If you want life insurance to provide for your loved ones if you die unexpectedly, it’s important to know how to buy life insurance and what type of life insurance is your best option.

Some agents only sell policies from certain companies or may be captive to only one company so if you limit your selection to their recommendations, you may end up missing out on a better option. You should review several quotes from different insurers to make sure you’re getting the best deal. Don’t ever stick with an agent who pressures you to buy a specific product if you don’t think it’ll work for you.

If you have an independent agent, make sure they give you quotes from multiple companies. You’ll want to find an agent who’ll take the time to help you understand what kind of policy you’re buying and answer any questions you have. Insurance agents must be licensed by the state they do business in, so check your state’s department of insurance website to make sure your agent is legitimate.

Here at Next Level Benefits, you will be dealing with an independent insurance agent who is licensed to do business in your state.

When it comes to what type of life insurance to buy, for most people, the affordable option is term life insurance, which pays out a death benefit to a designated beneficiary of your choice if you die within the term of your policy agreement. These policies are generally cheaper and easier to get approved for than whole life or universal life insurance policies, which build up cash value.

Term life insurance policies have no cash value but offer a fixed death benefit and often fixed premiums for the length of the term. Term life is sold in increments — usually 10, 20 or 30 years. You can purchase term life insurance in a variety of ways: directly from an insurance company, through an agent or online.

Like all permanent life insurance policies, whole life provides lifelong coverage and includes an investment component known as the policy’s cash value. The cash value grows slowly, tax-deferred, meaning you won’t pay taxes on its gains while they’re accumulating. You can borrow money against the account or surrender the policy for the cash. But if you don’t repay policy loans with interest, you’ll reduce your death benefit, and if you surrender the policy, you’ll no longer have coverage.

Although it’s more complicated than term life insurance, whole life is the most straightforward form of permanent life insurance. The premium remains the same for as long as you live, and the death benefit is guaranteed. The cash value account grows at a guaranteed rate. Some whole life policies can also earn annual dividends, a portion of the insurer’s financial surplus. You can take the dividends in cash, leave them on deposit to earn interest or use them to decrease your  premium, repay policy loans or buy additional coverage. Dividends are not guaranteed. Before you shop around for a life insurance policy, take note of the expenses you have and expect to have in the future. Remember, the purpose of life insurance is to make sure your family isn’t left paying for those expenses on their own.

• If you’re married, you want to leave a financial cushion for your spouse. But you also want to make sure that he or she can continue to pay off the outstanding debt you may have. If you have a mortgage with your spouse, your spouse could lose the house if he or she is unable to keep up with the payments. So, make sure you factor in any debts that your spouse may have to cover when determining how much you need.

• If you have children, take note of what childcare costs right now. The amount you currently put toward childcare should be factored in when determining how much life insurance coverage you need. However, you’ll also want to account for expenses in the future, like your children’s college tuition. You’ll want to make sure you leave enough behind for your spouse to pay for your kids to go to a good school along with all the  yearly expenses that accumulate.

Add up all these costs to get a sense of what you’ll need to replace after you’re dead. Your death benefit should encompass that entire dollar amount minus any liquid assets you already have that your family can use to make up some of the financial shortfall.

So if you are in the market for some life insurance coverage, please feel free to reach out to us so we can see how much protection you and your family need.

For more than 140 years, Prudential Financial has helped individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth. We are known for delivering on our promises to our customers and are recognized as a trusted brand and one of the world’s most admired companies. In the decade since Prudential created the modern pension risk transfer, the company has issued billions of dollars in retirement payments to millions of retirees. Those payments—$5.2 billion to more than 1.4 million retirees in 2017 alone—have ripple effects. The money supports people of all economic levels, and, in turn, reverberates in the communities in which these retirees live.

With roots that trace back to 1919, we’re a global insurance company with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. We provide a range of insurance products to support our clients in business and in life, including general property/casualty, life insurance, and retirement and financial services through our General Insurance, Life and Retirement and Investments business units. What unites us across all of these products is our commitment to helping our clients prepare for what’s next. Whether that’s helping cities and communities to prepare for and recover from natural disasters or providing a financially secure retirement for millions of Americans, we have the specialist expertise to help clients better manage risk. In addition to doing what’s right for our clients, we’re also committed to doing the right thing for our people and the communities where we work, live and serve our customers. It’s why we offer our employees a flexible work arrangement and training programs so they can grow professionally. We also encourage our employees to give back. We provide Volunteer Time Off to our global workforce, allowing them to provide hands-on support to the causes they care about most, and we donate over $6M each year through our matching grants program to nonprofit organizations our employees support. Fidelity Life is one of the few companies in the industry that focuses on assisting everyday middle Americans experience the peace-of-mind that comes with life insurance ownership. In fact, we were founded in 1896 for that express purpose. At Fidelity Life, we understand the daily competing economic pressures experienced by many American families. As a result, using patented technology and innovative products, we concentrate all of our energy on offering policies that are valuable and affordable. The approach allows our customers to start fulfilling their basic needs for financial protection in order to: Maintain a family’s standard of living Pay ongoing family debts Fund children’s educations Pay for final expenses Leave the family a financial legacy Banner Life Insurance Company and William Penn Life Insurance Company of New York are the companies that underwrite and issue life insurance policies under the Legal & General America brand. We are in the business of providing financial protection through life insurance for families living in America from coast to coast. At the heart of our business is a genuine concern about our policyholders. We deeply believe in the value of life insurance protection because we know how beneficial it can be. You can count on us to help provide financial security for your loved ones in the event you are no longer here to do that yourself. Banner, William Penn, and Legal & General America are financially strong, fiscally responsible and committed to business practices that will make sure we will be here when you need us most. Our parent company, Legal & General Group, formed Legal & General America as a holding company in 1981, and bought Government Employees Life Insurance Company (GELICO) and its NY affiliate. The GELICO name changed to Banner in 1983. William Penn was purchased by Legal & General Group Plc as a wholly owned subsidiary of Banner Life Insurance Company in 1989. While Banner and William Penn remain the companies that underwrite and issue our policies, we go to market under a single name, Legal & General America.