Deciding if life insurance is worth buying starts with looking at what’s important to you.

Do I need life insurance?

A lot of people wonder if life insurance is necessary. Yolie Aleman-Rodriguez, State Farm agent in Tolleson, Arizona, helps customers with this question every day. Her answer — it depends on what’s important to each individual. She talks about the different reasons people buy life insurance, and the impact it can make.

For your family

The biggest reason people buy life insurance is to protect their loved ones. “It is purchased out of love for the family,” said Aleman-Rodriguez. “If you have a partner or a family and don’t have life insurance, they could lose everything if something happened to you. Life insurance will help ensure your family will be taken care of if you’re not there and allow them to continue their standard of living.”

She said most wage earners find it especially important to have life insurance as a Plan B, but stay-at-home parents can benefit from it too. If something were to happen to them, the other parent would potentially have added expenses, like child care, house cleaning, eating out more, etc. Even if you don’t have a family yet but plan to, it’s more affordable the younger and healthier you are.

For your business

A lot of business owners also have a big need for life insurance. “Not only can it protect your own family, but if you have one or more business partners, you can set up partnership agreements, so that if something happens to one of you, the other partners would take over your share of the business, while the family of the person who dies would get a life insurance payout,” she said.

For giving back

Aleman-Rodriguez has had customers who are passionate about nonprofits and some that travel abroad on mission trips. Some of these customers have purchased life insurance for the expense of being flown back if something were to happen to them overseas. Others have chosen a charity as the beneficiary of their policy, so even if they’re not around, they can continue to give back to their cause. “It’s something that’s dear to them, and many people decide it’s important enough to protect,” she said.

Cost of not having it

So how do you decide if life insurance is worth it? “The most important thing to keep in mind,” advised Aleman-Rodriguez, “is that it could mean you’re able to take care of the people you care about for the rest of their lives, instead of them losing everything.”

She’s helped a lot of customers over the years and has seen firsthand the incredible difference it can make. “It will protect your family for years to come,” she said.

If you’d like to learn more about life insurance and how it can help you protect what’s important, your local State Farm agent is here to help.

The information in this column was obtained from various sources not associated with State Farm. While we believe it to be reliable and accurate, we do not warrant the accuracy or reliability of the information. These suggestions are not a complete list of every loss control measure. The information is not intended to replace manuals or instructions provided by the manufacturer or the advice of a qualified professional. Nor is it intended to effect coverage under our policy. State Farm makes no guarantees of results from use of this information.