How Much Insurance is Enough Insurance?

If you are one of many American families that have no life insurance and the worry about such financial irresponsibility has overpowered the refusal to make premium payments, how do you decide how much insurance is enough? What is the minimum that will make the anxiety of being without insurance go away?

It would seem the driving factor behind the urgency is having two small children and one parent works while the other raises the children and creates a home. It is harder and harder to discount the thought about what would happen if the unspeakable happens to the sole income earner. Since the sincere hope is that the life insurance will never, ever be needed or cashed in, the justification for spending unavailable dollars on a premium payment each month has to be the relief or peace of mind that had better accompany the life insurance policy.

It is acknowledged that the type of insurance most suited for someone that has a tight budget is term life insurance. According to one national insurance company web site, term insurance was developed to provide temporary insurance protection on a limited budget. Temporary to the big guys means premiums with payments and coverage for a term of 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 25 years or 30 years. They comfort their readers by assuring them that such term insurance policies can be renewed or continued at higher premiums in most states to age 85 or 95. That must be considered to be permanent insurance protection, or at least long term, even to the big guys.

So it seems the way to determine how much term insurance is enough is to go online and get a term life insurance quote, compare the coverage amount to the premium rate and pretend to decide to buy using the lowest term rate quotes for lower coverage amounts first. And see at which coverage amount the anxiety pain subsides.