Life Insurance or Health Insurance: The perpetual dilemma answered
It is a universal fact that we always want our family to be secure when we are not there. It is a great relief to know that your family is insured financially if your health takes an unexpected turn. In case of a shortage of funds, paying for both health insurance and life insurance regularly can be tough, and with rising expenses, it will only get tougher.
Life Insurance vs. Health Insurance
There is no doubt that each and every type of insurance serves a different purpose and offers different types of protection and benefits. Life Insurance plans offer death benefits to the nominee in case of premature death of the insured. The aim behind this is that the funds that the family gets in the form of death benefits will be sufficient for it to deal with daily expenses and liabilities after the insured’s death. It is designed to provide cover against funeral expenses, medical expenses or any other kinds of debt. This plan offers the required support to your family so that they do not suffer financially after your death.
On the other hand, health insurance helps you pay medical expenses that include doctor visits, medication, tests, hospital stays, and other procedures. This plan makes sure that the person is able to afford timely medical help and can stay healthy as well.
The important thing is that people should have both life insurance and health insurance, especially when they have dependents. The best thing you can do is limit the coverage of what you exactly need so that you can easily afford both types of insurances.
It’s important to note that the type of insurance you need also changes at different stages of life. Staying informed about this can play an important role when it comes to securing the future of your family
Insurance for Youngsters with Dependents
It is advisable for the young generation to go for both life as well as health insurance to create a protective shield for themselves from all unwanted situations. Usually, youngsters do not feel the need to invest in an insurance plan. But we can’t deny that nowadays, instances of people from that age group falling ill is quite high. Therefore, we cannot really be sure of what is waiting for us in the future, but we can definitely stay insured or protected against the uncertainties of life. What’s more, it will also give tax benefits.
Raising a Family
Whether it’s about kids or spouses, health insurance in India carries a great level of importance. Even if you are insured under a health plan provided by your employer, you must look for a separate insurance plan that can offer sufficient cover when you need it. There are many affordable plans in the market that offer lots of benefits.
In order to make the best choice, you must compare products using an online insurance web aggregator like PolicyX.com and find products that suit your needs. By doing this, you will be able to look at the pros and cons of each of the options available to you and choose wisely.
As far as life insurance is concerned, many people do not find it a worthy product to invest their hard-earned money into. But if you do thorough research, you will know that life insurance comes with a bunch of benefits.
One option is to buy life insurance with an adequate sum assured as per your requirements. Before getting life insurance or term insurance, you must make sure that you are investing for an adequate amount that should be equal to or more than 10 times your annual wage and use that to determine the policy’s face value.
Even ace cricketer Virender Sehwag suggests investing in both health insurance and life insurance with an adequate sum assured.
Apart from this, a different and most useful approach is to tally up all the expenses your spouse would incur if something happened to you. You must think about childcare fees, grocery bills, mortgage, car payments, tuition and so on. Then deduct the same amount from your savings and investment accounts. Your insurance plan should cover the difference.
Retirement
It is a universal fact that the older you get, the more likely you are to suffer from health complications. Thus, middle-age probably is the right time to insure yourself as not all companies will offer the desired policy to you in the future. And even if they do, the premium will be much higher, keeping the age and additional factors in mind.
With growing age or after retirement, you might become dependent on your children because of a lack of income. In such cases, having life insurance and health insurance will be a big relief. With the required protection cover, you don’t have to depend on others and can live your life happily on your terms.
If you are already insured with a term insurance plan which is coming to an end, then it is advisable for you to grab a small policy that offers a safety cover during the required period. Or if the current term plan has a conversion feature, you can easily turn a portion of it into a permanent life policy.
The best thing about the convertibility is that you don’t have to go through the medical underwriting process all over again, which can be trickier. You should not forget that you only have a certain number of years to be able to take advantage of this feature. So, it’s basically better reviewing all terms and conditions.
The Bottom Line
When you invest in the coverage that you truly require, paying for both life and health insurance simultaneously becomes a less daunting task. Young and healthy singles may not require it. But when it comes to people with dependents, these are the basic two needs that you cannot avoid.