Walters Agency

Having health insurance is important because coverage helps people get timely medical care and improves their lives and health. Some may believe that people always have access to medical care because they can always go to an emergency room. But even areas with well supported safety-net care do not remove barriers to access to the same extent as does having health insurance. “Coverage matters,” concluded the Institute of Medicine (IOM) during a recent multiyear appraisal. Indeed, the prestigious IOM estimated that lack of coverage was associated with about 18,000 extra deaths per year among uninsured adults.

Do I need Life Insurance?

You need life insurance if you want to provide financial protection for your dependents (or to your creditors) in the event of your death. A business may want to use life insurance to fund its employee benefit plans, protect against the premature death of a keyperson or to provide for business continuation.

The following are typical examples of family and business purposes to consider when assessing the need for life insurance:

• Dependent children.
• Dependent spouse, parent or grandparent.
• Credit enhancement.
• Key person indemnification.
• Business continuation.
• Employee benefit plans.

Should one or more of these examples apply to you, the purchase of life insurance may be suitable for your needs.

An annuity is an insurance contract that's best used as a means of tax-deferred savings for retirement. The money in an annuity is not taxed until it's withdrawn.

There are several kinds of annuities, but the bulk of them are either fixed, which means there is a guaranteed rate of return, or variable, which have a return tied to the performance of the underlying investments.