The Life Insurance Movement ' Over 145 Bloggers Doing Their Part for #LifeAWARE

Here's a list of all the #LifeAWARE participants. Over 115 and growing!

How do you top a Roth IRA movement that gets tons of the top personal finance bloggers all to write about the same topic on the exact same day?

Duh! You pick a different topic and you do it again.

Or known on Twitter as #LifeAWARE.

For an explanation that includes me breaking it down to Usher, watch the video below.

Can't see video? Click here to watch it.

What Inspired #LifeAWARE?

I've always been passionate in making sure that families have the right amount of life insurance coverage.  Between school plays, soccer games and that little thing called 'life', many families neglect to get the right amount of coverage.  Or worse ' have no coverage at all!

In fact, it's estimated that 35 million households don't have any life insurance.  Did you catch that?

They ain't got nothing!

35 million households are batting .000 on their life insurance.

For those that do have life insurance, it's estimated that 58 million households feel they don't have enough.

Now do you see the point of #LifeAWARE?

I've Seen the Pain of Not Having Enough Life Insurance

In my announcement post of the life insurance movement, I shared the story of two widows.

Both were emotionally drained with losing their life partner prematurely.  Life insurance doesn't bring them back. What life insurance does is help make life more manageable after they are gone.

For one of the ladies, she'll never have to worry about money ever again.  She's financially stable and her finances will be the last thing she'll stress about.

Unfortunately, the other is left scrambling to figure out how she's going to pay the bills, manage her debt, and if she'll ever really be able to retire.  Why the difference?

Her husband was part of the 58 million that did NOT have enough life insurance.

What makes the above story so sad is that it could have and should have been avoided.

2 Common Mistakes to Avoid

There are going to be plenty of awesome posts joining the #LifeAWARE movement that share their personal reasons why life insurance is important to them.   I don't need to inundate you with more of the same.  I did want to leave you with the 2 common mistakes I see when people do buy life insurance.

1. Don't Buy Enough

Face it.  $100k of life insurance is probably not going to be enough life insurance coverage to take care of the house, the cars, the kids, and the debt if something happens to the breadwinner of the family.   I've talked to so many young couples that only have a $50k whole life policy and think they are good.   News flash: you are not.

If you're not sure how much insurance you need to buy, use this nifty calculator to help you figure it out:

2. Buy Insurance Through Work.

This one might be a surprise to many. Why is this a mistake?

Think about it. The average person changes jobs 5-7 times in their career. What happens to your life insurance when you change jobs?

Hint: Just like your old boss, it does not come with you.

That's right. When you change jobs you're at the mercy of your new employer to offer insurance. If they don't, then you'll have to go buy through a third party like an independent insurance agent. Which, you should do from the beginning to avoid this type of situation.

Do you know how many people I've talked to that can't leave their job because they now have some medical condition that prevents them from getting life insurance anywhere else?  Too many.

Go out and buy a 30 year term policy and you've locked in coverage for 3 decades. You can change jobs 15 times in your career and you'll never have to worry about applying for life insurance again.

Review Time

If you haven't reviewed your life insurance in a while, it's time. No more putting off waiting for the 'right time'.

Now is the right time. Your family will thank you for it.

Support the Movement

Are you passionate about making sure others know the importance of having life insurance? If so, we need your help!

Help spread the word and get a chance to win some awesome prizes. Below you'll find a Rafflecopter widget that gives you plenty of ways to bring attention to what #LifeAWARE is all about.

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