your income on top of his or hers? Can he/she afford to keep up your current standard of living without help from you or will the family risk losing home and auto in order to simply survive?

Here’s another thought: If your spouse is currently a stay-home wife/mother/dad/father, does he or she have the proper skills to obtain a decent job should the need arise, or would he/she need to receive some type of education and/or training to be able to properly support your family? How would this be possible without adequate life insurance to fill in the gap of time it will take for her to obtain the necessary skills to support your family? 

What about after, will the surviving spouse truly be able to uphold your current lifestyle on one salary alone?

One more thing to ponder is this: Even if you are currently not a two-income family, once mom or dad has to return to the workforce, whose going to take care of the home and kids? 

Are there going to be childcare, after-school care, house cleaning & laundry or other types of expenses to replace the duties that the stay-at-home spouse did while he/she was alive?

These are just a few questions to help determine how much life insurance you need. A visit with a qualified financial analyst or dependable insurance specialist can help you decide how much and what kind of life insurance is best for your family based on your needs and current income situation.

For your insurance needs contact
​Allison: Advanced Protection Insurance Agency 
​Tommy: Curtis Insurance Agency, Inc.

​Award-winning author, Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She has over twenty years experience in bookkeeping, insurance and tax preparation. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational with an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.” 

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