by Gene Walden

Life insurance is not intended to be a lottery ticket for your beneficiaries. But it should provide enough money to replace most of your income, pay off your debts and leave your dependents in a stable financial situation. If possible, it would also be nice to leave a little extra money to create an estate for your heirs.

There are two main types of life insurance, term and whole life. Term insurance provides death benefit protection for a specified period of time while whole life policies provide a lifetime death benefit as well as a savings account. In terms of coverage, you get much more for your money with term insurance, but it has no real value aside from the death benefit. A whole life policy would cost much more for the same coverage, but it does build up a cash balance you can borrow against while you’re alive—or have added to your death benefit.

Talk to your financial advisor to see if your insurance is adequate for the needs of your beneficiaries.