SAN ANTONIO — USAA just released a survey showing how inflation affected both military-connected families, those who have family members serving or have served in the military, and civilians financially. Both groups are definitely spending less, but there is one critical place people are not trimming their budgets.
Both military and civilians are trimming spending in the same category, discretionary spending, at about the same rate USAA’s survey shows.
“Think things like coffee, vacation planning,” said Chris Flint, the GM and senior vice president of life and health for USAA.
Both groups are also spending in the same place: on life insurance. Yet, more military-connected families have life insurance (60%) than civilians (48%). Most said they forgo it because it is too expensive.
“The reality is life insurance has never been cheaper. It’s easy to acquire for those that want and need life insurance,” Flint said. “We don’t want this misperception to be a reason for someone not to buy life insurance. We see a similar result both across the military and civilians. So, 29% of our military respondents believe that life insurance is too expensive. Thirty-one percent of civilians think that life insurance is more expensive than it really is. The reality is it’s not. Don’t let that be an excuse. We think it’s an important part of anybody’s financial plan and certainly helps protect those they love in the event they are no longer here.”
You most likely need life insurance if anyone relies on your income including children, a spouse, or extended family members. The general rule is your life insurance coverage should be about 10 times your income.
Many people carry group life insurance through work, but that may not offer enough coverage. You can also lose that coverage if you leave your job. There are two other types of life insurance you can purchase that stay with you no matter what job you have: Term and whole. Term is less expensive, but ends after a certain time period for example 10, 20, or 30 years. Whole covers you your whole life.
Life insurance gets more expensive as you age or if you develop any medical conditions, so the earlier you get coverage, the more affordable it will be.
There are many online life insurance calculators to help you figure out how much coverage is right for you. Quotes on how much coverage will cost are free. You can also shop around for the best rate.