From feeling hungry to seeing something shiny, with any purchase in life there is always a trigger. Unfortunately, [for us] people don’t tend wake up one day with the sudden need for life insurance. The triggers associated with this type of purchase are far more related to life stages, the 5 most common of which are the following:
1. Having a Baby
A magical event in one’s life that brings happiness, stress and everything in between. Having a baby creates a lot of responsibility for parents in many aspects. Financially speaking, a child is a big reasonability and life insurance should be in place in case an unforeseen death in the family arises.
2. Getting Married
Flowers, dresses, bride, groom, drunken speeches and the unity of two people. Financials included. If people will support each other, they usually insure each other.
3. Buying a House
When buying a house, especially with a mortgage, it’s key [and quite often compulsory] to purchase life insurance for the value of the funds indebted to the lender. This protects families from an untimely death and unaffordable mortgage payments.
4. Sending Kids to College
One of the biggest expenses a family can have after purchasing a house is their child’s education. Education seems to gradually get more expensive until the big one, university. A life insurance policy on the parent’s lives that are funding the education costs is essential to ensure that there won’t be any drop-outs due to an untimely death in the family.
5. Becoming an Expatriate
Living and working overseas is a great experience. More often than not, expatriates get paid well in return for working somewhere deemed dangerous. This greatly increases the need for life insurance. Also, many expatriates are fortunate enough to have generous employment packages by which their housing, schooling and other expenses are provided. This is fantastic but if the person providing these benefits is taken out of the equation then so are those benefits, hence a life insurance policy can help leverage the risk of losing everything.
Have you reached one of these life stages?