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Two discussing life insurance policy options

Can You Get Life Insurance If You Are Unemployed?

Many assume you need a high-paying job or massive wealth to get life insurance. In reality, the average person—even unemployed individuals—can take out life insurance. It’s a great way of ensuring that your loved ones are taken care of in many aspects after your passing. As an unemployed individual, you need to be aware of the following aspects to get the best life insurance:

If You’re Recently Unemployed

As an unemployed individual, your chance of getting life insurance is the best if you’ve recently lost your job and plan on getting a new one. According to the Department of Labor, not having worked for 27 weeks or more is considered long-term unemployment. The underwriter for the insurance company will write the insurable amount considering your previous salary if you’ve been unemployed for less than that long-term unemployment period. You can assure the underwriter that you’re likely to work and worth coverage by:

  • Keeping your resume prepared and updated to present.
  • Provide plans of future employment while detailing reasons for unemployment.
  • Assure that you have assets such as savings accounts, property, or other liquid items that assure you’re worth insuring.

If You Can’t Find a Job

If you’re unemployed and are struggling to find gainful employment, it becomes a bit more complicated to get a traditional life insurance policy. While some lenient insurers might be willing to provide you with a policy, it might be much smaller than your average traditional life insurance policy.

As a Stay-at-Home Parent

Being a stay-at-home parent is not easy and is considered a job by insurance providers. Various sources estimate that the work of a stay-at-home parent does equate to around more than $170,000 per year if equivalent services were acquired and paid for. It’s an understatement to say that the loss of a stay-at-home parent will be significant, especially on the finances of the working parent looking for equivalent services.

A person filling out a life insurance policy application

Naturally, they’ll expect the income-earning parent to first be insured before providing coverage to the non-working parent. Various factors, such as assets and the number of children under your care, will dictate the size of your policy.

Stay at Home Spouse

Similar to a stay-at-home parent, a stay-at-home spouse can acquire insurance.  In the same vein, the working spouse will need life insurance coverage in place first, and the amount of life insurance that the non-working spouse can obtain is limited. 

If the working spouse does not have life insurance, it’s recommended that you work with a reliable life insurance company to help you find the best option.

Wealthy Individuals

Many people that have great wealth and don’t need active employment are also applicable for various life insurance policies. For various estate planning purposes, affluent people take on life insurance policies to deal with asset passing with less or no taxes or just for the sake of an investment vehicle for a rainy day.

The common approach in such cases is to acquire whole life insurance, which is generally easier to acquire if you have liquidity and assets to present to a reliable life insurance company.

In the case of Disability 

If you’re disabled, getting a traditional life insurance policy can be more complicated for various reasons. Firstly, if your medical disability affects life expectancy and could potentially shorten it, insurers might either reject your application or provide you with fairly high premiums.

If your disability prevents you from gaining an income, it can be another reason why your case can be difficult for insurers to approve. In case of a temporary disability, you might be able to qualify for a traditional life insurance policy.

Work with Us

Whether you have a great job and want to look out for yourself and your family or are unemployed but need life insurance, our life insurance agency will provide you with viable options that work for you. Reach out to us at Franklin Life & Annuity to learn about your options. We provide all the necessary information as well as a variety of options that you need to ensure that your affairs are dealt with properly after your passing. Regardless of the fact that you need life insurance for your entire family or just final expense insurance, we will educate you on your options.

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