Читать книгу Personal Finance After 50 For Dummies - Eric Tyson - Страница 37

Some employers offer life insurance coverage. If it’s free, by all means factor it into your calculations for how much additional coverage you may need. (Refer to the preceding section, “Determining your life insurance need,” for more on calculating the coverage you need.)

For example, if your employer gives you $50,000 in life insurance without cost — and in Table 2-1 you calculated you should have $300,000 of coverage — simply subtract the $50,000 your employer provides to come up with $250,000 of life insurance you need to get on your own.

Keep in mind, however, if you leave the employer, you’ll most likely lose the provided insurance coverage. At that time, if your needs haven’t changed, you’ll need to replace the employer coverage.

If you have to pay out of your own pocket for employer-based life insurance, you can probably pay less elsewhere. That’s because group life plans tend to cost more than the least expensive individual life insurance plans. Also, an individual policy that you buy isn’t dependent upon staying with your current employer so that would be an additional reason to get your own coverage and not buy any through your current employer.

Here’s one important caveat: You must be in good health to get life insurance on your own (at a competitive price, if at all). If you have health problems, group coverage is likely to be your best bet.