Life Insurance in Your 30’s: The Ideal Time to Set Up Your Policy

To get life insurance or not?

It’s a question most of us start to think about as we get older.

Life changes a lot in our 30s, we get married, have children, and purchase a home…

…there is a lot at stake if, unfortunately, the unthinkable happens.

But there is no sense sticking your head in the sand.

If something were to happen to you, would you want to leave your spouse and children with any remaining debt you have?

Nobody wants to burden our loved ones with such a thing.

Therefore, life insurance is something we should all consider.

Let’s dig into 5 reasons why it’s a good idea to secure a life insurance policy in your 30s.

Do Your Personal Circumstances Call For Life Insurance?

It all depends, as every one of us finds ourselves in different circumstances. A good way to evaluate if you are a good candidate for life insurance is to consider the following:

1. Are You In A Long-term Relationship?

Perhaps your married or in a spousal relationship, if so, your better half likely depends on your financially. 

Therefore, taking out life insurance can provide some form of financial protection for them. Many of us don’t like to think about it, however, a well set up policy could mean the world to your partner if something were to happen to you.

After all, the amount of coverage you decide to purchase within your policy is tax-free. It will save your family from having to dig into their savings to pay for any upfront death-related expenses.

2. Are You A Homeowner?

Owning a home, unfortunately, is expensive. Mortgage repayments aren’t the only expense your family would have cover if you weren’t around anymore. There are the costs of maintenance, utilities, rates, home and contents insurance, the list goes on and on.

If you own a home, a life insurance policy could cover the mortgage balance plus any other expenses that may crop up. Covering these expenses could well be what keeps a roof over your loved ones’ heads.

3. Do You Owe Money Elsewhere?

Unfortunately, house mortgages aren’t the only money many of us will owe. Student debt, car loans, personal loans, and credit cards, are just a few examples.

Whatever the reason for your debt, sadly, it doesn’t all magically disappear when we aren’t around anymore. According to Savingforcollege.com, about half of private student loan programs do not offer death discharges, meaning your family will have to foot the bill.

I’m sure that’s the last place you want to put your loved ones’ in after your passing.

4. Do You Either Have Children Or Plan On Having Them?

Kids add another layer of financial responsibility, you are likely to incur more debt when you have children. This is often due to requiring a larger home, a bigger car, family vacations, school fees…

… you can see how it all adds up quickly.

Therefore, it’s important that you protect your children and your partner, especially if you want them to lead a happy and healthy lifestyle if you weren’t here to provide for them.

And if you’re a stay at home parent with little to no income compared to your partner?

You are still incredibly valuable to the family unit. Think about it, all the cleaning, cooking, tutoring, and so on that you do every day. Your efforts allow your partner to earn the money they do and your kids to lead the life they are. 

It could all be lost if something were to happen to you.

5. Do You Wish To Save Money Later?

Something else to consider when thinking about getting life insurance during your 30s is that policies are normally super affordable.

A major factor in the cost of a life insurance policy is your age. Generally, the younger and healthier you are, the cheaper your life insurance premium is likely to be. 

Buying life insurance in your 30s is much cheaper than securing a policy later in life, particularly if you are hunting for a term life policy (a policy you lock-in to cover yourself in case of death or terminal illness for a predetermined number of years). 

Locking in a fixed low rate can save you money over the long run.

It may not seem necessary to get life insurance in your 30s as your chances of death and terminal illness isn’t very high. However, you’ll thank yourself later in life as insuring yourself in your 60s, 70s, or 80s can be extremely expensive.

Which Life Insurance Policy Should A 30-year-old Choose?

A good place to start when hunting around for the best option is level term life insurance. This involves the purchaser choosing a period in which they’d like to insure themselves for.

Simply choose a term for the policy length, pick an amount you are happy to pay throughout, and know that you are covered for a fixed rate that cannot increase anytime during the policy’s duration.

For example, if you were to lock in a 15-year term life policy with $600,000 worth of coverage, you’d likely pay around $24 or £20 a month for the length of the policy. 

That’s very affordable.

There are also many other life insurance policies that you can choose if you like. One such policy that is also quite popular is whole life insurance. Whole life insurance is a policy you keep for life, policies such as these can get a little more complicated and sometimes rather expensive.

With that in mind, before signing onto a whole life insurance policy, it’s a good idea to read the fine print and consider your options.

Comparing the monthly premium between term life policies and whole life policies is a good place to start.

Wrap Up

Do you know another great way to ensure your family will be looked after financially if something were to happen to you?

Employ the services of a money management app like Emma.

With the help of a money management app like Emma, you can easily track your spending and start to put money aside in case the unexpected occurred.

Leaving plenty of extra cash to put away for your loved ones.

You can download Emma from either the App Store and Google Play Store.