Many consumers make the mistake of assuming that they don’t need Life Insurance Policies because they’re young. While the likelihood of an event is lower when you’re younger, that doesn’t mean something can’t happen.

And while life insurance may be an unpleasant thing to think about or may feel like an unnecessary expense, you must consider it if you have any dependents who rely on you for financial support. Life insurance is really about protecting your dependents in case something happens to you and can often make a big difference to them as they try to navigate life without you.

Let’s take a look at a real-life example of two young parents…

Youth minister Preston and his wife, Tara, met during college and were soon married. After visiting their local insurance agent to purchase auto and renters insurance, they decided to look into life insurance policies. With a 19-month-old son and another child on the way, life insurance policies made a lot of sense in case anything ever happened to either of them. Unfortunately, this worst-case scenario became reality a couple of months later.

While driving to Canada to visit Tara’s parents, a group of cars up ahead of the couple slammed on their brakes and veered to the right side of the road. After coming to a stop, Preston hopped out of the car to find out what happened. One of the cars had hit an elk, and when Preston realized a passenger was bleeding, he ran back to his car to tell Tara to dial 911. As she reached for her phone, a car flew by and hit Preston, killing him instantly.

Thanks to the life insurance policy the Newbys purchased months earlier, Tara was able to pay off the family’s existing debt and provide for her two young sons after Preston’s sudden death.

Having life insurance is almost always a necessity if you’re a parent, unless you have significant savings in the bank or your retirement accounts (and even then, it’s still a good idea).

Kids are expensive, and raising them on one person’s salary can be almost impossible. There are too many sad stories out there about families who had a great life until one parent died, forcing them to downsize just to scrape by.

If you’re not worried about passing away before your time, think about how you’d feel if your children could no longer afford to go to summer camp or after-school activities. That’s what life insurance is for—so your loved ones won’t suffer any more than they have to when you die.

It’s especially important to buy life insurance for both parents, even if one person stays at home. Consider this: If you stay at home with your children, your partner will have to pay for childcare when you’re gone. In many cases, that can cost nearly as much as a full salary.

You may be thinking, “I don’t have children, so do I need a life insurance policies?”

Many people don’t think about getting life insurance until they have kids. After all, you’re not really responsible for another person until you become a parent, right? Well, not necessarily.

If you are a newlywed couple, without children, but have any outstanding mutual debts, then you need a life insurance policies. For example, if you purchased a home together and have a monthly mortgage payment that of you both pay towards, then a life insurance policies would help cover the costs if one of you died unexpectedly.

Or consider funeral and end of life costs. A funeral and buriel alone can cost several thousands of dollars and that doesn’t include any costs associated with an unexpected accident, hospital stay, or lengthy illness. Those can really add up. Unless you have enough in savings to cover the costs, you need some life insurance coverage.

The bottom line is that if you can’t easily handle expenses like these out of your savings accounts, you need life insurance.

Whether you are 25 or 55, a life insurance policy gives you the peace of mind that should the worst happen, your loved ones will be taken care of.

Even if you already have life insurance through your employer, you may be underinsured. Call CoverLink Insurance today—we can work with you to ensure that there aren’t any gaps in your current coverage and talk to you about all of your options.