You’re Retired and/or You Have Grown Children

Just because your kids are through college and the mortgage is paid off doesn’t necessarily mean that you no longer need life insurance. If you died today, your spouse will still be faced with daily living expenses. Or if you were a single parent or maybe your home is not paid off, you may still want to assist your children with paying off your mortgage so that they can maintain your home. Would your financial plan, without life insurance, enable your spouse or family to maintain the lifestyle you’ve worked so hard to achieve now and into retirement?

Depending on the size of your estate, your heirs could be hit with an estate-tax payment of up to 45% after you die. The proceeds of a life insurance policy are payable immediately, allowing heirs to take care of these taxes, funeral costs and other debts without having to hastily liquidate other assets, often at a fraction of their true value. Life insurance proceeds are also generally income tax free and won’t add to your estate tax liability, if properly structured.