Life Insurance Calculator

Over the years, life expectancy has increased.  It used to be that peopled died in their early seventies but today, we see adults living to eighty, ninety, and even older, living a good quality life and decent health and a stable mind.  Because of the changes in life expectancy, it is important to plan accordingly.

The future is yours to control and while there might be some obstacles, it is important to plan for a longer life than what you might have planned for when young.  In addition to a person’s life expectancy increasing, this often means that people are waiting longer and longer to retire.  Even those who do retire often go back to work part-time, looking for things to do to continue enjoying life and being a viable part of society.

Of course, there are no guarantees when it comes to life expectancy, which is why good planning for loved ones is so important.  Although we see people living longer, life can be taken instantly.  This means that every person, whether planning for more years of life or wanting peace of mind should something unexpected happen, good planning is vital.

With planning in the form of life insurance, risk is being eliminated, ultimately taking stress off of the people that you love.  Not knowing what your life expectancy will be, you can put a plan into action that will remove any burden from the family.  The big question is how to plan.  For instance, should you start over savings just in case or look for a longer term solution.  Because the outcome of a person’s life is simply unknown, the best solution is to find solutions that overlap.

You can choose a predictable solution, one that would protect your family now in case of accidental or early death, as well as a solution that would care for your loved ones late in life.  Keep in mind that in addition to many special plans, there are also traditional plans.  Usually, these two combined will ensure you have coverage for your family regardless of when death occurs.

For starters, we recommend you go online and check out life insurance policies.  For instance, universal life is one option in that part of the policy is for insurance and the other part is an actual savings.  This means you would have two solutions rolled into one program.  These policies are affordable and effective.  To determine the type and amount of life insurance you need, the following sites have calculators that can help get you started.

• MSN Money - http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/calcs/n_life/main.asp
• FinAid - http://www.finaid.org/calculators/lifeinsuranceneeds.phtml
• MetLife - http://www.metlife.com/Applications/Corporate/WPS/CDA/PageGenerator/0,4132,P13909,00.html
• Smart Money - http://www.smartmoney.com/insurance/life/index.cfm?story=intro
• Forbes - http://www.forbes.com/tools/calculator/life_insurance.jhtml

Since no one knows how long they will live, this all becomes a little complicated but not impossible.  Most experts agree that you need to save enough money so the cost of living would be covered beyond your life expectance, based on health, family medical history, lifestyle, occupation, and gender.  This way, even if the money is never spent until late in life, you have coverage either way.  To help you prepare, regardless of your life expectancy expectations, consider the following scenarios.

• Stock Market Returns – Many people continue to invest in the stock market.  Obviously, this form of savings has highs and lows and while the short-term is shaky, the long-term is that you would end up with a good investment.  Choosing stock carefully will give you the best chance for a solid retirement.
• Tax Bracket – If your life expectancy takes you into retirement years, then consider the tax bracket you would end up in later in life.  Although if you fully fund your 401K or IRA account to enjoy tax deductions, you need to ask yourself if your income remains the same over the years but you lose deductions, would you find yourself in a position of being swallowed up by taxes.  To resolve the problem, you could invest in a private tax free retirement plan via insurance connected to market index.
• Social Security and Medicare – While many people currently live on Social Security and/or Medicare, the question for younger people is will it still be an option if their life expectancy is into the sixties, seventies, eighties, etc.  Unfortunately, the government needs to take some serious steps to protect both of these programs.  As more than 80 million baby boomers near retirement age, these programs are going to be stretched to the max.  For the ultimate in protection, many financial advisors are now telling people to add other means of income should these programs not come through when needed.
• Health – One of the main considerations pertaining to any life expectancy is a person’s health.  After all, someone could be in a horrible accident at age twenty and within five years, pass away from difficulties while another person could develop cancer into his or her fifties, living for ten years of ups and downs.  Obviously, health has a huge impact on life expectancy.  Therefore, a good diet, daily exercise, avoiding drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, and so on are just a few of the things you could do to ensure you remain healthy and strong.

Rather than stress over your own life expectancy, plan.  The following are just a few of the recommendations we would make to ensure you and your family are cared for the right way.

• Look for both government and private programs that would provide market based growth while giving you tax free benefits
• Consider investing in the stock market, choosing the more predicable returns
• Use any tax deferred retirement plans in the early years of your retirement
• Take care of your body so you outlive your calculated life expectancy
• Build plans that would give you income streams, those that you would never outlive
• While working hard to stay healthy, make sure you also plan for profit, meaning a long-term healthcare policy that would give you the opportunity to go to the doctor when needed is best