let’s talk term life insurance. what’sit all about and what’s new? first of all, it’s called term because it doesn’t goon forever. when you buy it, you decide how long you need it. like a 20- or 30-year term. how do you decide? most people want to carrycoverage until their planned retirement age. they want to make sure that if they die, theycan provide their family with an income that can be used to cover everything from groceriesto college tuition. think about it. if either you or your spousedies, there won’t be two of you to earn the income you’re used to. this could makeit difficult or nearly impossible to pay the mortgage, afford child care, pay off existingdebts, or simply balance work and home.
case in point: meet eric and megan. they’rea couple in their early 30’s. eric is the breadwinner and he and megan have a $175,000balance on a mortgage they took out three years ago. they have two young kids (munchkingiggles) a beagle (woof), and a goldfish named spike (bloop!). sound familiar? megan has a part-time job right now whileshe’s in school working toward her graduate degree. they try hard to be smart about what theyspend and save… building a college fund for their kids, paying off debts, and tryingto stay on track to pay off the mortgage in 17 years. but if eric or megan should dieunexpectedly those plans may never become
reality. in fact, without eric’s income,megan wouldn’t have enough money to live on, much less save money. and without megan,eric would be a single parent without a second income or time to work extra hours to supporthis family. so how can they protect the lifestyle theyhave today and their plans for tomorrow? one smart way could be term life insurance.typical term life insurance is available in set increments, such as 10, 20, or 30 yearsand the cost remains the same for the length of time you own the policy. a new kind oflayered term life insurance can be personalized even further to fit each family’s uniqueneeds. right down to the year. the layers can be customized to each individual need,so you can make sure the things that are important
to you are handled, such as paying off themortgage or providing money for kids’ education or replacing income —and you only pay forwhat you need when you need it. for example, eric earns an income of $65,000/year.if he dies any time before he plans to retire 30 years from now, he wants to be sure thehousehold income can stay the same for at least 5 years, until megan and the kids canget back on their feet. he also wants to cover their mortgage of $175,000, and college forthe kids—about $100,000 each. with traditional term life insurance all theseindividual needs could be covered in a single $700,000 term policy for 30 years. or, withlayered term insurance, each separate need can be planned for in a single policy, forthe exact amount and length of time it’s
needed. this way, eric & megan’s familyis protected for what they need, when they need it, nothing more and nothing less. andthe payments decrease as the customized coverage layers drop off.some term life policies require a medical exam as part of the application process, whileothers can be bought over the phone, without an exam. with most term insurance, if you want morecoverage later, you can convert your policy into permanent insurance that can last yourwhole life. allstate offers two types of term life insurance,each designed around unique customer needs -- from basic coverage to fully customized.term life insurance? find out if it’s right
for you.