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What kind of planning brings you joy? Envisioning your next vacation; preparing for a new addition to your family? Perhaps searching for a new school or college for a child? Buying your first home, a vacation home, or new car? For many, these life events are eagerly anticipated and can bring added joy to their everyday lives. 

There’s another important planning decision that likely won’t bring the same level of short-term satisfaction and excitement, but could nevertheless deliver important peace-of-mind and long-lasting support to those you care about most. And that is ensuring you have adequate life insurance. Here’s what you want to ask yourself to determine whether you are fully protecting what is most important:

• If you were to leave/change employers, would you still be covered? Or, is your life insurance protection tied to your employment?

  If it is, you may want to consider buying other coverage to supplement your employer-sponsored life insurance. You can keep it regardless of your employment status and it can provide 10, 20 or even 30 years of level premium, locking in protection until you retire. In contrast, the coverage offered through your employer will experience premium increases as you age and, again, will always be tied to your employment.

• Have you experienced a lifestyle change in the past year or so? For example, a work promotion, moving from a double to a single income, a new child or home. Are you caring for an aging parent?

  Any of these changes can spur the need to consider the adequacy of your life insurance protection. You need enough to cover your financial obligations and outstanding debt, which is typically 10 - 15 times your income. This accounts for inflation, market returns and average household expenses.

  When one partner leaves the work force to take care of a growing family, the remaining income becomes even more critical to securing the lifestyle and goals of the family. And don’t overlook the importance of insuring the stay-at-home parent. At minimum, a surviving parent would want enough coverage to pay someone to provide the services the stay-at-home parent was providing for free.

• Could long-term family goals be met if your income were to stop?

  Would there be enough assets to cover a child’s (children’s) college education; could the surviving partner pay off the home mortgage or cover other substantial outstanding debt, freeing them to allocate reduced income to everyday living expenses (i.e., bills, groceries, entertainment, vacations, housing costs)?

• Do you have a child that will require your financial support into adulthood?

Ensuring an adult child will have the care and support they require is an important motivator for confirming you have adequate life insurance. It could help cover the costs and expenses associated with their care, as well as help ensure the quality of life they were used to continues.

Finally, keep in mind that your health, age, and budget will influence your ability to get the coverage you need. As an MICPA member, you have access to level term life insurance, underwritten by MetLife, competitively priced and designed specifically for our association. It is administered by the Paul Goebel Group and has been for over 43 years.

Jeff Elble has been the Vice President of Sales for the Paul Goebel Group since 1997. If you would like to discuss your life insurance options, please call him at 616-234-5602 or email him at jelble@goebelgrp.com. Or, visit the Paul Goebel Group online!