September is Life Insurance Awareness Month and I wanted to use this article as a way of simplifying the questions that most people have about obtaining a policy. Deciding to buy life insurance and then actually purchasing it can be a complicated process and potentially a difficult reality check. There are three basic questions that most people have about life insurance; they are as follows:

Question 1 - Do I need life insurance?

The answer to this question is pretty straightforward. If someone depends on your income, then most likely you need life insurance. The visualization is simple: imagine if your paycheck did not exist. Can your family make the mortgage payments, pay the monthly bills? Will your kids be able to go to college?

If you decide that you need life insurance proceed to question 2.

Question 2 - How much life insurance do I need?

I've seen people determine how much insurance they need by multiplying their yearly income by a certain number to just plain guessing on an amount. Every family is different so the best way to determine how much insurance you need is to conduct an individual needs analysis. Needs usually fall into three categories:

1. Income Replacement Including Debt Repayment - Help maintain a dependant's current standard of living which can include funds to apply toward bills that are outstanding at the time of the insured's death, such as daily living expenses, mortgages, taxes, auto loans, and leases, credit card debt, personal loans, student loans, and small business loans.
2. Family Financial Goals - Death benefit proceeds help your loved ones reach financial goals including future college costs, supplements a surviving spouse's current or future retirement income and savings, leaving a legacy, business succession planning (business debt, partner buyout, stock redemption, etc.)
3. Final Expenses and Estate Settlement Costs - Proceeds help prevent the insured's heirs from using their inheritance, personal income, or savings for estate costs, including funeral and burial costs, federal estate taxes, state estate taxes, probate costs, attorney's fees, executor's fees.

There are online calculators that can help you run the actual analysis and determine how much you need.

Question 3 - What type of life insurance do I need?

There are three major types of life insurance (Whole Life, Universal Life, and Term Life). Life Insurance in general has gotten to be fairly reasonably priced. Term Insurance has gotten extreme cheap based on competition amongst life insurance carriers and rising life expectancies. Whole Life and Universal Life are considered permanent insurance and is insurance that will last the rest of your life. Some of the features they can offer include flexibility, tax advantages, and guaranteed income. However you have to consider the fact that they are more costly than a term policy.

A lot of times it makes sense to cover a big chunk of your insurance needs through term insurance, but have a small permanent policy to take advantage of the benefits that they offer.

Is Your Life Policy Keeping Up with Your Life? Even if you currently have a life insurance policy you may want to have a policy review to ensure your life insurance is up-to-date. Your current coverage may not be enough if:

• You added a new member to the family
• You recently made a big purchase (especially a new house)
• You changed jobs or received a promotion
• You recently got married
• You started or continue to grow a small business
• You have children in college
• You have an elderly parent who is now dependent on you
• You recently retired and want to plan your estate

If you would like to discuss whether a new policy makes sense for you or if your current policy is providing you with the appropriate amount of coverage, I am happy to talk with you.

As a wrestler, Gardner competed in the 286-pound class when he won Olympic gold in 2000, then the Olympic bronze in 2004. Last year, he weighed in at 474 pounds as a contestant on NBC's "The Biggest Loser." He left the show early after dropping nearly 200 pounds. It from this more recent brush wiith "fame" that people know of Rulon Gardner.  I remember watching him triumph in the 2000 Olympic games beating the

previously undefeated Russian Alexander Karelin.

I was lucky enough to meet Rulon in March 2006 at the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio.

Unfortunately Rulon has some hard times and has had to declare bankruptcy, as per a recent USA Today articleUSA Today article. He passed up on some big paydays from the WWE and from Pride (an MMA organization). It goes to show that bankruptcy can happen to anyone if proper planning is not established. I am confident Rulon will bounce back. Not only is he a gold medalist but he survived a couple of days buried in avalanche as well as a plane crash in a lake.