You likely had life insurance much of your working life whether you purchased a policy or had it as a benefit offered by your employer. Now that you’re retiring and you won’t have an employer providing life insurance, do you need to purchase one on your own? Life insurance is intended to protect surviving family members from financial hardship when you die. This means that your need for life insurance is unique to you and your financial situation in retirement. 

A few things you may want to consider in making this decision include: 

• Do you carry debt that will be passed onto your spouse, or do you have trouble paying bills each month? If the answer is no, you may not need life insurance or may only need a small policy to cover funeral expenses. 

• If you retire and have children in college or a spouse who is financially dependent on you, you may want to consider life insurance. 
• Do you have a large estate that will be inherited by surviving family members? Life insurance could help pay for estate taxes. 
• If you are working in retirement and a surviving spouse would need to replace your income you may want to consider life insurance to replace that lost income. 

As a PERA Member you have several options to ensure that a named beneficiary continues to receive your retirement benefits after your death. Before you retire, name a cobeneficiary and consider which benefit option is best for your situation. A cobeneficiary may receive retirement benefits after your death and does not have to be a spouse to qualify. You may also want to review PERA’s life insurance options that can be carried into retirement as you plan for your post working years. PERA members also have survivor benefits while working that you may wish to consider as part of your financial planning. 

Life Insurance Open Enrollment is April 1, through May 31.