A Married Couple’s Guide to Life Insurance Comparison

For a married couple, investing in life insurance should not be overlooked, especially if bringing up children becomes part of the couple’s responsibility. Investing in life insurance is a vital part of financial planning to ensure protection for your family in unforeseen circumstances. Many couples think that purchasing a life insurance policy for the sole breadwinner will suffice. Will that take care of all the family’s financial burden in the event of misfortune? Will the non-breadwinner still be able to fund the children’s education, provide basic needs and pay the rent and bills? Should you and your partner both have life insurance to ensure maximum financial protection for the family? If so, how much should both of you invest?

Consider the points below before you make a decision:

Income

The breadwinner or the parent who brings in a much higher income should perhaps have a more extensive life insurance policy. On the other hand, if both parents earn similar incomes, consider purchasing similar life insurance options to safeguard yourselves from financial burden if one of you passes away.

Family Duties

The homemaker plays a vital role upon which the entire family is extremely dependent. This role, much like that of the breadwinner, carries with it a financial value – a value that the family loses if the homemaker passes away and is not covered by life insurance. On the flipside, imagine this scenario. If your significant other is a stay-at-home parent who is suddenly forced to join the workforce, how will he or she pay for the services of a nanny or day care to ensure that the children’s routine is not disrupted too much? In this scenario, a life insurance policy may help the surviving family members account for those additional areas of need and the potential increase in their cost of living.

Risk of Serious Illness or Injury

If either of you has a family history of serious illness, takes part in dangerous leisure activities, or is involved in a particular kind of work that increases his or her chances of serious injury, then broad life insurance cover may be worth considering. In this regard, you may have the option to add on disability insurance to ensure that it covers your medical bills on top of the monthly utility bills, rent or mortgage and other basic needs if you or your spouse is seriously ill or injured.

Grief Period

Your surviving spouse may need time to grieve, and may not be able to work for several weeks or months. A life insurance policy may help to ease the family’s financial burden during and after the grieving period when the spouse is ready to get back on his or her feet and begin looking for work to obtain an income to meet the family’s needs. Having life insurance may ensure that your surviving partner receives a source of income to meet the needs of your family and maintain quality of life should anything happen to either of you. Having the assurance that your partner and children will be financially covered if something happens to one of you may be important to your peace of mind as a spouse or parent.