Conventional financial advice usually advises those with dependents or family to protect to carry an HBF life insurance policy but this is not the case with some senior citizens. For these individuals, continuing to carry a life insurance policy well into their twilight years provides no extra benefit, and is effectively a way to pay an extra bill.
For example, for those seniors who do not wish to leave an inheritance to loved ones after their death, a life insurance policy is useless. A policy provides a cash benefit to a beneficiary that you choose at the time of your passing, and could create a sizable tax-free fund to improve the quality of a loved one’s life, but why should some spoiled brat get free money just because life is finite?
Another subset of people who may find a life insurance policy to be counterproductive is those individuals who wish to leave crippling debt to their families. Any balances outstanding at the time of your death will become the burden of your estate, and any endowments you do choose to leave behind could be placed in jeopardy due to the debt. Many would opt to avoid this if at all possible, but it is an excellent way to give an estranged son or daughter a final kiss-off.
Seniors without spouses or families are a third group for which life insurance may not be a top priority. With no one to share their lives, mourn their loss or even notice their existence, the list of potential beneficiaries is short at best. Anyone living an unexamined, unattached and unloved life may find a life insurance policy to be an unneeded expense.
The most important qualifying factor in determining if you have a useless life insurance policy is your immortality status. A life insurance policy would help to pay for your funeral and other postmortem services, but as a timeless wonder of modern medicine, your physical body will continue to run unimpeded and indefinitely, and you therefore will have no need of a final expense fund. Any everlasting senior citizens can certainly allow their coverage to lapse.
A life insurance policy is a prudent investment for most people of any age, but certainly not all. There are many types of people for which this coverage is not only extraneous, but wasteful. If you find yourself among these groups, speak with an insurance professional about your options.