Sound financial planning is more than paying bills on time, saving for retirement , or paying off debts.
 
It’s understanding your financial risks and mitigating those risks, or in other words, “insuring” against unexpected death, damage to or loss of home, auto, etc.
 
And don’t forget disability insurance – since we are prone to do that.
 

A life insurance policy payoff is part of the policy owner's private contract with the insurance company. It should promptly go to the named beneficiaries with no probate court involvement, upon proof of the insured's death. Death benefit payments from a policy owned by the decedent to a named beneficiary are excluded from the probate estate. The proceeds are also excluded from...

More than half of the US population will require some type of long-term care during their lives—nursing home care, home health care, assisted living facility care, or rehabilitation facility care. Nearly 5 million people over age 65 have difficulty carrying out daily living activities. As people age, their need for long-term care rises substantially, as shown in the figure below. More than half of people over age 85 need assistance with one or more of their daily living activities.

The likelihood of having to pay significant out-of-pocket healthcare costs depends on two factors: your health and whether the costs of care are covered by Medicare or private insurance. If you (and your spouse) are healthy, do not need to take maintenance drugs, and do not experience any major illnesses or accidents for the rest of your life, your healthcare costs will be minimal. If you do need some form of healthcare, Medicare and private insurance may provide enough coverage to reduce your out-of pocket expenses to a manageable level. However, it is probably...