How Do You Know If You Need Life Insurance, and If So, How Much?
September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. I know what you are thinking, that this is just another month to bring awareness to a cause of the day. Just like the other months when we observe different topics: National Yoga Month, National Pizza Month, or National Heart Health Month. But Life Insurance Awareness Month is important. It seems that it’s something we all need yet hate to talk about it.
Life Insurance: A Brief History
The concept of life insurance, where one party promises to pay another party in case the covered person dies, has been around since the Roman Empire, if not before. The first example of this was traced back to Roman “burial clubs” that covered the cost of entombment in 96 A.D. The first known life policy was signed in London back in June 1583. Today, we insure everything from our businesses, electronics, and hopefully, our loved ones. It was first brought to our shores in the late 1760s in New York, and really started taking shape when Navy Mutual was inspired 100 years later by the surviving widows and orphans left stranded after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and of the families of U.S. sailors who died at sea.
Knowing that people have been discussing the need for life insurance for hundreds of years, we all have coverage, right? No. More than half of the country either does not have insurance or is uninsured. One in three families remain without enough coverage.
When you work with financial professionals like us at Sachs Financial, we will walk you through a four-part analysis to determine how much life coverage you need.


There are so many other reasons to have life insurance as part of your retirement plan. However, the original reason is sometimes the best. Do you want to create a legacy and leave something behind to help your family members reach their own financial goals? From a single life policy to a survivorship policy, life insurance is one of the best and most affordable ways to make that happen.
If you’re not sure how much you need or what your family could use it for, start by calculating a coverage amount with our life insurance calculator.