Life insurance is about the people who count on you. It can replace income for a spouse, pay off a mortgage or other debts, cover final expenses, or leave something behind for children and grandchildren. Simple Retirement Benefits is based in Austin and helps clients with life insurance by phone in all 18 states where we are licensed, so this is easy to take care of no matter where you live.
Schedule a Life Insurance ReviewWhat Life Insurance Protects
The purpose of a policy is simple: if something happens to you, the people who depend on you are not left with a financial burden. For most of our clients, that comes down to a few concrete needs:
- Income replacement for a spouse or family members who rely on your earnings or retirement income.
- Paying off a mortgage, car loans, credit cards, or other debts so they do not pass to your family.
- Final expenses, including funeral and burial costs, which commonly run $8,000 to $12,000 or more.
- Leaving an inheritance or covering estate costs so more of what you built reaches your family.
How Much Coverage Do You Need?
There is no single right number. A retiree whose home is paid off and whose spouse has independent income may only need enough to cover final expenses. Someone still carrying a mortgage or supporting family may need substantially more. We start with what the money would actually need to do, add up those obligations, and work toward a coverage amount and premium that fit your budget. It is better to hold a smaller policy you can comfortably keep than a large one you have to drop in a few years.
Policy Types: Term, Whole Life, and Final Expense
Most needs are met with one of three kinds of coverage. Term life covers you for a set period, such as 10, 15, or 20 years, and offers the most coverage per premium dollar, which fits temporary needs like a remaining mortgage. Whole life is permanent coverage with level premiums that lasts as long as you keep paying, which fits needs that never expire, like final expenses. Final expense policies are smaller whole life policies, typically $5,000 to $50,000, designed specifically to cover end-of-life costs with simplified health questions. Many clients end up with a combination, and we walk through the tradeoffs of each before you decide.
Health Questions and What Coverage Costs
Premiums are based primarily on your age, health, and tobacco use, which is why waiting rarely makes coverage cheaper. Fully underwritten policies ask detailed health questions and may include an exam, and they generally offer the lowest premiums if your health is good. Simplified issue policies skip the exam and use a short list of health questions. Guaranteed issue policies accept nearly everyone with no health questions, at a higher premium and usually with a waiting period before full benefits apply. Health conditions do not automatically make you uninsurable; carriers treat the same condition very differently, and part of our job is knowing which carrier looks most favorably at your situation.
A No-Pressure Comparison
We're an independent advisor brokerage, so we compare policies from multiple carriers rather than selling one company's product. We explain what each policy does and does not do, in plain language, and the decision stays yours. Many clients review life insurance during the same call as their Medicare coverage, alongside a Medicare Supplement review or dental and vision coverage. Whether you are here in Central Texas or in one of the other states where we are licensed, a short phone call is all it takes to get started.