Finance Friday - Life Insurance

Do you have life insurance? Do you even need life insurance? If you're single and have no dependents or family to speak of probably not, but if you have a family that depends on you, you definitely need it. From all the research I've done, here's what I would recommend - a term life insurance policy worth about 10 times your annual salary. This is typically enough to help cover the costs of your burial, paying off the house, covering the kids' colleges, and a few other things to help take the pressure off. And if you're a spouse that does not work? Well, yes, you probably need life insurance too. It's a little harder to calculate how much you would need, but think through what the other spouse would have to pay for if you were gone - childcare costs, etc. Term life insurance is really not that expensive, and it is totally worth it! If you need help calculating it, let me know. I have a spreadsheet that I got from one of my personal finance classes that really helps you put it all together.