My wife and I have no debt and no children, but we are happy to pay about $80 a month for life insurance to protect each other.

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• Many people in debt or with children buy life insurance to protect their families. My wife and I have neither.
• But we’re happy to pay around $80 a month for our coverage.
• My policies are worth a total of $800,000 and I have peace of mind knowing my wife is covered.

When I tell my friends and family that I purchased life insurance for my wife and myself, I get some weird looks. This is not normal, at least in our situation.

In 2019, we paid off our last debt: our house. It was a big problem. We don’t have children either. And debt and kids are two big reasons many people buy life insurance.

Now that we are debt free, do we really need life insurance? I believe him. And there are several reasons for this.

Why life insurance made sense at this point in our lives

I know we don’t need to have life insurance. Most of the time, people use life insurance to cover funeral expenses after the unexpected loss of a loved one, pay mortgage payments, provide an inheritance for children, and cover ongoing living expenses that come with the loss of a loved one. economic support.

Our savings and emergency fund would more than cover any unexpected deaths in our household. That’s not why I bought life insurance for myself.

Instead, I chose my $750,000 30-year term life insurance plan to take care of my wife in the event of her death. In addition to this personal plan, I bring another $50,000 through my employer. That’s $800,000 in life insurance coverage.

I want her to be able to feel a sense of peace in the middle of a storm if I died before her. I want her to be able to continue to live the kind of life we ​​currently enjoy. I don’t want her to have to worry about how she will have to pay the next gas or electric bill, or whether or not she will have to go back to work.

My wife has much less life insurance than me. She also earns less. His plan goes through my employer. We decided to put him on life insurance for $25,000. Her life insurance would cover all additional funeral costs, incidentals, and allow me some time to grieve. We are considering adding additional life insurance for her, hoping to increase her coverage up to $300,000.

What life insurance costs us

My $750,000 policy costs $793.75 per year, or $66.15 per month. For me, it’s a small sum to ensure that my wife will be well taken care of if I die. She will be able to pay the funeral expenses and put the remaining amount in an investment fund so that she has a reliable stream of income while I’m gone.

My plan through my employer is much cheaper. I have $3.74 deducted each pay period to cover my life insurance. This equates to $7.48 per month. It’s so little that we don’t even notice the difference in my income.

My wife’s plan through my employer is actually cheaper than mine. Its rate is $3.12 per pay period, or $6.24 per month.

My life insurance gives me peace of mind

There is peace of mind that comes with buying life insurance. We know death is coming for us. At some point, we all die. When this happens to me, I want to be financially ready. I have now purchased life insurance for three years, and they have peace of mind knowing that I will be able to take care of my wife long after I am gone.

Some may wonder why we chose term life insurance over permanent insurance. We decided to go with the term because it would cover us until our savings, investments, and income were more than enough to cover the expenses and remaining income needed to give us a stable living situation. Term life is also a lower cost life insurance policy. We can take what we save and put it into investments that will yield higher returns.

Although death is never easy, I would have made my death easier for my wife. She won’t have to worry about working overtime, finding someone else to take care of her, or having to change jobs to make up for my lost income.

Even though we are debt free, there are still things to consider when it comes to life insurance. I think my wife and I have those bases covered and she will be covered if anything ever happens to me.

That’s what life insurance is for: protecting the loved ones we leave behind when we die.