Why life insurance is important to have, no matter the time of year

A recent report on Yahoo! News discussing the abnormally high incidence of deadly holiday heart attacks brings to the forefront why everyone needs to consider life insurance no matter what time of year it is.

According to the report, December and January are the deadliest months for heart disease. Reasons vary, but speculation suggests it could be anything from rich holiday meals, free flowing alcohol, family stress, increased travel, to simply being too busy to exercise. But the fact is that December and January are not only the deadliest months for heart disease, they are the deadliest months in Canada period.

According to Statistics Canada’s Death report (December 2006), just over 18.5 per cent of all deaths in Canada happened in December or January. That’s disproportionately high for a two-month period.

Death is a fact of life

Obvious, but true. So when buying life insurance consider: Term life insurance. Term life insurance typically offers you the most coverage for the least amount of money. Even though there is no investment or saving component to a term life insurance policy, there are many who believe you should “Buy term, and invest the difference.” Avoiding guaranteed issue policies, if you’re healthy. They may sound ideal, but guaranteed issue policies do not require a medical exam. Great, you may be thinking but you’ll pay for it, literally. Because they do not require a medical, guaranteed issue policies are generally more expensive because it’s available to everyone, healthy or not—meaning the premiums have to be higher. If you are healthy, you will get better life insurance rates buying a life insurance policy that requires a medical questionnaire or exam. Note: Guaranteed issue policies are great for people who are unable to get any other life insurance. While it may be more expensive then a standard policy, it is still worth having a guaranteed issue policy over having no life insurance coverage at all Buying only what you need. Most people know having too little coverage is no good, but so to is having too much. Not only is it unnecessary, but buying too much will only cause your insurance premiums to be higher than then need be. So before you buy, review your needs and what you want to achieve and go from there. For example, do you want to have coverage that’ll:

• Pay funeral arrangements?
• Pay the outstanding balance owing on a mortgage and other debts?
• Offset the loss of your income? For how long?
• Contribute to the future education of your children?
• A combination of all or part of the above?

Knowing what you would like to accomplish with your life insurance policy will help you determine how much life insurance you need to buy. You’ll find that many industry folks suggest that the amount of life insurance coverage you should buy should be five to ten times your annual, before-tax, income. There are always exceptions to the rule. Sometimes the more you buy, the cheaper the policy. While not always true, some companies will charge you less to encourage you to purchase a slightly larger policy. For example, if you are considering buying $200,000 in coverage, get quotes for the next most common face amount, $250,000. You’ll be surprised to see how in some cases the premium is actually less. Getting coverage for two, in one policy. If you’re looking to get life insurance for yourself and your spouse or partner, then consider buying one joint policy, instead of two individual policies. The premium is usually about 15% less for a joint life policy than 2 single life insurance policies of the same coverage amount. Compare the life insurance policies and prices of competing insurers. Every company prices their policies differently. A real easy way to do this, without having to listen to a sales pitch is to compare premiums and policies online. It’s a great way to compare prices and see what different companies have to offer.