TUCSON, Ariz. — This year the pandemic has shown us how fragile life can be and how circumstances can change in an instant.
As of now about 46 percent of Americans are uninsured and many don’t have enough coverage, according to research association LIMRA.
LIMRA also reports nearly 1 in 3 families said they would face financial challenges within one month if the primary earner in their family died. That rate was before the pandemic.
“I believe that there are triggers in our life. And so the pandemic, yes, has led folks to almost look at the terms and the possibility of needing life insurance. Even though it's always there. The biggest reason that you need life insurance is twofold,” said Tiana Ronstadt with Power Women Investing.
Ronstadt is a financial planner in the Tucson area. She says those two reasons to need life insurance are debt recovery and income replacement.
“With those two things in mind, with obviously not only the health risk, but also the job loss risk, lots of folks carry their coverage through work. And when you lose your job, you lose that benefit,” said Ronstadt.
With the times we are in, Ronstadt is encouraging folks to look into the more intricate details of life insurance. For example, do you have a lot of debt? What is your cash flow? How much coverage do you really need? And if you already have life insurance through an employer, should you buy more or less coverage?
“Employer coverage is amazing, as long as you're working. A lot of folks when they go through their benefits plan, they go oh yeah I have life insurance. Yeah, I would encourage you to do. It's a lot of times you can increase that coverage for pennies on the dollar,” said Ronstadt.
She tells people to look into having some type of coverage outside of work. Whether it’s a small term policy, or a guaranteed policy that can build some cash value.
“What we do know is that September's Life Insurance Awareness Month., and through that organization that really launches the month and tries to encourage folks to discuss this. We do know that more and more folks are looking at life insurance now,” said Ronstadt.
She says the reality is everyone should have a policy. If the worst were to happen, your life insurance policy is the contract that streamlines the process to take care of your beneficiaries.
