By Chuck Scrafano, Doeren Mayhew Insurance Group

You were proactive and put a life insurance portfolio in place.  But how long ago was it done?  Have changes in your life resulted in changes to your life insurance needs? Some things need regular maintenance for them to function for you – life insurance is one of them. To ensure that your life insurance is up-to-date and covers your family’s evolving needs, it’s important to talk to a qualified, licensed insurance professional on an annual basis.

Things to Consider

The agents at Doeren Mayhew Insurance Group have compiled a lists of things to consider when determining if your life insurance portfolio is meeting your needs:

• You have recently encountered some life-changing events such as getting married or divorced, had a child or endured a spouse’s death. Most likely you will need to modify your portfolio to accommodate for these changes.
• There may be new products available in the insurance market that could serve your needs more efficiently than your existing coverage, such as death benefit guarantee provisions.
• You have term insurance in your portfolio and at some point would like to switch to permanent coverage. Often there is only a limited window of time to do this. If your health or insurability has changed since purchasing your term insurance, using your conversion option may be the best or only way to obtain permanent coverage. Term insurance provides the face amount at a lower monthly premium, but can be very expensive over the course of a lifetime.
• Since you last shopped for insurance, interest rates may have changed providing better rates today.
• If you have a permanent policy with cash value you may not be taking full advantage of the living benefits related to them.
• If you have missed payments on your policies, the projected duration of your coverage could be significantly reduced.  Catching up on premiums in later years will cost more than catching up now. This can also cause an unwanted lapse in your policy if you’re not careful.
• Your policy has been in place for long time and you may have options to purchase additional coverage in the future. If you have had any recent health issues, this may be a good time to purchase additional insurance at your original rating.  Be sure to keep track of any guaranteed insurability option expiration dates.

Take Stock of Your Portfolio

An annual review of your insurance portfolio is the best way to ensure that your needs are continuing to be met.  Rely on the agents at Doeren Mayhew Insurance Group to help evaluate your current needs and provide guidance to get you the peace of mind that a properly executed insurance portfolio delivers.