Do you really need a million dollars of life insurance coverage?

If you are beginning or building your life insurance program and live in the Columbia, SC, area, the Michael Taylor Agency can help.

One of the first questions those in our community ask is, "How much life insurance do they need?" or “Do I need a million dollars in life insurance protection?"

The answer may lie in what you want your life insurance to do.

Cover final expense.

Yes, funeral expenses can be expensive, but it will not take a million dollars in protection to cover. If you are just interested in burial expenses, $15,000 may be sufficient.

Cover debts.

Many purchase life insurance to cover any debts they may be leaving behind. These often include credit cards, personal debts, and even medical expenses.

Mortgage coverage.

If you have a significant mortgage on your home, you may want to ensure your life insurance suffices to pay it off. This can also help a family maintain their lifestyle.

Living expenses.

When choosing how much life insurance you should need, you may want to consider enough to cover living expenses for an extended period. This can allow a family to transition after a death.

College and future expenses.

When you add in college and future expenses for bringing up a child, you can see how an insured could want a million dollars or more in protection.

Contact the Michael Taylor Agency for Help.

You may not need a million dollars worth of life insurance protection. Still, when you add up burial expenses, personal and medical debts, childcare, mortgages, and college, you can see where it would be beneficial. The point is that it may depend on you and your goals and budget. Reach out to us at Michael Taylor Agency in Columbia, SC.

We can discuss your options. Reach out to us for your free quote today.

Why Term Life Insurance Is So Popular

Many people need life insurance because they have loved ones dependent on them. It is crucial to secure this insurance so that those who rely on you will have financial security after you’re gone. Life insurance mainly comes in two forms – term life and whole life insurance. Whole life insurance is a policy that remains valid for the rest of the policyholder’s life. Term life operates differently. However, its popularity stems from its simplicity. To learn more about term life insurance, get in touch with us at Michael Taylor Agency in Columbia, SC.

The Benefits of Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance provides a significant advantage over whole life: it is considerably less expensive. This affordability has enabled many people who may not ordinarily afford it to take up life insurance. Given the high cost of living in today’s world, life insurance could seem like an unnecessary expense for those on a tight budget. However, with term life insurance, this isn’t usually the case.

Simple Policies

While the nuances of whole life insurance can be complex, term life insurance is straightforward. Unlike whole life policies, it does not accrue cash value over time, nor are there expensive premiums associated with whole life. The downside of term life insurance is that it expires after a certain period. However, many find the cost-saving benefits outweigh this shortcoming. And, in case your policy expires, you can always apply for a new one to take its place.

Get Term Life Insurance

If you’re interested in term life insurance, contact Michael Taylor Agency in Columbia, SC, to learn more.

Trouble Saving? Consider Permanent Life Insurance

Do you have life insurance? Experts state that more than half of us either don’t have any or don’t have a sufficient amount. Numerous excuses exist for this, including tight budgets. The Michael Taylor Agency can help individuals in the Columbia, SC, area.

If you are struggling to set aside money for future or unforeseen circumstances, permanent life insurance might be your best option.

Permanent insurance, also known as whole life insurance, offers coverage that lasts as long as the premium payments are kept up-to-date. This insurance establishes premiums at the time of the initial purchase. Despite the consistency in premiums and coverage, permanent insurance can accrue a cash value that increases over time.

What Sets Permanent Insurance Apart

Unlike term insurance, which provides protection for a specified period, permanent insurance is lifelong. Despite the higher costs per thousand bases of permanent life insurance, it includes a savings component, allowing for cash value accumulation. This cash value can increase over time, be accessed through a loan, or be cashed in later.

Although whole life insurance is more costly due to its permanency and cash value, it is a good option for individuals who find saving money challenging.

Not only does permanent insurance provide life insurance coverage, it also builds equity. And for some, this combination is highly appealing.

Learn More Today

If you are interested in learning more about permanent life insurance and how it compares to term life insurance, contact us at the Michael Taylor Agency in Columbia, SC. We can help you compare coverage, provide a quote, and even project your policy’s cash value in the years to come.

Get started today by contacting the Michael Taylor Agency.

