As a life insurance agent, I’m constantly telling others why they need insurance.

How about this for a twist?

Here’s why life insurance is important to me and my family, and how much we own.

Why We Need Life Insurance for My “Income-less” Wife

My wife works part-time, just one day a week in fact. We have two children, ages 2 and 4, and one on the way. We own a home in San Diego with a 30 year mortgage. We’ve made it a priority for her to stay home with the kids, while I work full-time, something very important to us.

While my wife doesn’t earn much, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need life insurance on her. I currently have $350,000 of coverage on her.

If something were to happen to her, God forbid, I know our financial future is still secure. With the proceeds from her life insurance policy, I would have the necessary funds to help pay for daycare, housekeeping, and so on.

You can’t even begin to measure all the things all the ways my wife is irreplaceable to our family, as mother, soccer coach, errand runner, and everything she does at the house, so there’s no way to put an exact dollar amount on what someone’s life is worth, but I do know my family and I would be a hundred times better off with $350,000 in the bank than without it.

How Much Coverage Agent Chris Huntley Has… and Why

As for insurance on my life, I have 4 policies: (A $500,000, 10 year term policy (Banner), a $750,000, 30 year term policy (Genworth), a $100,000 universal life insurance policy, and a 10 year term business policy for $500,000, with my partner as the beneficiary, so she could buy out my wife if I were to pass away unexpectedly.)

There are a few goals I’m trying to achieve with my policies, but the most important is replacing my income. I’m a young man, 32 years old at the time of this writing, and probably have 30 more years of income producing years ahead of me.

These years will be crucial for me to continue earning income to pay down our mortgage, raise our girls, put them through college, and continue putting away money for retirement.

Imagine if my income were lost.

That’s why I have life insurance. I know that if I don’t come home one day, my wife will continue to be able to pay the bills, raise our children without having to work full-time (something important to us), or end up moving in with her parents.

If you’re wondering how much life insurance you should have on your life use this calculator on our site, or I would recommend a minimum of 5X your annual income, and if affordable, 10X is even better.  This depends on your age.  If you’re in your 30’s you can actually qualify for up to 30 to 40X your income.

… And without revealing my exact income I make, let’s just say the $1.85 Million on my life would replace my income for many, many, many years, which makes me feel great!

I don’t always write such personal articles, but am today in honor of the Life Insurance Movement, orchestrated by Jeff Rose, a fellow life insurance agent and CFP. Today, Aug. 22, 2012, hundreds of other bloggers are writing about why life insurance is important to them.

Another use for life insurance? As a sleeping pill.

I don’t know what it is about my house, but it makes a lot of noises. We’ve never had a break-in, and own a shotgun for defense, but I’m still a very light sleeper, and often wake up at the tiniest of noises. And with God as my witness, I do occasionally think about what would happen if the worst were to happen in my home, and it helps me to know if I were to die defending my family, they would be protected with life insurance.

If you’re on the fence about buying life insurance, I suggest you at least consider buying a small policy. How much better off would your family or business be with $100,000 upon your death? You can get started with the process with a quick quote on the right or by calling 877-996-9383.