Financial Tips to Do Better

You've got the small stuff covered, from paying bills to daily chores, but are you protecting the people that matter most to you?

No matter what cutting-edge health fads we chase, no one lives forever. It's easy to want to ignore our finality, but if you have people in your life who matter to you, you should put together a plan. As an adult, a significant portion of managing your finances is preparing for the future. Providing financial security for yourself and your family likely ranks at the top of your financial goals.

Life insurance provides peace of mind, ensuring that your loved ones are secure, even if the unexpected occurs. Find a policy that fits your lifestyle and lock in a great rate now.

Creating a will, estate planning, and maintaining a life insurance policy are all wise financial moves. However, there is a very simple way to ensure your funds pass directly to your loved ones. It’s called a beneficiary.

WHY Life Insurance?

Before we dive into the reasons you should set a beneficiary, let's first dissect why now's the best time to review your life insurance options, regardless of your age.

Life insurance allows you to care for yourself and your loved ones, ensuring they remain financially secure. It's a contract with an insurer in which you pay a premium, and they provide a payout upon your death to a named beneficiary. It offers peace of mind knowing the people you love will be able to manage medical bills, funeral costs, debts, and future aspirations, such as college, business ventures, or mortgage payments, without burden. Most young people think that because they're healthy, they don't need life insurance, but pursuing it while you're young can allow you to lock in a great rate now.

Want to learn more reasons why you should apply for life insurance now? Check out our recent Financial Tip to Do Better: Unlock Better Rates - Get Life Insurance While You're Young

Who Do You Leave It To?

Life insurance provides peace of mind, ensuring that your loved ones are secure, even if the unexpected occurs. When you enroll with Atlantic Insurance, you will be asked to designate a beneficiary or beneficiaries. Often, this is an individual close to you, such as your spouse or children. In some circumstances, an individual may choose to designate an organization to receive their wealth after their death, such as a charity they hold dear.

Should you pass away unexpectedly, your beneficiary (or beneficiaries) will be able to access the funds in your account immediately.

Why Should You Have a Beneficiary?

You may ask yourself why you need a beneficiary if you already have a will. When you pass away, the process can become lengthy and complicated. If you do not have a beneficiary listed, your accounts could enter what is known as probate.

Probate is a court process that seeks to organize and distribute a person's assets once they pass away. It also involves creditors and anyone else designated in a will. The procedure can be extensive and ultimately lead to funds being tied up instead of being distributed accordingly. With a beneficiary listed on your account, your funds will bypass probate. Instead, your beneficiary will be able to access your accounts immediately.

Choose Your Beneficiaries

It’s easy to assign or update a beneficiary within your financial accounts. To set or update your beneficiaries, you can:

• Use Video Banking to walk through the process.
• Stop by one of our branch locations.

Once you have your beneficiaries assigned to your account, you’ll want to review them at least once per year to ensure that the right people are listed.

Reasons You May Want to Change Your Beneficiaries

Once you assign a beneficiary, you can easily change them if the need arises. A few reasons why you may want to change the beneficiaries you have designated on your account are:

• You were recently married.
• You had children or adopted a child.
• You got a divorce.
• There was a death in the family.

TLDR: 

Keeping your life insurance beneficiaries updated is crucial to ensuring your loved ones receive financial security without delay. Life insurance offers peace of mind by covering expenses like medical bills and future goals. Young and healthy individuals should consider securing a policy now for better rates. Designating beneficiaries prevents funds from entering probate, allowing immediate access. Review and update beneficiaries annually, especially after significant life changes like marriage, childbirth, or divorce.

We’re Here to Help!

Experts recommend annual reviews of your insurance options with a trusted advisor to ensure policies still match your needs. If you would like to explore your life insurance options, review the beneficiaries listed on your account, or add or update individuals, we’re happy to help. The process should only take a few minutes to complete.

Atlantic Federal Credit Union Insurance, an independent agency within the credit union, is ready to help you make informed, thoughtful decisions. Let's do better together.

To get started, please stop by any of our convenient branch locations or call us at 800-834-0432.

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The Atlantic Financial Tips to Do Better strives to deliver informative, relevant, and sometimes fun financial information. If you enjoyed this article, please forward it to a friend.

Each individual's financial situation is unique, and readers are encouraged to contact the Credit Union when seeking financial advice on the products and services discussed. This article is for educational purposes only; the authors assume no legal responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the contents.