Check Your Insurance

It’s the New Year and, if you’re like many people, you may look at various areas of your life to see where there is room for improvement. One area many people don’t explore is their insurance. Are you and your family covered? Consider this three-pronged approach to insurance.

Health Insurance

If there is one type of insurance that’s on most people’s minds, it’s health insurance. Despite its increasing cost, health insurance typically covers expenses that far outweigh the cost of premiums. One way you might reduce your health care expenses is through a Health Savings Account (HSA). If you have a high deductible health plan, you qualify to make contributions to an HSA. Contributions are tax-deferred, potential growth is also tax-deferred and qualified distributions are tax-free.

Life Insurance

While the need for health insurance is only an accident away, we hope the need for life insurance is in the distant future. However, hope doesn’t always equal reality and having life insurance can help provide the future financial security you want for your family.

As with health insurance, you’ll probably want to take advantage of any group life insurance your employer offers. If you change jobs, though, this coverage could end. Buying an individual life insurance policy outside of the workplace may make sense, especially given the price and design alternatives from which you can choose. Term life insurance provides basic protection at a cost that starts out low, but typically rises with age. Whole life insurance is permanent and its premium payments never go up as long as you pay them on time.

Disability Insurance

Of the three types of insurance, disability income (DI) insurance is the one type of coverage most often misunderstood. Many people get short-term DI insurance for free from their employers, who may also offer group long-term DI insurance paid for by employees. The latter is vital coverage that replaces a portion of what is the largest asset of many people: their ability to earn a living.

Your financial professional can help you compare DI and other types of insurance as part of a comprehensive look at your financial protection.