Life insurance is a way to provide financial security to your family after you pass away. For many, life insurance is a necessity, as costs of funerals or even medical treatments during life can drain funds that might otherwise have been used to provide security to the surviving family members. Deciding on life insurance is very important and should not be taken lightly. That being said, deciphering all the technicalities of a policy can be difficult, particularly to the many of us who don’t have any type of legal training.

Anyone who provides for a family should look at life insurance. You simply never know when an accident, a freak occurrence, or just plain health will cause you to die, possibly much younger than anyone would have expected. If you provide for a family, or even just a spouse, you should look at life insurance, since it may not only help cover funeral costs (which shock many people who have never had to deal with them) but also provide money to your family after you die. The amount of money they receive is dependant on how large a life insurance policy you choose to purchase. The money that your policy leaves them can help to pay the mortgage (or rent), run the household, and ensure that your dependents are not burdened with debt from the funeral. Another thing to seriously consider: there is no federal income tax on life insurance benefits.

The best place to start is to figure out what exactly your family’s needs would be if you were to suddenly pass away. Make sure to include expenses for the funeral, estate taxes (if you own property), and any medical bills, as well as any ongoing expense like utility, retirement savings, food, car, etc. This will give show you why a policy might be in order for far more than you would otherwise originally consider. Many people do not realize what their actual expenses over several years would be. There is no true way of deciphering a tried and true method of figuring out how large a policy you should take out. Several insurance companies recommend aiming for an amount that is roughly equivalent to six or seven times your annual income.

One real thing to watch out for is what type of life insurance you receive. Almost all life insurance is either considered “permanent insurance" or there is also “term insurance." Term insurance provides protection for only a certain period of time, while permanent insurance provides life time protection—but there are benefits and drawbacks to both. Do your research to figure out which one would work best from you and go from there.