Viking Magazine - April 2022 - 11

NAME THE CORRECT POLICY OWNER
AND BENEFICIARY. One of the
biggest reasons for purchasing life
insurance is to finan ially protect
your children in the event of your
passing. You want your policy's
death benefit to help cover expenses
like food, clothes, housing and
education. Minors, however, aren't
able to directly claim life insurance
policy proceeds, so if your kids are
still under the age of 18, another
adult you trust to use the money as
intended-typically your child's other
parent-should be named as the
policy owner, even if you're the one
still paying the premiums. " The fir t
thing I would do in a divorce is make
sure the benefi iary designations
are the way you want them to be, "
says Ragan. " That shouldn't be
overlooked, because you don't
want the money getting into the
wrong hands. "
APPOINT A CUSTODIAN IF NEEDED.
Even if your ex-spouse becomes
the sole legal guardian of your
children if you pass away, that doesn't
necessarily mean they automatically
receive the proceeds from your death
benefit. If, for whatever reason, you
feel your ex isn't able to uphold their
responsibility to use the money for
expenses related to your kids, you
can appoint a custodian to oversee
and manage their finances until they
reach legal age.
CONSIDER SETTING UP A TRUST.
Appointing a policy owner or
custodian other than yourself may
be enough for your needs, but
another option is to set up and name
a trust as the benefi iary of your life
insurance. A trust holds property and
money for minors, and is bound to
the instructions you leave for how
the assets should be managed. This
can be particularly helpful if you're
leaving behind a large death benefi .
As responsible as you think your
children are, $1 million is a lot of
money-especially for an 18-yearold.
Through a trust, you can dictate
exactly how the money is used and
when it is distributed, such as at age
18 to pay for college, age 25 to pay for
a wedding or age 30 to buy a house.
LIFE INSURANCE BY
THE NUMBERS
52%
PURCHASE ADDITIONAL POLICIES.
There's no limit to the number of
life insurance policies you can own,
so if you remarry and start a family
with your new spouse, you should
take out a separate policy, rather than
simply changing the benefi iary on
your original policy. This ensures all
your kids from both marriages are
covered-and no doubt protects you
from damaging relationships with
your loved ones.
PERMANENT VERSUS TERM LIFE
INSURANCE. Depending on what was
agreed upon in your divorce, you
may only be responsible for paying
the premiums on a life insurance
policy for a specified amount of
time-say, until your children reach
age 18. In that case, it might make the
most sense to purchase a term policy
that offers coverage for a set amount
of time, like 10 or 15 years. Once the
term is up, you and your ex-spouse
can decide if you'd like to let the
policy lapse, renew for another term
or convert it to a permanent policy.
CONNECT WITH YOUR INSURANCE
PROFESSIONAL REGULARLY. As with
any major life change-whether it be a
divorce, a remarriage or a new baby-
it's important to regularly consult with
your insurance professional to make
sure your life insurance policies are
offering the coverage you need. " At
least every couple of years, make
sure that everything is up to date, "
Ragan advises. ▼
Sons of Norway, 1455 West Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN, offers financial products, but not all
products are available in all states. Products issued by Sons of Norway are available to applicants who
meet membership, insurability and residency requirements.
@sonsofnorway
Percentage of consumers
who reported owning life
insurance as of January
2021, down from 63% a
decade ago in 2011
102 million
Number of uninsured and
underinsured Americans
who know they need more
life insurance coverage
25%
Percentage of survey
respondents who would
struggle financially within
a month of a wage-earner
dying unexpectedly
6 in 10
Number of consumers
who reported a heightened
awareness about the value
of life insurance since the
pandemic began
42%
Percentage of
COVID-surviving survey
respondents who said they
were likely to purchase life
insurance in 2021
SOURCE: LIMRA, 2021
April 2022
11

Viking Magazine - April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Viking Magazine - April 2022