How Many Years Life Insurance Do I Need? 
You should consider what your needs are for life insurance and ask yourself if they are finite . Many people understand the need to protect their family with life insurance to replace income lost due to the death of a wage earner but mistakenly believe that , when they stop working , the need for life insurance goes away . Life insurance offers protection , income replacement , and the chance to leave a legacy . With life insurance , you are protecting the people you care about the most . Life insurance can also protect the business you own . Here is a partial list of permanent needs where cash value life insurance is an ideal solution : Pay burial and other final expenses . Pay off debt obligations such as a car loan , credit cards , etc. . Pay off or reduce a home mortgage . Create an education fund for kids or grandchildren . Enhance an estate to provide for children of a prior marriage . Satisfy divorce related obligations such as alimony or child support . Create a fund to provide care for a loved one with special needs . Pay legal and administrative costs incurred at the insureds death . Provide a source of liquidity to pay state and/or federal estate taxes . Mitigate the impact taxes can have on assets owned in trust . Replace loss due to income tax on Income in Respect of Decedent -LRB- IRD -RRB- assets such as annuities , IRAs , and qualified plan assets . Diminish the impact of marital deduction limitations of a surviving resident noncitizen spouse . Increase the value of transfers of generation-skipping , annual exclusion , and exemption gift amounts . Leave a charitable legacy . Replace wealth left to a charity . Equalize inheritances between business heirs and non-business heirs . Collateralize a business loan . Fund a buy-sell agreement . Stabilize a business at the death of a key employee or owner . Offset the loss of a key employee -LRB- at death -RRB- to the business . Establish a fund to retain key employees -LRB- such as stay-bonus , SERP , deferred compensation -RRB- . Facilitate an Employee Stock Ownership Plan -LRB- ESOP -RRB- repurchase obligation . 