50+ Lifestyles

Life Insurance During Retirement

By Ryan Denman
Duffy Law Office

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

For many people, life insurance is an important safety net for their loved ones. With a life insurance policy, you know that your family will be financially secure, even if something was to happen and you could no longer provide for them. When you have a young family, there is no doubt that life insurance is very important, but is it as important once you are retired?

There is not a lot of reason to keep a life insurance policy when you are retired. You very likely have income that would go to your spouse once you are gone, and many people already have money set aside to pay for their final expenses. With your children grown, life insurance could be an extra expense that you don’t need.

Of course, if you are retired and already have a whole life insurance policy you probably won’t want to just cancel your policy. You have a number of options available to you if you are retired and already have a life insurance policy, including cashing out your policy, or simply keeping it to ensure that you have something to leave your heirs when you are gone.

If you bought your whole life insurance policy when you were still young, it makes more sense to keep it during retirement than it would to buy term life insurance, which would be very expensive when you are old enough to retire.

For those that are planning for retirement or have already retired, you will want to consider your options when it comes to life insurance. When planning for your retirement, life insurance usually isn’t a major element of that plan due to the reasons stated.

If you do want to keep your life insurance, it may be a good idea to talk with a financial planner to find out if there are any alternatives available to you that would make more sense financially. Life insurance is an unnecessary expense that you probably won’t want to include in your financial responsibilities after retirement.

Ryan Denman is an attorney at Duffy Law Office. He can be reached at (563) 445-7400 or at info@duffylawoffice.com.