The death of a loved one can take a huge emotional toll on your family -- it can also lead to financial distress. A life insurance policy can help protect your family in the event of a terminal illness or unexpected death. The best life insurance policies will offer the full scope of coverage you need, and the flexibility to make changes along the way.
Signing up for life insurance requires you to designate beneficiaries to receive monetary support after you pass away. Your premium, which is a fixed amount, can be paid either monthly or yearly, and the beneficiary will receive a set amount of money, also called the death benefit, after your death. The amount of the death benefit and the length of the coverage period are variables that figure into the price of your premium.
There are two types of life insurance products: basic life insurance and life insurance bundled with a quasi-investment product. Bundled products, including whole life, universal life, permanent life and any policy with a cash value component, are generally more expensive and complicated. Term life insurance, a type of basic life insurance, is the most inexpensive and straightforward choice for most people.
"If I need to make sure my family or business is protected in the case of my passing prematurely, I want to focus on term insurance," said David Gastwirth, an insurance strategist with American Business. "It's the fundamental cornerstone of one's insurance plan."
Death benefits for term life insurance typically start at $100,000 and go up to $3 million, which should be an adequate life insurance product to cover most people's needs. (In some cases, you can get a term life insurance policy with a $5 million benefit.) All things being equal, Gastwirth recommends erring on the side of more coverage, since the cost of a life insurance policy increases as you age -- and, turkey lawyer if you develop health issue complications later in life, you could become uninsurable.