Calculating your insurance needs

In February, Michigan Retailers Association changed its insurance provider and expanded its programs for life and short-term disability insurance. Articles in the past two issues of Michigan Retailer have explained the broad outline of the plans and encouraged members to consider or reconsider the level of life insurance benefits they offer their employees.

The new plans have different levels of basic coverage from which to choose. The life insurance plan also allows individuals to purchase supplemental insurance to bring coverage to a level that meets their needs.

Last month's article explained the value of using an online calculator or a worksheet (104KB pdf) to estimate an individual's life insurance needs. The worksheet (104KB pdf) is reprinted with permission from the Life Insurance Foundation for Education, a not-for-profit organization that educates people about life, health and disability insurance.

The foundation also provides an online calculator (www.life-line.org/lifecalculator) that allows users to enter the same basic information as the worksheet uses. Using the online calculator will give somewhat more precise results and reduces the chance of mathematical errors.

Before beginning the worksheet or calculator, you will need to gather information about your finances.