People buy life insurance to help protect their loved ones from financial hardship if they were to pass away. That’s because life insurance pays out a lump-sum of money to your beneficiaries (the people you designate to receive your insurance benefit) when you pass away. They can use that money to:

• Replace lost income
• Pay for final expenses, debts or estate taxes
• Cover day-to-day living expenses

Purchasing life insurance through your employer is often easier and more affordable than purchasing it on your own. For example:

• You’ll pay group rates, which may be less than individual rates
• Through an employer, life insurance is typically guaranteed issue, which means that you can get a certain amount of coverage without having to answer a lot of health questions or take a medical exam
• Your premiums will be conveniently deducted from your paycheck

You’ll know that the plan was reviewed and selected by your employer, so you don’t have to do the research yourself.

Everyone is different, so you’ll want to consider your specific short- and long-term needs. For example, you may want to think about how much you’d need to cover burial and funeral expenses, how much your family would need to cover everyday living expenses if you should pass away, as well as future needs like college and retirement. Also, remember to factor in inflation – keeping in mind that everything will cost more in the future than it does today.

Calculate your needs

Life insurance may not cost as much as you think. Especially if you purchase it through your employer. Often employers will pay the full cost of the Basic Term Life premiums for you, as an employee benefit. Employers may also offer additional voluntary coverage, which is paid for by the employee.

You can have more than one policy, if you need it. 48% of U.S. households have a life insurance coverage gap of $200,000.¹ It’s important to review your situation and your policies every year or so, to make sure nothing in your life has changed. For example, you might need to adjust your coverage if you recently:

• Got married or divorced
• Had a child or have children or grandchildren about to enter college
• Bought a new home
• Started providing care or financial assistance for a parent

 1 Life Insurance Ownership in Focus: U.S. Household Trends 2016 LIMRA Ownership Study.

Since life insurance is a long-term purchase, you’ll want to make sure that the company that will provide the benefit is strong, stable and reliable. They should be financially secure, have a good claims-paying history, good customer service and competitive pricing.

Learn about Equitable and our history

You can name your spouse, a close relative, child(ren), an estate or trust as beneficiary to your policy.

• If you name a minor child, a custodian agreement or trust should be in place to ensure that all the proceeds can be paid promptly.
• A trust can be named beneficiary in order to protect minor children, but there may be tax consequences, so make sure you talk to your financial professional.
• If you name your estate, keep in mind that the life insurance proceeds cannot be released until the estate has gone through probate.