Kiplinger

Don't Overlook Advantages of Making Insurance Part of Your Retirement Plan

Many people don't fully understand the value and benefits life insurance can offer as part of a retirement plan.

Most view life insurance primarily as a way to protect a family from the loss of income should a breadwinner die during his or her working years. If that's an individual's main purpose in purchasing a policy, it's a good one. But that income-replacement function doesn't have to -- and, in my opinion, probably shouldn't -- come to an end in retirement.

When one spouse passes away during retirement, the surviving spouse (usually the wife) often struggles financially. While some living expenses might be lower when there's just one person in a household, the reduction in costs rarely offsets the drop in income. At a minimum, one of the two Social Security checks the couple was receiving

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