There are plenty of reasons for buying life insurance, from ensuring that all of your debts get paid off in the event of your untimely death to protecting your family’s financial security if you’re no longer around to generate a steady income because of your passing. The fact is, a case can be made for the need of life insurance coverage for just about every adult, whether a highly paid business person or a stay at home mom, and very few people can accurately say that they have no need whatsoever for life insurance coverage, although there are some for whom a life insurance policy may not be needed. We’ll discuss some of these.
No Debts and No Dependents
Just as someone who doesn’t own a home doesn’t need homeowner’s insurance and someone who doesn’t drive a car needs no auto insurance, a single person with no significant debt and no dependents probably doesn’t need life insurance coverage either. Since the main purpose for taking out a life insurance policy is to provide financial security for those depending on you for your continuing income, if you have no one depending on your income for their financial security this need is alleviated. One exception to this may be an amount of money required for funeral and burial costs, which will likely have to be paid by someone in the event of your death. Usually this responsibility will fall to one of your relatives, and taking out a small policy to cover these costs and making whomever would take the responsibility of burying you the beneficiary will relieve them of this financial hardship.
Older, Self-sufficient Individuals
Another classification of individuals who may not need life insurance coverage are those who have accumulated enough wealth in their lives that they are basically able to “self -insure.” Their children are grown and out on their own, their spouse is not dependent upon their day to day income, they own their homes and other real estate and have enough in savings and investments that their dependents, including their spouse and, perhaps, aging parents, would not be directly financially impacted by their passing.
A Quick Rule of Thumb
The simple bottom line to who doesn’t need life insurance is this: if no one is depending on your income and wouldn’t suffer a negative financial impact if you were to die tomorrow, life insurance is likely unnecessary.