Could your life insurance policy use a check-up?
This starts with taking stock of your current situation. If you have life insurance in place (good for you!), now is the time to re-evaluate whether you have enough. Think about whether your circumstances have changed since you first purchased your policy. For instance, have you taken on a larger mortgage, are you facing new expenses such as renovations or education costs, is retirement approaching along with a significantly reduced income?
Different stages of life have different needs. You’ll want to ensure that you’re adequately covered to protect your current assets and lifestyle. So ask yourself this:
Do you have a life insurance plan in place?
This merits way more elaborating, but suffice it to say that if you’ve got debt, life insurance is a fiscally sound idea. It’s also a smart way to cover your estate taxes or leave a gift for a favourite charity.
Do you need to extend your term?
If you foresee your debts extending well into the future, you may want to increase your term. While the ideal time to do this is while you’re young and in good health, any time is the right time to do this when you are facing increased expenses.
Do you need to re-jig your plan?
You may want to consider a combination of plans: a Permanent Plan could cover final expenses, and a Term Plan would cover expenses that eventually will be paid off – such as a mortgage or children/grandchildren’s education.
Do you need to increase your coverage amount?
If you’ve taken on additional debt such as a bigger mortgage or university costs, you can guard against saddling loved ones with debt by topping up the amount you’re covered for.
A bit more on this last point: mortgages are typically the most common reason people choose to top up their life insurance policies. Why? Because compared with mortgage insurance, a Term Life policy pays your beneficiary the total amount that you insured. This gives surviving loved ones the flexibility to either pay back the lender and keep the house, or use the money for other purposes. Not only that, the payout never decreases, regardless of whether you have paid down your mortgage.
Whatever your health or lifestyle, age or stage, you have choices when it comes to life insurance plans. You may be looking to “top up” or simply be looking for a fast and affordable option for life insurance, as a first-time buyer. Canada Protection Plan provides up to $500,000 for No Medical Insurance plans and coverage up to $1 million on all other plans. Best of all, it’s a fast and simple process to apply.
So as the leaves begin to fall outside, take a good hard look at whether you’re falling short of protecting your loved ones, given your changing circumstances. Canada Protection Plan offers a useful life insurance needs calculator to help you determine how much coverage you may need. Call Canada Protection Plan at 1-877-851-9090 or talk to one of the over 25,000 Licensed Insurance Advisors nearest to you.
