What would happen if you or your spouse were to die suddenly? It's not something any of us want to think about, but it does happen. No one wants to think about their own mortality, which makes life insurance an uncomfortable subject, however, the thought of leaving your family unprotected should be more troubling.
Life insurance provides your family with money to live after you are gone. Would you want your family to face selling the home where they live or wondering how they will fund college educations because you were uncomfortable? Of course not.
Even if you are not the breadwinner in the family, if you have children, you should have a life insurance policy. If you died, all of the work you do at home would go undone. Depending on the age of the children, it is likely that your spouse would need to either cut back on the hours he or she worked or hire help.
Fortunately, life insurance is relatively easy to understand, and once you choose a policy, you don't need to give it much more thought. Term and whole life are the two most common choices in life insurance. Term life insurance is in effect for a particular period. You choose the amount of time the policy is in effect and pay the premium. If you pass away during that time, the life insurance will pay out to your beneficiary.
Whole life insurance invests some of your money, and may even pay you a dividend. Unlike term, whole life covers you unless you quit paying the premium with no term limit.