Too many families and small business owners overlook the foundational financial planning step of getting sufficient life insurance protection in place.
According to LIMRA, about 48% of U.S. families are significantly underinsured, and about 37 million Americans have no life coverage in place at all. One in five families with children living in the home is underinsured.
For those who have life insurance, the amount in place is too often inadequate: On average, most families’ coverage is about $200,000 short of their actual needs. The average family with life insurance has only enough to cover about three years of lost income and expenses.
For surviving family members, a lack of life insurance sets them up for a series of devastating blows to their financial security and lifestyle. Not only are they at risk of losing a loved one and provider — a parent, husband or wife — they also lose every paycheck and every pay raise and promotion that loved one would have earned throughout the rest of their working life. The High Cost of Not Having Life Insurance