5 Life Insurance Myths

Myth 1: Everyone Needs Life Insurance

To many of you, this may come as a surprise, but not everyone needs life insurance protection. Life insurance was created in order to help take care of your dependents in the case of your untimely death. Well, if you have no dependents, you don't really have a need for life insurance. Children and retired individuals are in this category. They have no one depending on their income. A small amount of life insurance may be beneficial in some cases for final expenses, but it may not always be neccessary.

Myth 2: Only The Head Of The Household Needs Life Insurance

This is a myth that needs to be dispelled immediately. If you are married and have children at home, both you and your spouse need to have life insurance coverage. Why? Think for a minute about the expenses you would incur in the event of your spouse's death. How much will childcare cost? What about housekeeping, transportation and a host of other expenses? Your spouse is really working a full-time job at home with trying to take care of everything. There death would impose a great financial hardship, and for this reason alone, they need life insurance protection.

Myth 3: Whole Life Insurance Or Universal Life Insurance Is The Best Life Insurance 

This is simply not true in every case. Term life insurance may be your best bet. You can purchase a policy for a set number of years and pay a much lower premium than with whole life insurance. This allows you to take the money you are saving and invest it in other high interest investments. On the flipside though, if you are someone who is not, or can not save money, then whole life insurance, or universal life insurance, may be for you. It will allow you to build up cash value for use in the future if you need it.

Myth 4: Life Insurance Is Too Expensive

Again, this is completely false. Term life insurance coverage will cost only pennies per $1,000. It is completely inexpensive. There is no reason for anyone that needs life insurance to be without it.

Myth 5: The Government Will Take Care Of My Burial Expenses

I have spoken with many people who mistakenly believe that the government will pay your beneficiary a lot of money to cover your death expenses. This is utterly crazy. The U.S. government will give your beneficiary a grand total of $255 upon your death for funeral expenses. That's it. The average cost for a funeral is now approaching $10,000. And that is for a simple service with a small grave marker. Our government is not going to take care of your expenses. You must plan ahead for this.