Life Insurance for Singles

You’ve attended more than your fair share of engagement parties, weddings and baby showers. But, if you’re single, did you know that the entire nation celebrates you every year, too? It’s called “Unmarried and Single Americans Week” and it always falls on the third week of September. And you aren’t the only one being recognized: There were 109 million unmarried people in America ages 18 and older in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.

If you’re single, you may not think that you need life insurance, assuming that it’s only for people who have spouses, right?

Here are four criteria that may identify a need for life insurance, even if you’re still waiting for Mr. or Ms. “Right.”

You’re a single parent

As a single parent, you might be used to doing more than the lion’s share of household work and responsibilities, but what if the unthinkable happened to you? Who would take over? Would that person be financially equipped to do so?

The cost to raise a child born in 2013 from birth to 18 years old is $245,340, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s most recent report from 2014  on middle-income families with two parents and up to five children, If you were no longer here to support your kids, a life insurance policy could help to cover costs ranging from diapers today to college tomorrow.

You have co-signed a loan

No children? You might have other big financial responsibilities, such as a mortgage, car loan or student loan. Unfortunately, if you passed away, those debts would likely need to be paid off. If a loved one, such as a parent, had co-signed on your loan or loans, the responsibility for paying them off would then fall on your parent’s shoulders.

The benefit amount, even a small one, of a life insurance policy can help to offset such costs and to ease the financial burden on the people you love most.

You plan to start a family someday

Maybe you don’t drive an SUV filled with kids, but if that’s your dream, it’s better to buy a life insurance policy sooner rather than later. Why?

Your insurance policy premium – the monthly payment you make toward a life insurance policy – is usually less expensive when you’re young and healthy. As with most kinds of insurance, such as automobile, renters and homeowners, you only benefit from the policy if you buy it before you actually need it.

You want to offset the burden of final expenses

No one likes to think about their own funeral, let alone plan for it, but the reality is that if you don’t, the people you love most can end up footing the bill – and during a time when they’re already grieving.

How much can a funeral cost?

On average, a funeral for an adult including viewing and burial cost $7,181 in 2014, according to the 2015 General Price List Survey of the National Funeral Directors Association. That amount decreased slightly – to $6,078 – for a funeral with a viewing and cremation.

Regardless of your marital status, there are people whom love you. Those are the people who could benefit most from your owning a life insurance policy and making them the beneficiary of the face amount, should the unthinkable happen to you.