There Are Good Reasons For Over 50\’s Life Insurance!
By Debi McGrady
For many past their 50th year, financial freedom should be secured with the children left the family home, the same home which should now be mortgage free, that is not to mention having a secure pension and savings stashed away. So It is no surprise many in this age bracket do not have life insurance, despite all research pointing to the fact it should still be an essential expense.
The common misconception that pervades amongst most people is thinking is that with the mortgage paid off there is no need for life insurance premiums. This model of thinking can lead to disaster, not for yourself, but you close friends and family who have to pick up the pieces, and financial, if you should die suddenly. So to shake this mindset away, we have given three very persuasive reasons why life insurance is not a luxury item turning into a useless monthly payment as life carries on, but is and has always been a vital necessity and barrier against the worst outcomes of life.
Funeral costs: If there is one reason to have a life insurance policy in place, then It is to cover funeral expenses so your friends and family will not have to.
The Post Office commissioned a survey in 2010 to report on the publics funeral plans, it found 74 percent had no plans and no funds set in place to cover their deaths, with 60 percent of over 55s reporting the same. This is a worrying trend, especially as funeral costs continue to sky rocket, The Guardian found the going rate for funeral directors to average around GBP 1,515; this is before other costs such as church hire are taken into account.
The trend the Post Office picked up on was that “People are giving more thought on what sort of funeral they would like to have, but It is a concern that so few have financial arrangements in place to pay for it.” Said Duncan Caesar Gordon, the Post Offices head of insurance, the result of this I am sure we can all see is leaving friends and family in the lurch with a hefty bill for funeral expenses.
Debts: Not everyone over 50 will gain the financial freedom we outlined in the introduction, just as many will still have debts to pay off, even still have the mortgage. Lincoln Financial Group research found the average age was 56 for homeowners to pay off their mortgage with 1.6 million UK homeowners not paying off their mortgage till they are 65, with a minority of 309,000 paying till the age of 70. The worst thing about this research is that was published in 2006, being five years out of the date the numbers have no doubt gone up significantly since.
Life insurance is becoming more essential as more and more OAPs continue to have mortgage repayments to make and other debts to pay. Without life insurance, your family and spouse are left exposed and the responsibility of repayment will fall on them to be repay the debts. With no financial cover the worst case scenario is your spouse and family might have to sell the house as they cannot afford the mortgage.
Your mortgage might have been repaid, but do you have other debts that need meeting? Credit card bills, car and holiday repayments are all common bills that need covering, with a backup plan in place in case you die. As you can already guess, life insurance is the best catch all cover for all your debts to save your family any prolonged financial distress after you have passed on.
A nest egg to give your family: Life insurance does not just have to be about function and covering debts, mortgages and funeral costs, if you have all that paid off and covered, why not use life insurance as one last gift, a nest egg for your family to prosper. The best example would be to leave the payment to your children to go towards a house deposit, or leave the money for your grandchildren to help with tuition fees and the other cost of university life.
In essence, even the most simple of live insurance cover plans can greatly benefit your family, debts or not. You can relax knowing that if anything untoward happens, you have provided for every eventuality and given your family one final leg up it deserves.
About The Author
Debi writes for http://www.JustLifeInsurance.com who specialise in finding the best over 50′’s life insurance policies, giving great life insurance advice and providing great value life insurance quotes!