Do you need life insurance? 

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• How much of the family income do I provide?
• If I were to die early, how would my survivors get by?
• Does anyone else depend on me financially?

Your primary reason for buying life insurance should be for the death benefit, or cash, that the policy will pay to your survivors - cash that can be used to pay for final expenses such as a funeral, unpaid medical bills and credit card balances.  Life insurance benefits can also be used to continue mortgage payments and other financial obligations, giving your survivors time to adjust to the loss of your income.

Life insurance policies are not all the same, and consumers should be cautious about dropping life insurance policies they already have in order to purchase new or replacement policies.

For more information about different types of life insurance and guides for determining how much life insurance one needs, we recommend the following sources:

Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance

Life & Health Insurance Foundation for Education

American Council of Life Insurers