Life insurance is an essential part of financial planning. One reason most people buy life insurance is to replace income that would be lost with the death of a wage earner.

The cash provided by life insurance also can help ensure that your dependents are not burdened with significant debt when you die. Life insurance proceeds could mean your dependents will not have to sell assets to pay outstanding bills, or any other obligation a family might have to deal with. An important feature of life insurance is that no income tax is payable on proceeds paid to beneficiaries.
How to determine the amount of life insurance you may need.
Before buying life insurance, you should assemble personal financial information and review your family's needs. There are a number of factors to consider when determining how much protection you should have. These include:

• Any immediate needs at the time of death, such as final illness expenses, burial costs, and estate taxes;

• Funds for a readjustment period, to finance a move or to provide time for family members to find a job;

• Ongoing financial needs, such as monthly bills and expenses, day-care costs, college tuition or retirement.

Although there is no substitute for a careful evaluation of the amount of coverage needed to meet your needs, one rule of thumb used is buy life insurance that is equal to five to ten times annual gross income.
Buying life insurance is not like any other purchase you will make. When you pay your premiums, you're buying the future financial security of your family that only life insurance can provide. Among its many uses, life insurance helps ensure that, when you are no longer around, your dependents will have the financial resources needed to protect their home and the income needed to run a household.