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Insurance Considerations for Newlyweds

Congratulations! It is with great pleasure that I write this article because of the excitement I know you are feeling in preparing for your wedding and, most importantly, your life together.

With that excitement and commitment comes added responsibility as I’m sure you’ve already experienced. In a marriage, you now have another person that may be dependent on you for financial support. One of the responsibilities you face is determining the reality of if you or your spouse dies, will the other able to continue making mortgage payments, pay off debt you've accumulated together or simply pay for funeral expenses?

Whether you want to replace income, provide for your children's education, continue a business or fund your spouse's retirement, life insurance will help to meet your family's financial goals and ongoing needs. Life insurance provides the protection and security for your loved ones.

Another area to consider is the fact that most adults rely on their income to create comfortable lifestyles, purchase homes and pay bills. What happens to all of that in the event of a disabling injury or illness? Disability income insurance can help replace a portion of lost earnings in order to help maintain a standard of living to which you’ve become accustomed. In addition, not only will it help cover bills, it will provide for the education funding and retirement planning goals you’ve established for you and your family.

It is common for companies to provide group long-term disability income insurance to their employees. In many cases, however, these employer-provided benefits do not replace enough income to maintain a standard of living during a prolonged illness or injury. Individual supplemental disability income insurance provides coverage that's portable, allowing you to take it with you wherever you go.

Now that you're a couple, it's important to ensure that you've effectively planned for your health care needs. Or, it may become your responsibility as an adult to not only care for each other, but will either one of you have to help and provide for your parents?

Medical and disability income insurance are needed to provide coverage for normal medical bills and insure a steady stream of income. But it's also important to be prepared for a long-term illness or injury that could drain available financial assets and resources. Unfortunately, we all must face the real potential of a chronic illness or injury striking elderly family members. Nursing home care or home health care is often necessary and expensive. Failing to plan for such care can have a catastrophic impact on finances.

Aside from the quality of available health care, the ability to effectively provide for family and heirs can be greatly diminished. Long term care insurance is designed to help cover the expenses associated with long term care needs that traditional health insurance does not. It also helps to protect assets that would otherwise have to be used to pay for this care. Long-term care insurance can help you take care of each other during difficult times.

Linday Rey, Rey Insurance Agency, Sleepy Hollow, NY