Term Life Insurance for Pharmacists
You’ve set yourself up with the infamous six-figure income (or close to it).
Hopefully, you’ve got a solid budget in place, you’re working on paying off those student loans, and taking advantage of tax-favored retirement accounts.
So you should be set right and on the path toward financial freedom?
Although these are key components of a financial plan, term life insurance can be just as important.
If you’re young and healthy, the thought of passing away at an early age may be tough to visualize. Plus,
who wants to think about that anyway right?
Here’s the bottom line:
If you were to suddenly pass, would your children and or significant other be financially secure?
In other words, does anyone depend on you making an income?
Why Term Life Insurance?
Life insurance generally comes in two flavors: term and permanent.
Term life insurance is for a specific term such as 20 years, and you generally pay a monthly or annual premium. If you pass away during that term, your beneficiary will receive the full amount of the policy. Simple right?
Unfortunately, that’s not the case for permanent life insurance which also goes by cash value, whole life, variable, and universal life insurance. These policies are usually for your “whole life” and also have a built-in savings plan. Insurance agents love to push these policies because they earn WAY more in commissions than a term policy.
While it may seem like a good thing to have coverage for your entire life, the reality is that if you are saving and investing throughout your working career, you should have plenty of money when you retire so that in the event anything happens to you, your family is covered.
Because these policies are significantly more expensive and loaded with fees, we believe term life insurance is best for most people.
What if My Employer Offers Life Insurance?
Although your employer may offer some level of insurance, it may not be enough. Also, if you leave your job you may need another health evaluation if your policy is not portable and you might be as healthy as you are today.
That’s why we recommend you consider purchasing privately. We have partnered with Policygenius, an online independent broker so you can quickly shop multiple companies to find the policy that’s best for you. Their interface is awesome and easy to use and can get a term life insurance quote in about 2 minutes.
What’s great about their service is that they work with the top companies in the industry but you only work with them. You get a single point of contact that guides you through the process. So you don’t have to worry about getting tons of calls and emails from multiple companies.
Team member Tim Ulbrich can personally attest to the quality of their service as he has used Policygenius for his own life insurance needs.
How Much Life Insurance Should I Buy?
You may have seen a rule of thumb of 8-12x your income for the amount of coverage required. However, because everyone’s situation is different, this amount may be more or less than what you need.
It will ultimately come down to your obligations such as debt that would be inherited by your family, future expenses such as college, childcare, and income support. This could be offset by some of the savings you have.
If you want some more information on this you can download the life insurance guide below or you can check out Episode 44 of the Your Financial Pharmacist Podcast: How to Determine Your Life Insurance Needs.
