To put it bluntly, death is an extremely difficult subject to broach. After all, who wants to talk about—or even think about—their own mortality or leaving loved ones behind?

As uncomfortable as those topics can be, they need to be taken into consideration when purchasing life insurance. With the right policy in place, you can help protect your family financially and ensure their standard of living continues in the event of an untimely death.

“Insurance companies spend a lot of time talking about instances of loss like car accidents, house fires or extreme weather damage,” explained Gerald Gardner, Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. director of sales.

“Thankfully, statistics show that some of these things will never happen to a lot of our customers,” he continued. “But a fact of life is that we all die eventually, and whether it’s because someone doesn’t want to think about it or plan for it, a lot of folks are underinsured when that time comes.”

According to the Insurance Information Institute, about 46% of Americans don’t have life insurance policies. Among those who do, the coverage afforded by many of those policies typically isn’t enough to cover a family’s expenses when a death occurs.

The ramifications of being unprepared for such an event can be dire, and often leave families scrambling to borrow money to make ends meet. In some cases, it could cause families to relocate, or force them to dip into retirement accounts, savings accounts or other investments.

By securing a comprehensive life insurance policy, large expenses like a mortgage or financed vehicles can be covered, as can day-to-day expenses that mount when a household loses income.

In addition to serving as replacement income for your dependents, money generated by these policies can be used to pay off debt, create an inheritance plan or start new savings accounts.

“There’s really no one-size-fits-all life insurance policy,” Gardner said.

“Taking care of the ‘right now’ is the most important aspect of any life insurance policy, but we also can address intermediate and long-term goals with that plan,” he added. “Our agents do their due diligence to make sure our customers’ needs are met—whatever they may be—and they’re protected with a viable and affordable solution.”

To learn more about life insurance, including the benefits of whole life insurance policies versus term life, call your local Farm Bureau agent.