Disclosure: This post was made in paid partnership with Bestow. Neither Bestow nor North American Company for Life and Health Insurance were involved in the preparation of the information in this article. The opinions and ideas expressed in the article are those of the author(s) and are not promoted or endorsed by Bestow or North American. You should always seek professional advice before making a financial decision.

Those who become personal finance aware love to look toward a future of unlimited possibilities. We pay off debt, save, and invest for our future. But one of those possibilities is everything coming to an unexpected halt with a one way ticket to leave the planet. The last thing any of us wants to think about is death. Especially when we are young and there’s so much life ahead of us. I sure didn’t want to hear about it when I was young or even later at age 40 when I arrived late to the personal finance FIRE party. I was told that my early retirement plan was lacking. That’s when I was enlightened as to why life insurance deserves our personal finance consideration. Practicing financial responsibility means taking care of things and doing what we can to help protect our and our loved one’s financial future. 

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The Right Kind Of Life Insurance Deserves Personal Finance Consideration

My experience with life insurance started around 1977

I had no clue about personal finance like most young people starting out. Investing was nowhere on my radar. But somehow when I was around 19 an insurance agent got a hold of me. He pitched a whole life policy to help provide for my wife if I died and with a cash benefit for retirement if I live. Imagine, you buy a $10,000 life insurance policy and a portion is invested for when you retire 40 plus years later. I recall the cash benefit would hit around $32,000 at retirement. At the time it seemed like a lot of money. My financial ignorance made me an easy sell and I paid into that policy for several years. 

With my next life insurance experience I was told how I could get a higher death benefit coverage amount in term life insurance for less money 

I could even get small insurance coverage riders for my wife and the kids we now had. All for less money than what I was paying for my whole life policy. My family had grown in size and out grew that old whole life policy. I then canceled my whole life policy and cashed it out. After years of payments I received a bit over $100 cash value. I then took out a 20 year term life insurance policy with $100,000 coverage. I also signed up for my employer life insurance benefit that was inexpensive and would pay out 2 years salary. 

Fast Forward to age 40 sitting with a CFP

I finally understood the importance of personal finance and was planning on early retirement at age 50. While nailing down the financial details of my strategic early retirement plan it was determined we were under-insured for life insurance. I then got to the proper amount with a 10 year term life policy. The idea was that my term policies would end around the time I reached financial independence. By then we would be covered by assets, basically being self insured. 

Some Reasons Why Life Insurance Deserves Personal Finance Consideration

Dying isn’t cheap

The first issue is that funeral costs and all that goes with dying isn’t cheap. Just when everyone close to us is painfully mourning our departure, the last thing they need is setting up a GoFundMe account, taking on debt, or draining their own savings for our proper send off. 

People we love who depend on us

Having a spouse and kids means we most likely do everything we can to support them in life. With our passing there is a giant cut to household income. Having enough life insurance to pay off the mortgage and/or help cover living expenses as they transition through a difficult time is a huge reason to consider having life insurance. Not only for their financial future but to improve their ability to survive and overcome the loss. Much hinges on what we do or don’t do. 

Any loans that family members co-signed on

People think that with no spouse or kids that they don’t need life insurance. But there are other things that we need to consider. When we are young and starting out we might have needed someone to co-sign on loans (student loan?) or even a lease. When we depart they are the ones stuck paying things off. When getting life insurance consider any of these types of outstanding loans or lease obligations.

How to choose life insurance

I don’t think my above life insurance story is so different from most. If my experience says anything it says that our life insurance needs change as we go through life. Our life insurance need is an arc. It starts low, reaches a maximum peak with kids and financial obligations, then sharply drops as we age and our assets grow enough to cover us. That said, using term life insurance makes sense. Term life policies can be started, replaced, or stacked as our personal finances and life changes. It costs less than whole life and other insurance policies to meet our needs. Especially policies started when we are younger.

In the beginning, I had life insurance policies that cost too much for too little in coverage

My policies were bought during a different time before there was the internet and new data centric companies. Instead of having to meet with a salesperson, simple online solutions are now available to provide good and lower cost term life insurance policies. Here’s what to look for when choosing life insurance.

• Free online quote
• No required doctor visit or blood test
• No need to meet with a salesperson or sit through a presentation
• Term life policies offered for various lengths of time and amounts
• Ability to cancel your policy at any time.
• An insurance company rated A+ (Superior) from A.M. Best.
• A level term policy (can’t raise the rate paid or mess with coverage amount regardless of changes in your health and age over the policy length [term] ).

Where to go

If you are concerned about where to start or about the time you’ll have to spend finding a life insurance company that meets all of the above criteria for a quote, you can save some time by going to Bestow. They meet all of the above targeted criteria and offer free online quotes by simply answering their website’s questions. No insurance sales agents or doctors required. 

Being able to get the right amount of life insurance to meet your personal finance needs couldn’t be easier. 

• Bestow offers term life policies for people age 21 to 54 ½. 
• Life insurance starting at $8 a month.
• They have 10 and 20-year level term policies.
• You’re able to choose a coverage amount that meets your needs from $50,000 to $1,000,000. 

You can apply online and if you’re approved, your Bestow life insurance policy can start your coverage as soon as 15 minutes after applying.

Apply now for term life insurance that’s easy, online, and backed by A+ Rated* financial strength.

And, if you use any of the Bestow ads, the above “Apply now”, or Bestow links placed on this page to reach their online portal for your quote, you’ll not only get easily started, but may also help Leisure Freak out with a small site referral commission. Doing so has no impact on your quote or application but would be greatly appreciated. 

*Bestow policies are provided by North American Company for Life and Health Insurance®, an insurance carrier rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best.