Five Ways Life Insurance Helps You Celebrate Life

Life insurance isn’t about death; it’s about removing the worries from the living. It’s a way to celebrate life by ensuring your loved ones live how they’re accustomed to, and your legacy lives on. It’s about ensuring the lifestyle you’ve worked hard to build continues for the ones you care about. But those aren’t the only ways life insurance helps you celebrate life. Here are a few more reasons for you to ponder:

  • Peace of mind: Knowing your loved ones are financially secure when you die takes a lot of worry off your chest. This release helps you enjoy your life to the fullest without worrying about how much of a financial impact your death will have on your family.
  • Legacy: Life insurance provides a financial legacy for your loved ones or even a favorite charity. This ensures that your values and causes are supported even when you’re gone. 
  • Living benefits: Some policies offer benefits like critical illness coverage or cash value accumulation. You can use these benefits while you’re alive to cover unexpected expenses, celebrate milestones, or support a comfortable retirement.
  • Financial planning: Your life insurance policy is essential to your comprehensive financial plan. It helps you plan for future expenses, like your significant other’s retirement or your children’s education. This type of planning helps prepare for the future now so you can enjoy the rest of your life with your loved ones.
  • Celebrating essential life stages: Getting life insurance often happens when other major life events occur, like having a child, getting married, or buying a home. These are all occasions to celebrate life now and in the future.

Life insurance from the Michael Taylor Agency is more than you may think. It’s truly a reason to celebrate the life you share with your loved ones in Columbia, SC, from moment to moment. 

Insurance For Your High-Risk Years. Why Choose Term Life Insurance

Columbia, SC, is a flourishing city that is increasingly attracting younger people who are building their families and careers in this vibrant environment. Notably, many of these younger families are entering "high-risk" years. The Michael Taylor Agency offers a practical solution for safeguarding families during these precarious periods: Term Life Insurance.

The Basics of Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance provides coverage for a specific duration, often for 10 or 20 years, safeguarding the life of the insured individual.

Safeguarding the High-Risk Years

The "high-risk" years typically coincide with when young families are in their 20s to 40s. This period comes with financial challenges, such as high mortgages and impending college tuition, while incomes need to be protected. In the event of an unexpected loss of an income earner during these vital years, the family could face devastating consequences.

How Can Term Insurance Help?

Term insurance is an affordable variant of life insurance that can usually be purchased in large amounts at comparatively low rates. This allowance enables families to cover final expenses, mortgage payments, credit card debts, and even college education costs.

Take a Step Toward Enhanced Financial Security Today

Initiating your term life insurance policy is as simple as contacting us at the Michael Taylor Agency of Columbia, SC. Answer a few questions, and you can start your journey toward greater financial assurance. Young, healthy applicants usually do not need a physical examination.

Make the Smart Choice with Michael Taylor Agency

Achieving the life insurance coverage you and your family deserve has never been easier with the assistance of the Michael Taylor Agency. Reach out to us today and begin your protection journey.

Five Expenses Life Insurance Could Help Cover

Life insurance is a safety net, providing financial support in challenging times when a policyholder passes away. It could help cover several different major costs if you’re no longer around.

Paying for Daily Living Expenses

Life insurance can play a crucial role in helping beneficiaries manage daily living expenses without the policyholder. This is especially important in Columbia, SC, where the cost of living has risen recently. The payout from a life insurance policy could help pay necessities like food, utilities, and rent or mortgage payments.

Funding Your Children’s Education

A life insurance policy can also be instrumental in ensuring that a policyholder’s children can afford higher education. With college tuition continually rising, life insurance proceeds can pay for tuition, books, and room and board.

Facilitating Retirement Savings

For surviving spouses, life insurance may supplement their retirement savings. This is one of the main reasons to get a life insurance policy for a large amount.

Paying Off Debts and Mortgages

Life insurance can provide beneficiaries with the means to pay off outstanding debts, including mortgages, credit cards, and loans. If you pass away, this might be the only way your spouse could keep the house.

Covering Funeral and Final Expenses

Finally, life insurance can cover funeral and final expenses, which are sometimes substantial. We at Michael Taylor Agency have seen some parents get a small life insurance policy for their children so they wouldn’t need to worry about funeral costs during a very trying time.

Get Life Insurance

Life insurance may provide financial assistance for your loved ones in many ways. If you need help finding life insurance and are in Columbia, SC, contact us at Michael Taylor Agency.

What Is Retirement Insurance? Your Questions Answered

When you plan for retirement, there are many things to consider – including insurance. At Michael Taylor Agency, serving Columbia, SC, we’re happy to help you decide which types of insurance are most important to help you during retirement. Medical costs in retirement can be expensive, but having the right coverage can help you save hundreds or even thousands of dollars. 

What Kind of Insurance Do Retirees Need?

Many people who retire believe they will rely solely upon their Medicare coverage to help with their medical expenses. However, upon doing research, a significant portion of these people realize that they will also need a Medigap plan to help cover the significant costs that Medicare does not cover. 

What Is Medigap Insurance?

