You may have life insurance, but ask yourself: Do you have enough life insurance?
For most people, the entire point of life insurance in Arizona is to help pay off outstanding bills and provide for their loved ones in the event of their death. However, if you don’t know how to calculate how much coverage you need, it’s impossible to determine how much life insurance you actually need.
Worried you don’t have enough coverage? Keep reading to discover how to calculate how much life insurance you and your family need!
How Much Life Insurance Is Enough?
There is no “one size fits all” answer when it comes to life insurance. You need to first figure out who the life insurance is for and how much they will need.
For example, many people have a very minimal amount of life insurance because they only want enough to cover their funeral and burial costs. Others might have taken on a bit of debt and need more life insurance to cover those debts. For those who want to take care of everybody, large families means large policies.
While there is no one-size-fits-all answer, there are a few different ways to calculate how much life insurance you need. We’re going to walk you through each one!
How to Calculate How Much Life Insurance You Need in Arizona
Our guide includes some mathematical formulas you can use to determine exactly how much you need. If you want something simpler, though, there are a couple of approaches you can take.
For example, some people simply add up current expenses and obligations as well as possible future expenses and obligations. A person doing this might take out enough life insurance coverage to pay for his debts, his mortgage, and his children’s future college education.
An even simpler method is to multiply your current income by 10. Getting life insurance in this amount should be enough to cushion your family in the event of your unexpected death and help them deal with various unexpected consequences.
What Is the “Minimum” Life Insurance?
Some advisors recommend multiplying your annual salary by 10 or even 15 for minimum life insurance. However, the real “minimum life insurance” for most people is the minimum amount they wish to leave to one or more dependents.
Unlike automobile insurance, there is no state-defined minimum amount of life insurance. In fact, you aren’t obligated to get life insurance at all. That means if you choose to take out a policy, it is up to you to determine how much to get.
Once again, this all comes down to how much you intend to leave and how many dependents you have. Someone who just has their spouse as a dependent may not need as much as someone who has a spouse and one or more children.
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at some ways to determine how much coverage you need.
One Method of Calculating Life Insurance
Instead of simply multiplying your current salary by 10 or 15, consider taking your current salary and multiplying by the years left until you can retire. Therefore, someone who makes $50,000 a year and has 20 years until retirement would have a life insurance policy for one million dollars.
That may seem like a lot, but the idea is to get enough life insurance coverage in Arizona to protect your dependents’ current standard of living. The idea is that each year, surviving dependents can take 5% of the death benefit to keep up with the cost of living rising. They can then invest the remaining amount and potentially earn more than the 5% they previously withdrew.
Another Method of Calculating Life Insurance
Another way to calculate how much life insurance you need is the DIME method. This is an acronym that stands for Debt, Income, Mortgage, and Education.
This approach is relatively simple. It states that as a minimum, you should have enough life insurance to cover your debts, pay for your house, pay for your kids’ education, and replace your income until your children are 18 years old.
The DIME approach helps you take care of current and future major debts. However, it focuses mostly on providing for your children, so you may want a different approach when it comes to providing for your spouse.
Discuss Life Insurance with Your Family
The good news about determining how much life insurance you need in Arizona is that you don’t have to do it on your own. Before you reach out to an insurance carrier, we recommend sitting down and discussing life insurance needs and plans with your family.
After all, these are the people your life insurance is intended to provide for if you die. Instead of simply guessing what they might need when you are gone, you can just sit down and ask them.
Such discussions also reduce the chances of your death causing a rift in the family, with different dependents arguing over how much of a death benefit you left them relative to their needs.
Get the Insurance You Need Sooner Rather Than Later
If you’re reading this, chances are you are considering getting more life insurance coverage. If that is the case, we have one last bit of advice: Get that insurance sooner rather than later!
Most life insurance requires a health exam, and the worse your health, the higher your insurance premium will be. This can greatly affect how much you can afford to leave for other people.
However, you can get term life insurance for long periods (usually up to 30 years). If you are in relatively good health now, you can get term life insurance for up to three decades and “lock in” a good premium. Even if your health takes a turn for the worst during this term, your premium will not go up!
Get Affordable Life Insurance in Arizona Today!
Now you know how to calculate whether you have enough life insurance. But do you know where to find the best and most affordable policies?
Here at Oasis, we take pride in offering the best policies at the most competitive prices. To see how we can help you get a great life insurance policy quote online. You can always come by one of our convenient local offices, or just pick up a phone and give us a call at 800-330-5190.
