Having a life insurance policy as part of your employer-sponsored benefits can be a low-cost way to provide supplemental protection for those who rely on you financially. But what if you lose your job or accept a new position with a different company? Will you be able to bring your life insurance policy? That is dependent.
Workplace life insurance is typically provided through a company's group life plan. While plans vary, in many cases, these benefits are provided to all employees, with the employer covering a portion or all of the policy's premium. As a result, if you leave your current job, you are no longer covered by the company's group plan, and your former employer is not obligated to pay for your coverage.
The short answer: when you leave your job, you lose your group life insurance. The long answer is, however, more complicated. When these kinds of policies are offered as a benefit of working for a company, the policy itself is held by the company, and the employees are the only ones who can be insured under the policy. This means that the only people who can join the group plan are the people who work for the company that bought the policy. So, workers who leave that company are no longer eligible for a group plan like this.
But there are ways around the problem. In the American economy, changing jobs is becoming more common, and insurance companies have made some changes to keep up.
First things first is to find out whether you can take the life insurance policy with you. Ask HR if this is possible and if not, you can cancel or let your policy lapse. Here’s some more info.
Although there are some advantages to having life insurance through your job, the disadvantages really outweigh the pros. Some of the benefits of employer supplied life insurance:
Some of the disadvantages:
Here is something to think about. If you get life insurance through your job when you're 25 and you're at that job for say 5 years and your next employer doesn’t offer life insurance, it is up to you to get an individual plan. The salt in the wound is that life insurance premiums go up every year as you age so if you would have bought an individual plan at 25 vs the now 30, you would have saved $20 - $35 a month. Also the more you age, the more health risk potentials you could have which may increase the premiums significantly vs getting a policy before knowing any health risk existed.
We try to keep things as easy, transparent and efficient as possible. You can get a quote entirely online in about 5 minutes and you don’t need a medical exam for coverage under $3 million. Our insurance provider has been around for over 30 years so even though Waffle is relatively new, you can have security knowing your policy isn’t going anywhere.
The need for life insurance is determined by your personal financial goals. Many people buy life insurance to ensure that their loved ones, usually young children or a spouse, are taken care of after they die. However, if you are single and do not wish to leave money to your family, a charity, a church, or your business, life insurance may not be the best option for you.
There are certain times in life when life insurance starts to become a much bigger deal to have. The most major life events that should make you think about getting life insurance are things like:
Easily customize & manage your insurance policies to your needs with Waffle. Get started today!