Do I Need Life Insurance If I Am Single In Apr 2024? | Must Read!

In this post today, we show you 11 solid reasons you could need life insurance if you are single, but first, we will go over the basics.

Now that we have covered the basics let’s get this show on the road. Below are the main reasons you will need life insurance as a single person.

1. You Have A Favorite Charity

Even though you are single, I am sure you can think of a few causes or charities important to you.

For me, I am very partial to St. Judes Hospital for Children because I am passionate about helping people out, especially when they need it the most.

Leaving life insurance to your favorite cause is super simple; all you need to do is name them as the beneficiary on your policy.

And the best thing is that if you decide to change the cause you support, all you have to do is change the beneficiary.

And it gets even better:

If you have more than one cause you want to leave money to, you can have them both as beneficiaries and split the proceeds 50/50.

Leaving a charitable donation to a cause you honestly believe in is a great reason to have life insurance if you are single.

2. You Have Student Loans

Most of us will need a co-signer to get approved for our student loans, and for a large majority of us, it’s going to be a parent or someone close that signs on the dotted line for us.

While it’s great to have someone willing to merge their financial future with you, but if you pass away, before you pay off your loan, your co-borrower can get stuck with the bill. 

Getting a life insurance policy to protect their investment and belief in you is probably the least you can do to give them some protection.

Now, I know what you are thinking:

Aren’t Federal student loans discharged if I die? While this is true in some cases, you still need to be mindful that private loans usually aren’t forgiven.

And regardless if you are getting a Federal or Private loan, you must find out what exactly happens to your debt if you pass away.

The best type of life insurance to buy when you have student loans will be a term life insurance policy.

This is because you get the lowest monthly premiums and can control how long the policy lasts.

Your co-signer might even decide to help pay for your policy themselves just to be on the safe side.

3. You Have A Mortgage

If you don't know this, life insurance for your mortgage is a "thing," and you don’t have to be in a relationship or married to have a mortgage.

As a matter of fact, you could be one “break up text” away from being a single homeowner.

If you have a mortgage you should have a life insurance policy especially if you have a sibling or another dependent living with you.

You want to get a term life policy that has a bit more coverage than your mortgage, but also has the same term length as possible.

For example:

If you have a $500,000 home with a 30 year mortgage, you should get a 30 year term life insurance policy for $550,000 which would be enough to pay off the home and leave a small amount of spending cash to your beneficiary.

4. You Have Co-Signed Debt

Usually, you will need a co-signer if you don’t qualify for a loan based on your credit.

If someone does you a favor and co-signs for you, you don’t want to leave them holding the bag if you pass away.

Your death could put a significant strain on the other person who co-signed for you, especially if they weren’t helping you make payments on the loan.

Could you imagine dealing with the loss of someone yo u loved or cared for and also getting an instant $300 to $400 increase in your monthly expenses all at the same time?

The truth is that most of us won’t have enough money in our savings account to cover our debts if we pass away. Life insurance is the best alternative.

5. Someone Depends On You Financially

If you have family members who depend on you financially, you should 100% have life insurance.

This goes for supporting your parents, grandparents, or an uncle that may need assistance, especially since more than 52% of people turning 65 will need some long-term-care services in the future.

If you passed away and you have been assisting someone with their Activities of Daily Living (ADL), like helping them to the restroom, assisting with bathing, or helping them put on clothes, imagine how their life would change, could they really afford to lose you?

You would want to have this life insurance policy in place to cover things like medical expenses, living expenses, or hiring an in-home health worker.

Now, the best way to determine how much coverage you will need is to figure out how much it would cost someone to replace everything you are doing on an annual basis.

Also, consider any additional bills you are assisting with monthly to come up with a reliable number.

6. You Have Business Partners

Having life insurance when you have business partners is crucial, especially if they are considered a key person for your business. 

There are many reasons you may need coverage for essential employees or business partners. The above is just a small list. 

If you plan to get a business loan from the SBA, you are required to have life insurance.  

The SBA will not fund your loan until you have a life insurance policy that is either more or equal in value and has an equal or longer term.

The goal is to make sure that if you pass away, you don’t leave your partners in financial ruin, and since most businesses start off cash poor, it’s crucial to have some protections in place. 

7. Cover End Of Life Expenses

The average funeral costs between $10,000 to $12,000 nationally.

Now, here’s the thing:

You might think that this isn’t much, but the truth is that the average person doesn’t have $3,000 in their savings account. Almost no one is ready to cough up $10,000 for an unexpected burial.

This is why there are so many Go Fund Me accounts asking for assistance with burials.

And even though burials are expensive, they aren’t the only end of life expenses, someone may come up against.

Medical bills can get very expensive, especially if you have to be in a hospice or require long-term treatment until you pass away.

Covering the costs of those bills would be comfortable with a life insurance policy. 

8. Leave A Legacy

No one wants to be forgotten; everyone wants to leave their stamp on the world to show that they were here, to show that they existed. 

One of the best ways to do this is by leaving a legacy to your family; they are the ones that we will be leaving behind. 

But what should someone do if you leave them a legacy? We actually asked some personal finance experts how a surviving spouse should handle their life insurance proceeds. The answers were surprising.

Most experts state that you should do nothing with the life insurance payout for about 1 year before you start buying things or making drastic changes to your lifestyle. 

You could also leave a legacy by funding and setting up a scholarship in your name. 

9. Plan To Have Kids In The Future

If you are in your twenties or thirties and don’t have kids now but expect to have them in a few years or so, you need life insurance.

Not only will you get the best rates possible, but it’s going to be super easy to add them as a beneficiary the day they are born.

If you go with a 30-year term, this gives you the most extended coverage for any life events like marriage, having kids, or adopting kids. 

10. You Have A Pet

If you have a pet, then you need life insurance.

If something happens to you, who will be financially responsible for your furbaby?

Who will cover their annual living costs of up to $1,500 for things such as food, having someone come walk them, or pet insurance?

It’s nice to think that our friends and family would step in to take care of our pets; however, the truth is that you should pre-plan this event.

Who should your pet go to if something happens to you?

Will you make them the beneficiary for part of your life insurance policy to make sure your pet is taken care of. 

11. Pandemics

We can all agree that COVID 19 has shaken the world and how we live in it. 

People are passing away daily, and while there is a vaccine on its way, the pandemic has changed how the world functions forever.

While the people at the top might have known this was coming, the little guys had no clue, and we weren’t ready for it at all.

Life insurance would have been able to help a ton of families when the pandemic hit.

Being single doesn’t mean people don’t depend on you, and this pandemic probably won’t be the last.

Taking Action

Hopefully, this post has helped you answer the question of needing life insurance if you are single.

There is no need to wait around; if you are single and any of the above reasons are part of your life, you need to get covered now.

You can click here or any of the above buttons to get started.