Inside: Do
you need life insurance if you are single? Find out why you might want it.
At work one day, a coworker
mentioned that he didn’t see the point in having life insurance. He was single,
so why bother?
My first inclination was to
argue the point, but I held back. Not only because debating with him was
tiresome, but I started to wonder if what he said was true? Do you need
life insurance if you are single?
The conclusion my
cautious-self came to was, maybe. There are a lot of reasons to have some
degree of life insurance, and at least one scenario where there is a reason to
not have insurance.
REASONS
YOU NEED LIFE INSURANCE, EVEN IF YOU ARE SINGLE
PAY FOR FUNERAL EXPENSES
Funerals and their related
expenses end up costing people between $7,000 and $10,000 on
average. Keep in mind that funerals are more than just a casket. There are
expenses such as rent for the location the service is held, plot fees,
transportation, memorial expenses, headstone, embalming, flowers, and possibly
even food.
If you don’t have enough
money saved to cover funeral expenses, then you will want some life insurance
to cover these bills. Your death shouldn’t cause your loved ones to go into
debt.[clickToTweet tweet=”Your death shouldn’t cause your loved ones to go into
debt. #reasonsforlifeinsurance” quote=”Your death shouldn’t cause your loved
ones to go into debt.”]
YOU HAVE CO-SIGNED DEBT
If you have debt where
someone else co-signed the loan, they would likely be on the hook for your debt
if you died. Examples of this might be your student loans, a joint credit card
holder, or if someone co-signed your mortgage. You likely don’t want your
parents to give up their retirement because they end up being on the hook
for your student loans.
At the least, get a term
policy that will cover you until your debts are paid. The last thing you want
is to leave your loved ones grieving while also being hounded by debt
collectors.
OTHERS DEPEND ON YOU
Do I need to say it?
Children are expensive. If you have a child, whether you are the primary
caretaker or not, losing money for child support is a hefty blow. If there is
insurance to help cover child support costs, it makes raising the child that
much easier for the surviving caretaker.
Children aren’t the only
dependents you may have. If you have parents or siblings that require special
care and depend on you for providing it, you will want to ensure their care
continues if you were to die.
YOU ARE YOUNG AND HEALTHY
Are you young and healthy?
If so, life insurance is likely incredibly inexpensive for you right now.
Unless you are struggling to pay debts and create an emergency fund, I would
still recommend getting something like a level term life insurance policy.
Down the road, you may get
married, have children, or get sick and life insurance will be more expensive
or near impossible to get. You can add supplemental coverage later, but even a
small policy will be something that your loved ones will have to fall back on
in the future.
REASONS YOU DON’T NEED LIFE INSURANCE
The only reason I can think
of to not need some amount of life insurance when you are single is if you have
no joint or co-signed debt, no dependents, and enough money saved to cover
funeral expenses.
If that is the case, and
you are willing to bet that if you want insurance in the future, you’ll be able
to get it, then you likely do not need life insurance.
You may also want to delay
getting life insurance until you have an emergency fund established
and are living on your own.
Paying for life insurance
while you are broke and living in your parents’ basement shouldn’t be your
primary money goal if that is your situation. Get up and out on your own and
get your finances under control before looking into life insurance.
The bottom line is, if you
have loved ones that would be affected financially if you died, you should
have life insurance.
Have you decided to not get
life insurance? Why?
https://www.savvyfamilyfinance.com/need-life-insurance-if-you-are-single/
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