| By :
Marilyn Katz
If you are a senior citizen, or if you care for an older person, you may wonder if life insurance is something you should think about. As with many other financial issues, this one is is not that easy to answer. I cannot tell you about one perfect senior health insurance policy for everybody, and I cannot answer this question without knowing more about an individual situation. But what I can do is give you some reasons that an older person may benefit from coverage. If some of the reasons apply to you, or to an older person that you help care for, it may be time to start shopping for a policy. Consider the transfer of wealth. Lots of older peopple just want a way to leave some wealth to their spouse or children, and this is one traditional use of coverage. Most of the time the proceeds from the death benefit will not be taxed. And since most of us just pay a monthly premium, it can be an affordable way to plan for an estate transfer. So if your goal is leaving money to your spouse or kids after you pass away, consider using a policy. Think about some other issues too. Here is a very common situation. Consider the example of a man who owns a small law firm he wants to leave to his daughter who is also a lawyer. He also has two sons, but they decided to become teachers, so they have no real interest in running a law firm. But the man wants to be fair to his sons, and he knows the law firm is his largest asset. So he purchases a life insurance policy which names the two sons. This policy actually buys them out of any interest in the law firm. The law firm owner has used his coverage in order to distribute his assets fairly to all children. Do you need business insurance? One common reasons that older people look for coverage is because they need it for their company. Many executives and business owners are older people. Some lenders may ask for a policy to guarantee the investment. In addition, key man insurance can insure that a company can recover financially in case it loses a valuable member of the team. So companies, large and small, are one major purchaser of policies for older people. What about final expenses? Probably the most common type of senior life we see advertised is a smaller face value whole life policy. In the business this is called a final expense or burial policy. They usually have death benefits from a couple thousand dollars to twenty-five thousand dollars. They are meant to help the insured person's family pay for final expenses. These could be things like funerals, medical bills, debts, and travel. If an older person has little money saved and does not want to push the burden of final expenses on to a spouse or children, a small policy can provide security. Sometimes older people buy these for themselves, but many times the grown children will pay the premium for their parents. Sometimes it is hard to start talking about this subject, but it can also be very important. Do you need a life insurance policy for yourself, or for somebody you help take care of? Your unique situation has to figure into your decision. For some people, it would be better to put aside a few dollars every month to plan for final expenses. But many families find that it is easier to just pay a premium.
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