Living the Gig Life? You Might Still Need Life Insurance. Here’s How to Get It
There’s a reason you chose this life. Being an independent contractor provides a certain level of freedom. You might set your own hours. Maybe you work from your back porch that overlooks the lake. Perhaps it drives you harder, because when you work more, you’ll earn more.
Whether you’re spending your time behind the wheel as a driver with Uber or Lyft, writing articles on parenting or selling your bookkeeping services, life as an independent contractor comes with some serious benefits… and pitfalls.
Without that steady paycheck, you might also be missing key benefits, such as employer-sponsored insurance. Perhaps you’ve already thought about your medical coverage and dealt with it. Kudos.
But what about term life insurance? You know, the insurance that takes care of your loved ones if something should happen to you? Do you need it? How do you get it? How much do you need?
Here’s the scoop.
Do You Need Life Insurance?
Life insurance is something you buy to help protect your family. You don’t want to think about it, but what would happen if your were to die tomorrow? Could your family get by without your income? Would they have enough for the mortgage? Who would pay the funeral costs?
If you’re making a decent income and have family that depends on you to help pay the bills and put food on the table, you probably should have life insurance. Not sure if you need it? Here are some examples of people who do and do not need life insurance policies.
How Much Is Enough?
How much insurance you need depends on who is depending on you and how many bills and obligations you leave behind. Do you have kids? If so, you want to think about their future, including college. How about a house with a mortgage? Are you a business owner? There are a lot of questions to consider when taking out a policy.
Here’s the good news: Life insurance is probably cheaper than you think. A whopping 44% of millennials believe the cost of life insurance to be more than it is… five times more, according to a 2018 Insurance Barometer Survey by LIMRA.
Folks, protecting your family with life insurance simply isn’t as expensive as you think.
How to Find Affordable Life Insurance
But what if you don’t have employer-sponsored coverage? As an independent contractor, you won’t be able to have that benefit simply taken out of your paycheck, but that doesn’t mean you can’t easily find a good policy that fits your life.
A company like Policygenius offers you an easy way for anyone to compare and buy life insurance. The search engine allows you to compare policies and get instant quotes. Once you find the right fit, you can apply right online.
If you’re young and mostly healthy, consider purchasing term life insurance online from Ethos. It partners with a major A-rated life insurance carrier to provide policies for a low price. For example, $30 a month could get your family $1 million of coverage.
Anyone, including independent contractors, can secure term life insurance through Ethos without a medical exam or extensive paperwork; just fill out a digital application.
You don’t need employer-sponsored life insurance; you just need to take a few minutes to jump online and find a policy that will work for you and yours.
Love Your Freelance Life, But Protect It As Well
You don’t have to give up your independent contractor life to get 9-to-5 style benefits. It’s 2018, and there are more options than ever.
Go ahead; keep working from your back porch or your car. Just take a few moments to look into life insurance so, if the unthinkable should happen, your family will be protected. You won’t even need to put on shoes and pants to do it.
Tyler Omoth is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder who loves soaking up the sun and finding creative ways to help others. Catch him on Twitter at @Tyomoth.
