Do I need life insurance if I am single?

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You might not need life insurance if you remain single without any dependents, but single people shouldn't automatically dismiss the idea of life insurance.

Obviously, if you're a single parent, life insurance is important, especially if the child's other parent died or is otherwise unable to provide financially. Life insurance proceeds can help pay for college and other critical expenses.

An important question to ask yourself is who might suffer financially if you died and you were unable to provide support. That could be any family member to whom you provide financial assistance, such as a parent or sibling. You might also consider life insurance to cover funeral and other final expenses, so loved ones aren't burdened with those when you die.

Life insurance is also a good idea if you have a cosigner on a mortgage or other loan. If you died and still owed money on the loans, the co-signer would be stuck with continuing the payments. To avoid the situation, purchase enough life insurance to cover your debts, and name the co-signer as the beneficiary. Term life insurance, which provides coverage for a certain period of time, is inexpensive and would work well in this scenario. Purchase a term that matches the length of outstanding loans.

Finally, life changes, and although you may see no need for life insurance now, you may end up married with children later. You'll get much better rates if you buy coverage while you're young and healthy. Rates increase as you age and as your health deteriorates.

Can't afford life insurance? Term life is inexpensive for young people, and most policies allow you to convert a portion or all of it to permanent life insurance. Get life insurance quotes and talk to a life insurance agent about which products would work best to suit your needs.

For more, see "5 reasons to get life insurance if you're single."