Life Insurance

Is Life Insurance An Asset Like Your House, Cash, Or Gold?

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Is Life Insurance An Asset?

There are many types of life insurance policiesIs life insurance an asset? Do you consider your life insurance policy to be an asset like your house, cash in your bank account, or the gold bullion bars under your bed? Is life insurance the new asset class?

Are our net worth’s about to skyrocket? It is an interesting idea that has been gaining in popularity in the personal finance circles.

There are several reasons that you may want to consider your life insurance policy to be an asset. But, there are also plenty of reasons not to think of it in that way.

Is Life Insurance An Asset? Maybe!

I will start by saying that I am not a fan of this new philosophy. I personally do feel that life insurance policies are an asset. They are simply a tool. They aren’t a tangible asset that you can touch.

With that being said, there are a few circumstances where I can see that people would include their life insurance policies as an asset. Most of them revolve around whole life insurance policies which are very expensive for people to own. There are much better uses of your principle payments than whole life insurance which is also known as cash value insurance policies.

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20 Things I Should Have Known Better About My Finances

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Things I Should Have Known Better About My Finances

Should Have Known Better About My FinancesI should have known better about my finances in my 20s. Heaven knows that I have made a few financial mistakes along the way.

This list of what I should have known better about my finances in my 20s is an attempt to help others before they make some of the same mistakes. It is not too late though to recover from your errors though if you have made these listed below.

20 Things I Should Have Known Better About My Finances

1. Don’t borrow from your 401k retirement plan. Even though you are paying yourself back with interest, you are going to be forever behind the retirement savings power curve.

2. Invest enough to get the employer matching contribution to your 401k Retirement Plan.

3. Whole life insurance policies are a waste of money. Term life insurance is a much better use of your money.

4. Your children don’t need any life insurance policies. You should have enough to bury them with your emergency fund.

5. Maxing out a Roth IRA is one the best things we can do. This should be your goal as soon as you are financially able after you start working.

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Reader’s Question: Do Single People Need Life Insurance?

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Essential Money Tips for New Parents to Implement on Day 1
Do Single People Need Life Insurance?

Understanding the purpose of life insuranceHere is the next installment in our the Reader’s Questions Series which highlight questions emailed to me by you, the readers of Money Q&A. Be sure to find out at the end of this article how you can receive a free copy of Dave Ramsey’s book, The Total Money Makeover if your money question is chosen to be featured a future week’s blog post.

If you’re not familiar with Dave Ramsey’s book, you should run right out and get it. It is one of the best personal finance books that everyone should read. Now….on to our reader’s question.This week’s Reader Question is from Michelle in Fargo, ND. She asks…

Do single people need life insurance?

This is a great question that I hear quite regularly actually, and it all stems from people not understand the true purpose of life insurance.

Do single people need life insurance if they do not have an heir or someone that they look after or who relies on their income?

The True Purpose Of Life Insurance

Life insurance is meant to protect your most valuable asset, your income stream. More importantly, it is designed to protect your future income stream should you die a premature death. Life insurance protects your income and replaces it for your loved ones who depend on it in order to survive and live day to day.

So, if you have no one who depends on your income to live such as a spouse or children, then you most likely do not need life insurance. This is a prime example of why children do not need their own life insurance policies.

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The Fine Line Between Too Much Insurance and Not Enough

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You need to protect yourself with umbrella insurance.

A few weeks ago I wrote a guest post on one of the biggest personal finance blogs around, Free Money Finance, about the ten insurance policies that everyone should own. There is a fine line with having too much insurance. I took some heat in the comment section of the post from people who said that the ten different types of policies I listed would leave me insurance poor. Maybe they would do that, but maybe they wouldn’t. How many policies are too many? How Many Policies Do You Need? Do you need ten different insurance policies? Maybe you do need them, and maybe you don’t need that many. One commenter actually listed a few policies that you should have that … Read more

Three Types of Insurance You Need to Buy Now to Protect Yourself

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Types of Insurance You Need to Buy

Insurance is one of those topics that people do not want to discuss. No one really wants to think about when they will die, getting sued, or becoming disabled. No one wants to talk or think about dying, getting sued, or becoming disabled. But, there are types of insurance you need to consider to protect yourself. But, the people who are hurt the most are our family members when we do not have the proper insurance plans and coverages. Unfortunately, there are many types of insurance that you need to consider owning. Below are some of the most critical ones. Three Types of Insurance You Need Term Life Insurance I’m a huge fan of term life insurance over whole life insurance. … Read more