As the new year approaches you may be thinking of resolutions to make. It’s a natural impulse to take the opportunities offered by the new year to make positive changes in your life, after all. Unfortunately, for most of us even our grandest intentions for the year tend to fade into the background of day to day life early on in the year.
Start this new year differently. Instead of making resolutions that you may not keep or that may be too weighty to handle, do something to protect your family that is easy to accomplish right away: invest in your financial well-being by getting life insurance.
Resolution: improved financial security
Approximately 43 percent of Canadian’s own life insurance policies*. For households that made this purchase this is great planning, because life insurance serves several key purposes that all people share. It provides coverage of end-of-life costs without stressing your loved ones. It can supplement income lost to your family. It can provide for the future, covering things like college tuition for your children or mortgage payments. And it can cover outstanding debts at the time of your death.
Getting life insurance strengthens your financial position. And making sure you’re covered for end-of-life expenses is essential to good financial planning.
Instead of a vague, pie-in-the-sky resolution about your finances, take this important step towards financial health.
Resolution: show your family and other loved ones how much you care
It’s not always easy to know how you can best care for the people around you. If doing more for the people you love is on your list of goals for the new year, resolve to keep taking care of them after you’re gone. Purchasing life insurance that covers the future needs of family members is a wonderful, loving gift—and a resolution that’s easy to keep.
Resolution: better health and fitness
One of the most cliché resolutions for the new year is about health and weight loss. Few of us wouldn’t enjoy losing a few pounds! But why not focus on practical reasons for guarding your health and in turn generate a more meaningful resolution?
As part of your campaign for improved health and fitness, include life insurance in your plan. If you are already in great health it’s easy to get life insurance. But even if you’re not—or especially if you’re not—life insurance is a great way to protect your family while you work towards better health over time.
In some cases with the right determination at the gym and the dinner table, you may be in line for an even better resolution a year from now: adjusting your rates to accommodate your improved health. This is because people who make positive life decisions, for instance to quit smoking or losing weight can qualify for better rates than they got initially. Don’t put off your life insurance just because you can’t qualify for the lowest rates possible for you today! Simply revisit the issue once you’ve achieved your health and fitness goals, and if you don’t, rest easy knowing you’re already covered either way.
Resolution: understand what life insurance is, and how much of it you need
It’s easy to put off even important tasks if they intimidate you. For many people, choosing the right life insurance and understanding the details of different policies feels overwhelming. But this is something anyone can do, especially if you keep these basics in mind:
- What: Life insurance guarantees a tax-free payment to your beneficiaries when you die. It can be whole life insurance which is in effect until you die, no matter when that is, or it may be term life insurance which provides coverage for a set number of years.
- Why: You should consider life insurance for several reasons. If your family relies on your income, this reliance will leave them exposed if you die unless you have coverage. Life insurance can also cover things like funeral and estate expenses. It may even be part of a smart investment strategy.
- When: Ideally you should purchase life insurance well before you need it. But no matter how old you are or how poor your health is, having a policy in place is far safer than “winging it” and hoping to muddle through somehow.
- How (much): You can calculate how much life insurance is right for you by considering all of the facts. Looking at your monthly expenses, create the budget that you live on now. Calculate how much life insurance benefit you’d need to sustain this budget.
The bottom line
This new year do something for your family and yourself. Get life insurance and achieve a resolution easily and fast. Rest easy for the year knowing your family won’t be going it alone.
To determine which coverage is best suited for you, contact Canada Protection Plan or one of 25,000+ Insurance Advisors.
*Based on statistics reported at 2015 LIMRA/LOMA Canada Annual Conference
