Life Insurance
Sizing the gap, choosing the structure, and the mistakes that make cover fail when needed.
Start from the gap, not from a round number
The need is income replacement for a defined period, plus mortgage payoff, plus debts and final expenses, plus education costs, minus existing assets and cover already in force. That calculation produces a figure. Choosing a round number instead usually produces either wasted premium or a serious shortfall.
Term cover matches most real needs
Term insurance is cheap because it covers a defined period with no cash value. Most needs — raising children, paying off a mortgage, replacing income until retirement — are themselves defined periods. Matching the term to the need is the single decision that determines whether the cover is good value.
Permanent cover solves a different problem
Whole and universal policies cost several times more and exist for lifelong dependants, estate liquidity and business succession. They are not a better version of term insurance; they answer a different question, and buying them for the wrong reason is expensive.
Employer cover is a supplement, not a plan
Group life is convenient and usually ends when the job does. It is rarely portable at the same price, and it is typically a multiple of salary rather than a figure connected to your actual obligations.
Where cover fails
Non-disclosure during underwriting is the main reason claims are contested, particularly within the contestability period after issue. Lapsed premiums are the second. Naming an outdated beneficiary, or naming the estate by default, is the third and the easiest to fix.
Common questions
Do I need cover if I have no dependants?
Usually little, beyond final expenses and any debt someone else guaranteed.
Should both partners be insured?
Frequently yes, including a partner without earnings, because replacing childcare and household work has a real cost.