What a morbid thing to write about at the start of the year! Sure, but you have to be realistic about things. You’d never know when you’ll kick the bucket, whether it’s from radiation from wi-fi signals or a piano smashing you to pieces while walking down the street. And with death, it can happen to anybody. So what’s your family going to do if the worst happens say you’re the breadwinner. You still got kids to bring up, mortgage to pay… So you better have life insurance then. But with insurance companies like vultures, you have to pick the best policy for you.

Some say that this is a very good investment since whole-life policies have cash a value that you can loan from. Great for those quick-and-dirty “I need money” situations.

If your company offers life insurance for its employees, you might want to review and consider that since these policies offered to groups have one of the best rates that you can get.

For consideration, think of how long you want yourself to be covered by the policy, maybe you want to avail until your youngest kid finishes college or until the house mortgage has been paid. Or you might want to be covered for your whole life. You have choices of optimal coverage plans depending on the length.

For example if you only need to be covered for less than four years, getting an fixed-length contract that has an annually renewable term (ART) might be ideal.

And if you plan to leave something to your beneficiary after your death, a whole-life policy would be your best bet.

If you plan to have longer coverage say 5, 10, 15, or 20 years, then you can buy a term contract with a level premium.