Finance Flash Go! Episode #8: Life Insurance

Do you need life insurance? This episode of the Finance Flash Go podcast will help you answer this question!

Listen to the full episode and subscribe here!

What is life insurance?

Life insurance can be very important -it is insurance that will pay out to your loved ones (beneficiaries) if you pass away. Therefore, if you have anyone depending on your income like a spouse and /or kids among other possible dependents, you especially need it.

Let me make this clear…

Before we move on, one important distinction needs to be made. You are looking for term life insurance. This is life insurance offered over a time period or term. If you die within that time period, the policy will pay out. The policy ends after the term is over. Let me repeat this is what you want, term life insurance.

You do not want whole life insurance. This is a combined insurance-investment product that 99.9999% of physicians do not need. It lasts your whole life and for most of the time, your policy is not even worth the premiums you pay. These are products meant to be sold not bought and salespeople therefore make a fat commission when they get someone to buy it. Do not buy whole life insurance, especially as a young trainee or attending.

Okay, back to term life insurance…

The good news is that the term life insurance landscape is pretty easy to navigate. It is basically a commodity so you just price out the options from various reputable companies and choose the cheapest one with the terms you want. I recommend using an independent broker that works with many companies to help you. Find such brokers on the Recommend page of The Prudent Plastic Surgeon. To apply, you will need your basic demographic information, a list of all medications, as well as a list of all doctors you currently see. Have this information ready to expedite the process. Once you apply, you will need to supply some information and generally take a physical. Once this is done, they will grant you the policy.

I really hope that you all enjoy the Finance Flash Go podcast! We plan to release a new episode every weekday answering important finance questions. If you ever want to submit a question to our podcast, send an e-mail to [email protected].

And please subscribe and give us a 5-star rating if you enjoy the podcast! It helps us continue our mission of helping all of us to achieve financial well-being!