Marriage is one of the most important events in an individual’s life. Marriage means a lifelong commitment in which two people vow to support and take care of each other. After marriage, the decisions you take, especially regarding finances, should be considerate of your as well as your partner’s needs. Even though you may be working hard to create a comfortable, new life for yourself and your partner, you cannot predict when an unfortunate event will occur. Besides the emotional consequences, your spouse may be affected financially as well. Opting for life insurance plans is a smart way to combat this risk.
What is life insurance?
Life insurance is a type of insurance product that insures your life against a variety of risks and dangers. If you pass away due to the events covered in the policy, your loved ones receive financial compensation. Life insurance is a vital investment for those who have dependents. It gives you a deeper peace of mind, with the knowledge that your family will not suffer any financial hardships in unfortunate times when you are no longer there to support them. Depending on the life insurance product you are buying, you have to pay a certain amount as a premium. You can get an estimate of the premium with the help of a life insurance premium calculator.
Buying life insurance post-marriage is a financially wise and sound decision due to several reasons.
Why life insurance is essential after marriage
An increase in responsibilities
Once you marry, your responsibilities grow in number and extent. As compared to the earlier years of your life, when you were a bachelor/bachelorette, the expenses are quite high. Instead of one, there are now two people to look after. You and your spouse may have also financial goals that you wish to fulfil in the future, such as a vacation or the admission of your child into a top school. Adequate funds are necessary to ensure the fulfilment of these.
If the primary earning member of the family were to suffer an unfortunate event during these times, then the repercussions could be catastrophic. The sole spouse would have to take care of all these expenses. Therefore, buying life insurance plans is ideal at this stage of life.
Rise in liabilities
Many people take important decisions such as buying a car or a home only after they marry. In most cases, a loan is taken for these purposes. If a sudden, untimely demise were to take place, the responsibility for repaying the loan would fall solely on the remaining spouse’s shoulder. Defaulting on the loan repayments multiple times could also lead to the confiscation of the home and other assets that you had bought together. The sum assured from a life insurance plan can help avoid such an unfortunate situation.
Premiums are lower
The ideal age group at which most people marry and start settling is around their late 20s and early 30s. This is also a time when individuals are comparatively healthier; this aspect can help you incur a lower premium when you buy life insurance. Since there is a low likelihood of you suffering a health issue and raising a claim, the premium is low. If you were to buy the same plan with the same sum assured when you are 45-50 years old, you will incur much higher premiums.
The same insight can be gained with the help of a life insurance premium calculator, which estimates a higher premium as you increase the age variable.
What kind of life insurance should one buy after marriage?
Along with knowing what life insurance is, it is also important to know its types to select the one most suitable for you and your spouse.
·
Term
insurance
This is the ideal option to pick if you are looking at coverage for a particular period only. Term insurance is also relatively more cost-effective than other life insurance plans. You can get a high sum assured at very low premiums.
·
Whole
life insurance
This type of policy offers coverage for the whole life. Some plans offer coverage for as long as 99-100 years. As compared to a term plan, this plan has a higher premium.
·
Joint
life insurance
Joint life insurance policies offer life coverage for both spouses under one plan. If either of the covered members passes away during the duration of the policy, the other spouse gets the sum assured. The plan ends after one life insurance claim has been raised.
Marriage also means new beginnings. Buying life
insurance plans to secure the future of your loved ones is the right way to
begin a new journey of togetherness in your life.