Last Updated on October 26, 2024
For anyone that has just recently started to explore their life insurance purchasing options, the sheer quantity of options can be a bit overwhelming. When you sit down and begin researching whole life insurance vs. term life insurance, you begin to see that there are clearly definable characteristics that accompany each policy type and it begins to make sense.
Not to mention, having Diabetes may cause your life insurance premiums to be higher, or in some cases, limit your options to certain life insurance carriers. Life insurance for diabetics is not as easy as just going to a website, and filling out an application. Much, much more goes into applying for diabetes life insurance!
What people often struggle most with is deciding the amount at which they would like their policy to be valued. After all, the more life insurance coverage you purchase, the higher the premium you will be responsible for paying each month. It’s never a good idea to be insurance poor, but you do want to make your diabetic life insurance policy provides adequate protection, for your family.
So how do you decide on a policy with a level of coverage that is right for your family? How do you know what premiums will be? Easy! Diabetes 365 is waiting to work with you, and discuss what options you’d have, for life insurance. A call generally takes 5 minutes or less, for an agent to provide some real and accurate life insurance quotes. Our agents are happy to help you determine how much diabetic life insurance coverage, you may need.
Here are five ways to help you figure out how much life insurance you need.
1. Replacing Lost Income
Chances are, your income is important in sustaining a comfortable quality of life for your family. In the event of your passing, how much income will your family lose annually? Will your spouse’s income be suitable for sustaining the same standard of living that your family has grown accustomed to? Most people purchase life insurance to provide a secure future for their loved ones should they pass, so it is important to assure that the coverage amount that you are applying for will be enough to replace lost income.
In married couples, both spouses should apply for policies and ensure that their income is taken into account when determining a level of coverage. Life insurance is equally important for both spouses. Also, you do NOT have to take out the same amount of coverage on each you. Many couples tailor their life insurance based off their budget, and the cost of coverage.
You and your spouse may possibly have different financial obligations. Possibly one of you may have to take care of your parents, or family member in the future. You definitely want to take these things into considerations.
One recommendation for determining amount of your life insurance coverage is to multiply your income, by 10. That’s a good starting to point in determining how much coverage you may need. In our opinion, you probably want to aim a little higher, and possibly think about 15 or 20 year of replacing income. Everyone’s situation is different. We are more than happy to have a conversation with you, and help determine an appropriate amount of life insurance coverage.
2. The Value of a Stay at Home Parent
Earned income isn’t the only financial factor to consider when deciding on a coverage amount. It’s common to overlook the value of a stay at home parent due to the lack of income the role generates. The stay at home parent is a huge financial relief to families, especially families that have several young children.
According to a survey from Salary.com, they indicated that a stay at home parent salary nearly equates to $50,000 annually. If you also factor in the ‘overtime’ a stay at home parent pouts in, that would be nearly another $90,000. Add this up and that’s about $140,000 annually that you would have to replace should the parent pass away.
Over a 10 to 20 year period, this equates to a need of over $1,000,000 in life insurance, to replace this stay at home parent.
Be sure to account for childcare expenses and other expenses that would present in the absence of the stay at home parent. If your child is 1, and would need daycare until age 5, this is something you probably want to factor in, when deciding an amount of life insurance.
Will you be able to afford daycare or after school program and transportation services? This is one important detail that shouldn’t be overlooked.
3. End of life expenses
Nobody wants to think about these issues, but you don’t want to plan on having your funeral expenses, and burial costs covered by life insurance.
The average funeral is costing over $10,000. There could be possible medical expenses as well, for your family to address. Planning for these three the use of life insurance is a wise decision. In some cases hospital bills could reach $100,000 or more.
You don’t want your family to bear a financial burden at time of your death, in combination of grieving your lost. Having life insurance to help address these expenses is a wise idea.
4. Total Up Your Debt
Do you have a home mortgage or a car payment? How about credit card debt? Have you been to college? Student loans??
Most Americans have some form of debt. It’s always a good idea to include the total of your debt when calculating the total amount of coverage you need to apply for.
Debt is a huge financial burden, and with the loss of an income and the inevitable stress that accompanies a loss, the last thing you want your family to have to endure in the event of you or your spouse’s passing is complete financial distress.
Account for remaining car loans, home loans, financial aid loans, and whatever other outstanding debt you may collectively have as a family. Nobody wants their family to go without.
The best way to get started in determining how much coverage your family needs, is to simply make a list of all expenses, debt, and total income that would need to be replaced. The total that you settle at should give you a good approximation of how much your policy should be worth. As always, if you have questions or encounter any confusion, contact an agent at Diabetes 365! We would love to speak with you, and help make suitable recommendations for your family.
5. Your Health
You might be wondering why we mentioned, ‘your health’. Having Diabetes, the degree of control you have with your type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes, will be a main determining factor for your life insurance premiums.
Unfortunately, having Diabetes makes applying for life insurance a little more difficult. You’ll want to avoid companies who advertise low rates, just to trick you in applying for coverage. After applying with companies like these, the actual life insurance rates will be 200% to 500% higher. That’s never a good experience for anyone to go thru, especially someone with Diabetes.
These exact reasons are whey Diabetes 365 was established. We were sick of seeing companies provide FAKE information to OUR community. Don’t fall for these unscrupulous tactics. Simply contact us, and let us help provide you real and accurate quotes. Our experience and relationships with life insurance carriers allow us to find YOU the best life insurance options.
Life insurance companies will make their ‘final’ offers by having you answer basic diabetes questions, health questions, as well as having you complete a blood/urine test and reviewing your most recent diabetes medical records. The more favorable the lab results, and health history information, the BETTER your rates will be. Depending on your health history, you may be eligible for no medical exam life insurance for diabetics policies.
Since people with Diabetes life insurance premiums may be more expensive, compared to non diabetics, you may not be able to afford as much life insurance as you want. Any financial planner or insurance agent SHOULD advise you NOT to be insurance poor. We know you want to provide valuable diabetes life insurance coverage for your family, but you never want to take out a policy, that you cannot afford.
Having Diabetes, there are ways to obtain LOWER life insurance premiums. The first way is to work with an agency, like Diabetes 365, who ONLY works with Diabetes. We’ll be able to make sure you receive the best priced policies possible.
Another way to receive lower premiums is to improve your health and control of Diabetes. Exercise regularly, have a proper diet, see your Doctor or Endocrinologist regularly, and some life insurance companies may reward you with 20% to 30% lower premiums. By making healthy lifestyle choices, life insurance companies will reward you with lower premiums
Here’s a ‘link’ to an article where we discuss in details on how to get lower rates on life insurance, with diabetes.
If you are unsure about life insurance, then you can check out a few of our other articles that will help you get started:
- Tips for Having the Life Insurance Discussion
- Questions to Ask About a Life Insurance Policy
- Can Children with Diabetes Get Life Insurance?
Please don’t feel like you are on your own, when trying to make important life insurance decisions for your family. Contact us, and let us walk you thru the application process, and help you decide on the perfect amount of coverage for your family. We are the Diabetes life insurance pro’s! From start to finish, we make the life insurance application process easy for people like you!
