Do You Need Life Insurance?

Do You Need Life Insurance?

By Jeff Matthews, CFP® CDFA®
Senior Financial Advisor

Like many financial matters, the need for life insurance is related to your individual situation and it can change significantly as you move through different stages of your life. If it’s been a while since you have evaluated your life insurance needs, we’ve put together some information to provide you a good understanding of what to consider today.

Life Insurance Calculation Tools
For the most accurate determination of what you and your family’s current life insurance needs are, there are several areas that you’ll need to take inventory on, including expenses, debts, emergency and education funds, and available assets. It’s best to spend some time and record all of these. We have a Life Insurance Calculation Worksheet that can help you track these items.

Making Sure Your Loved Ones Are Covered
The goal of life insurance is to make sure your dependents are taken care of financially if something happens to you. According to 2021 statistics from the National Funeral Directors Association, the national median cost of a funeral with viewing and a burial is $7,848.

Other immediate expenses would include any medical expenses, probate fees, and costs to pay your current mortgage.

In addition, consider how much monthly income you would need to provide to make sure your dependents are comfortable. Then, determine if your current assets allow for you to provide this or if life insurance is an additional item you should consider or potentially increase.

You can use our life insurance worksheet to calculate if you have a potential deficit or surplus in life insurance. Or better yet, contact us and we can help guide you through this process. Our team cares about making sure your money is being used in the best way possible to provide for you and your family’s future.

As an advisor and a Certified Financial Planner™ professional with over 15 years of experience, Jeff aims to help improve the financial wellbeing of his clients. He develops a plan to help reach your goals by understanding what is uniquely important to your family and you, such as sending your child to college, reaching your ideal retirement or creating a financial legacy that will live on for generations.

The use of the CDFA® designation does not permit Wells Fargo Advisors or its Financial Advisors to provide legal advice, nor is it meant to imply that the firm or its associates are acting as experts in this field. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) owns the CFP® certification mark, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification mark, and the CFP® certification mark (with plaque design) logo in the United States, which it authorizes use of by individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.

This is not, in any way, intended as an invitation to replace your existing coverage. Such an exchange is often not appropriate due to such factors as surrender charges on your existing policy, the surrender charge period on the new policy, transaction costs associated with the exchange, the values of the new policy, versus the old policy, and the various fees and expenses associated with the new product. Therefore, replacing an existing policy should only be considered after a careful evaluation of these factors as well as a thorough review of your existing coverage.

Insurance products are offered through non-bank insurance agency affiliates of Wells Fargo & Company and are underwritten by unaffiliated insurance companies. Wells Fargo Advisors is not a legal or tax advisor. Any estate plan should be reviewed by an attorney who specializes in estate planning and is licensed to practice law in your state.

Investment products and services are offered through Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC (WFAFN), Member SIPC. The Arlington Group Investment Consulting, LLC is a separate entity from WFAFN.