mother and young son embracing in an autumn park

The Average Life Expectancy in the U.S. is 78.2 Years

Is your family in a position to cover costs when you pass away? Proper life insurance coverage is important to the future of your family. With a life insurance package from Banas & Fickert Insurance Agency, you get value and peace of mind.

Benefits of Life Insurance

Life insurance helps provide short- and long-term financial support to those you leave behind after death. Common benefits of life insurance include:

  • Coverage of Final Expenses: Talking to your loved ones about your own funeral arrangements can be rather uncomfortable, but preparing them ahead of time can relieve some of the burden (especially financially). Even the most modest of arrangements can cost several thousand dollars, and a life insurance policy can take that cost off their shoulders.
  • Support for Surviving Spouse and/or Children: Life insurance can help replace the loss of your future income, as well as cover daily living expenses, childcare, and education for your family. This benefit is particularly key for those who are/have been the primary breadwinner.
  • Repayment of Debt: Survivors often inherit the debt of the deceased, such as credit card and student loan debt, mortgages, and medical bills. Some of this debt may be forgiven or reduced, but don’t count on it. Life insurance can alleviate the threat of financial ruin.
  • Personal Legacy: Some people choose to get life insurance in order to leave a legacy, perhaps in the form of a family trust for their children or an endowment to a favorite charity or educational institution.

Who Needs It?

The reason we purchase homeowners and auto insurance is for protection against what may happen. And though we don’t like to think about death, that’s something we can guarantee to affect us all eventually. Anyone could benefit from the right life insurance policy, but there are some types of people for whom it is a greater need.

  • Those with significant debt (mortgage, credit card, student loan, medical)
  • Parents with young children and/or college-bound children
  • Spouses who are the sole- or primary-breadwinner
  • Business owners, partners, and stockholders to fund a buy sell-agreement or a cross purchase agreement.
    • To cover business debt or corporate debt
    • Coverage for a key employee

Benefits of Life Insurance

Life insurance helps provide short- and long-term financial support to those you leave behind after death. Common benefits of life insurance include:

  • Coverage of Final Expenses: Talking to your loved ones about your own funeral arrangements can be rather uncomfortable, but preparing them ahead of time can relieve some of the burden (especially financially). Even the most modest of arrangements can cost several thousand dollars, and a life insurance policy can take that cost off their shoulders.
  • Support for Surviving Spouse and/or Children: Life insurance can help replace the loss of your future income, as well as cover daily living expenses, childcare, and education for your family. This benefit is particularly key for those who are/have been the primary breadwinner.
  • Repayment of Debt: Survivors often inherit the debt of the deceased, such as credit card and student loan debt, mortgages, and medical bills. Some of this debt may be forgiven or reduced, but don’t count on it. Life insurance can alleviate the threat of financial ruin.
  • Personal Legacy: Some people choose to get life insurance in order to leave a legacy, perhaps in the form of a family trust for their children or an endowment to a favorite charity or educational institution.

Types of Life Insurance Coverage

At Banas & Fickert Insurance Agency, we offer a variety of life insurance options to fit your needs:

  • Term: With term life insurance you are covered for a specific, pre-determined amount of time. Premiums are lower than other types, but can fluctuate once the term is expired.
  • Whole: Do you want to be covered for your entire life? With whole life insurance, you are covered through your life, without an expiration date. On top of that, the policy can accrue equity.
  • Universal: With universal life insurance, you can accrue cash value that can be borrowed against. Premiums for this insurance are paid into a policy account and it earns interest. As long as the cash value of the policy is enough to cover monthly deductions, the policy is active. There is also flexibility of being able to change the amount covered and the monthly premiums.

Accelerated Death Benefit Rider

The Accelerated Death Benefit Rider allows for a partial payout of the death benefit prior to the insured’s death to cover qualifying serious illness and long-term care needs. This is not meant to replace health and long-term care insurance, rather to provide an extra level of protection.

The Accelerated Death Benefit Rider covers very specific situations. To qualify for payout under the Terminal Illness option, the insured must have a life expectancy of 6 months or less, and/or require a vital organ transplant. For a payout under the Nursing Home option, the insured must have been confined to a long-term care facility for 6 consecutive months, with the expectation that he or she will remain there for life.

There is no cost for having this rider attached to your life insurance policy, but the payout amount will be reduced—by how much will depend on the exact policy terms. Should you never activate this rider, the death benefit will be paid in full.

Get a Quote!

Life insurance comes with many questions. We are here to help. Whether you have questions about how life insurance works, you want to know more about a specific type of insurance, or you want a quote, give us a call at 413-527-2700. We want to ensure you have the best experience when selecting your insurance and, because of that, we take the time to explain your options. No matter what type of life insurance you need, we will help you get the right package.