Term Life Insurance

How Much Term Life Insurance Should I Buy?
By Sharon Taylor

Term life insurance is an important part of the financial planning process. It serves to provide financially for all of the loved ones in your family should you happen to pass away unexpectedly. But one of the important things that people do not put enough consideration into is how much coverage is actually enough. When looking at term life insurance quotes, how can you determine how much is actually going to be needed by your family, if they no longer have you there to depend on? When shopping around for quotes, consider the following information so that you may make the right, informed decisions.




Identifying the Basics of Term Life Insurance
The first thing that you need to remember is that the main purpose of term life insurance is to completely circumvent all financial stress in the event of your death, which means the foremost purpose of your term life insurance policy should be income replacement to protect your family. With that having been said, it is now important for you to understand how your lost salary will impact your loved ones if you pass away.

Make a list including how much money is spent on daily expenses, elderly family care, childcare, education, food, clothing, the mortgage, car or other vehicle payments, various forms of debt including loans and credit cards.

Now you should consider the costs for your last expenses, such as your funeral, burial and any necessary medical or hospital costs. Funerals can easily cost several thousands of dollars and this doesn't even include any special requests or additional charges that may come up.

You must also consider your long-term expenses when researching term life insurance, including college tuitions, mortgage payments and a retirement fund for your spouse. If you want to leave any funds to local charities or organizations, this is also where those types of financial contributions would factor in.

Next you should determine your assets, since you have already determined your financial needs and the financial needs of your loved ones. Factor in all of your current assets, including cash, stocks, savings, bonds, pension, social security and real estate. Subtract your assets from your expenses to figure out how much life insurance are you going to need to purchase in order to ensure that your family is financially comfortable following your death.

What's next?
Now that you have a good idea of how much you are going to need, you should begin to shop around by looking at different term life insurance quotes to find out how much a policy is going to cost you. Make a point to sit down with a licensed term life insurance professional and they can walk you through the entire process.

It is extremely important that you take the time to do some homework when it comes to purchasing term life insurance, making sure you don't purchase coverage that is not needed or possibly purchasing too little coverage. Researching your insurance needs before hand will ensure that your family is safe and protected even if you pass away unexpectedly.

Sharon Taylor is a professional writer for eQUOTE Life Insurance eQUOTE is an excellent online resource providing online quotes for term life insurance to families in 42 states.