Medigap insurance is a policy you can purchase to help share the out-of-pocket costs associated with Medicare coverage. Finding the right Medigap policy for your needs can help you protect your retirement savings. 

How Can You Find the Right Medigap Policy?

Finding the right Medigap policy is important. You’ll want to find a policy that you find affordable but which will also benefit you to the greatest extent possible. Medigap policies can be complicated, just as Medicare itself is complicated. Finding an insurance agent to help you walk through the options and make the most informed decision possible is important. 

This is why many customers come to Michael Taylor Agency serving Columbia, SC. Our informed and helpful insurance agents are dedicated to helping you find the right coverage for your needs. Enjoy your retirement with the right policy for you.

I’m In The Army and Need Life Insurance

So you’ve decided to be all you can be. You’re in uniform and serving your country. Besides your paycheck, Uncle Sam takes care of your food, lodging, and medical care, among other things. But what about insurance? If you are an active duty service member, you are automatically enrolled in SGLI group life insurance. You may be thinking about what happens when you leave active duty. You might want those same benefits as a veteran. 

What You’ve Got Now

An active-duty servicemember is offered group life insurance of up to $400,000, known as Servicemember’s Group Life Insurance. You can opt out of it, but this may be the best deal you will get. This will give your beneficiary your death benefit should the worst happen while you are enlisted. 

What You’ll Have Later 

When you are no longer on active duty, you will lose your SGLI. Three to five days before you exit the military, you will participate in the transition assistance program, during which you will discuss switching to Veterans Group Life Insurance (VGLI). You will then have 240 days to make the switch, or you will have to prove you are healthy enough to qualify. VGLI has the same benefits as SGLI, but the rates increase every five years unless you are disabled. 

Michael Taylor Agency Serving Columbia, SC

If you seek life insurance in Columbia, SC, please get in touch with the Michael Taylor Agency. Our knowledgeable and courteous agents will do all they can to help you, earn your trust, and lead you to what you need. 

Term vs. Permanent Life Insurance: Making the Right Choice For You

Life insurance is a critical financial tool that provides your loved ones peace of mind and financial security. When considering life insurance, one of the most significant decisions you’ll make is choosing between term and permanent life insurance. The team at Michael Taylor Agency, providing life insurance to the residents in the greater Columbia, SC area, wants to help you select the right product for you. Here are some of the key differences between term and permanent life insurance.

Term Life Insurance:

  • Affordability: Term life insurance typically offers lower premiums, making it more budget-friendly, especially for young and healthy individuals.

  • Coverage Period: It provides coverage for a specified term, such as 10, 20, or 30 years. If you pass away during this term, your beneficiaries receive the death benefit.

  • Simplicity: Term life insurance is straightforward, with no cash value or investment component. You pay for pure insurance protection.

Permanent Life Insurance:

  • Lifelong Coverage: Permanent life insurance, which includes whole life and universal life, provides coverage for your entire life, as long as premiums are paid.

  • Cash Value: It accumulates a cash value component over time, which you can access through loans or withdrawals while alive.

  • Premiums: Premiums are generally higher than term life insurance but remain level throughout the policy’s life.

Choosing between term and permanent life insurance depends on your individual circumstances and financial objectives. A great insurance agent, such as the professionals at Michael Taylor Agency, can help review your individual circumstances and select the product that is a good fit for you. Contact our office, serving the greater Columbia, SC area, to schedule an appointment today. 

Using Life Insurance as an Investment Tool

Life insurance can do more than provide a death benefit for your beneficiaries. Choosing a life insurance policy with a cash-value account can also help you save money for retirement or create an investment account.

Better Investing in Columbia, SC

We offer various life insurance options at Michael Taylor Agency, including whole life insurance with a cash value account attached. These whole life plans provide a death benefit just like our other life insurance options but also help you save money in a tax-free savings account.

Some of these accounts pay interest, while others use an index, such as Standard & Poor’s, to determine quarterly or annual earnings. Many cash-value accounts take two or three years to vest, during which time you can’t borrow against the account. Once vested, you can borrow against the cash value portion of the life policy or, in some cases, withdraw from it.

Advantages of Life Insurance with a Cash Value Account

The premiums for these whole-life policies cost a little more each month than those for a term-life policy. The premium payment pays for the policy and a small monthly deposit to the savings account. The main advantages of this method of saving include the money’s tax-free status and the ease of bundling two payments – life insurance and savings deposit – into one payment.

Get Started Saving Today

Contact Michael Taylor Agency, serving Columbia, SC, and the surrounding communities. Let us help you set up a life insurance plan that also provides for your retirement. Call us today.