What is the difference between term and permanent life insurance?
Term life covers you for a set number of years and pays only if you pass during that term — usually the most affordable way to cover a temporary need like a mortgage or raising kids. Permanent life lasts your whole life and builds cash value, at a higher cost.
Neither is better in the abstract — they do different jobs. Which one fits depends on the specific need, like covering a 20-year mortgage versus leaving something behind whenever the time comes. This is general education, not financial, tax, or investment advice.
How much life insurance do I need?
Enough to cover what your household would lose without your income — often a mix of the mortgage, other debts, years of income, and final expenses. There is no universal multiple; it depends on who relies on you and for how long.
A common starting point is adding up the mortgage, the years of income your dependents would lose, and big-ticket costs like education or childcare. Ricardo can help you reason toward a number with no push to buy any particular product. Coverage and cost, in the end, depend on health questions and underwriting.
Is the life insurance through my job enough?
Often not on its own. Employer-provided life insurance is a valuable benefit, but it is usually a modest multiple of salary and typically ends when you leave the job. It may not be enough to cover a mortgage or replace years of income.
Because it usually isn't portable, a job change or a layoff can open a gap at the exact moment a family is most stretched. An individual policy can sit alongside the work coverage so you're not leaning on a benefit someone else controls — better understood before the job situation changes, not after.
Do I need a medical exam to get life insurance?
Not always. Some policies require a medical exam, while others use health questions or simplified underwriting instead. Whether an exam is needed depends on the coverage amount, your age, and the company's process.
There are a few general paths, and each one asks something different of you up front, though approval, cost, and terms always come down to the underwriting and the policy selected. None of this is a promise of approval — it's just understanding the route before you set out.
How do I update the beneficiary on my life insurance?
You update a beneficiary by submitting a change form to the company that issued the policy — your will does not override it. A marriage, divorce, or new child are the most common reasons to review who is listed.
Outdated beneficiaries are one of the most common — and most avoidable — problems in life insurance. If you're not sure who's currently listed, that's where to start; from there, the change itself is usually a single clean form.