If you currently have life insurance, keep in mind that as life changes so does your need for protection. Review your life insurance needs every few years. Any of the changes listed below should prompt you to sit down with your insurance agent or  financial advisor to make sure your insurance plan is still appropriate:

• You have recently married or divorced.
• A child or grandchild has been born or adopted.
• Your health or your spouse’s health has deteriorated.
• You have begun to provide care or financial help to a parent.
• A child requires assistance or long-term care.
• You have recently purchased a home.
• You are planning for a child’s or a grandchild’s education, or he or she is about to enter school or college.
• You or your spouse is concerned about retirement income.
• You or your spouse has recently been promoted.
• You have refinanced your home mortgage in the past six months.
• You or your spouse has received an inheritance.
  

Increasing Coverage: Replace Or Add?
You can trade or replace an existing policy, but switching policies within the same company or switching from one company to another is not something to be considered lightly. The new policy will incur new start-up costs and may have new surrender (early withdrawal) charges, and there is normally a new "contestability period" during which statements in the application can be contested and the insurer may cancel the policy and refuse to pay death benefits. If you want to increase your total life insurance, it is often better to keep your old policy and simply add a new one.

Suppose, for example, that you currently have $250,000 worth of life insurance and your new objective is to have $500,000. It may be better to keep the existing $250,000 policy and buy a second $250,000 policy to total $500,000. Your existing policy premiums will generally be less  than those for the new policy because you bought it when you were younger, and you won’t lose any existing cash value. Be sure to ask your insurance professional or financial advisor about the best alternative for your specific situation.