Updating Your Life and Health Policies

Is your family growing or changing? If so, it’s time to update your health and life insurance. Not sure how to do that? Here are some good tips!

How and When to Update Your Health Insurance

You may need to change your health insurance as your family grows or as your children get older and gain their own health insurance. Normally, you can only make changes to your policies during your annual open enrollment period. However, different rules apply after a qualifying life event.

For example, if you have a baby or adopt, there’s a special enrollment period. Under a marketplace health insurance policy, you’ll have 60 days to add your child. Under an employer-sponsored health plan, you’ll only have 30 days to act.

How Much Life Insurance Coverage Do Families Need?

Would your family continue to thrive if you passed away tomorrow? Families with life insurance were far more likely than families without it to say they would feel financially secure if a primary earner died unexpectedly, according to a recent study.

You may wonder how much coverage you need — or if you and your partner each need a policy. While everyone’s situation is different, you’ll likely both want coverage.

Not only will you want to cover end-of-life expenses and replace lost future wages, but you’ll also want to replace less-visible forms of income, like retirement contributions and employer-provided health insurance.

Consider coverage to replace the unpaid services you each provide for your family too, like childcare, eldercare or household management.

There are a lot of moving parts to this process so chatting with an expert can be extremely valuable. Want a recommendation? Just ask!