COLUMBIA, S.C., Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Married, single, young, older or in-between--voluntary life insurance plans can help meet coverage needs for every stage in life. "Life insurance is an essential part of a sound financial plan," says Pam Jenkins, director of life products for Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company. "Like other financial needs, life insurance needs can vary during different periods in life."

Celebrate national Life Insurance Awareness Month(1) in September by taking stock of life insurance needs and getting the coverage needed for all stages of life.

Employers can help their employees get the coverage they need by offering voluntary life insurance plans in their company-provided benefits programs. This approach gives employees life insurance choices for their unique needs and situations. For example, each life stage brings its own financial responsibilities--ones that life insurance can help protect:

• Single - Many singles are just beginning their careers and have limited financial obligations. This is a good time to acquire life insurance at the most affordable rates--at a young age and while in good health. For someone who's single again, this is an appropriate time to reassess life insurance needs.
• Married - Married couples usually have increasing financial obligations, such as a home mortgage. They may also be growing in their careers, changing jobs and getting pay raises. These changes provide the opportunity to add or increase cash value life insurance, buy coverage for their spouse or add more term life coverage to address growing financial needs.
• Children - Families experience changes that create their highest financial commitments: buying a larger house, saving for college, advancing in careers and planning for retirement. Families may want to increase their life plan's death benefit, add term life for protection during these high-need years or consider juvenile life insurance for dependent children. They may even choose to borrow against a life plan's cash value, if needed, and repay it later.
• Late career/retirement - The nest is empty, the children are grown and it's time to spoil the grandchildren. In this life stage, financial obligations are decreasing, and a review of life insurance is important. At this point, term life insurance typically ends or becomes too costly. Cash value life insurance continues after retirement, and if coverage needs have decreased, this may be a good time to reduce a cash value life insurance's death benefit or premium.

"Often, people don't think about the lost income from a spouse or family member and their day-to-day living expenses," Jenkins says. "Life insurance can help pay final expenses, such as funeral costs and medical bills. It's also a good way to pay off debt for credit cards, car loans, children's education and mortgages."

(1) Colonial Life is a sponsor of the seventh annual national Life Insurance Awareness Month in September, an industry-wide campaign coordinated by the LIFE Foundation in Washington, D.C., to educate consumers about the benefits of life insurance. Life Insurance Awareness Month was created in response to growing concern about the large number of Americans who lack adequate life insurance protection. Held each September, Life Insurance Awareness Month is an industry-wide effort that is coordinated by the LIFE Foundation.

For more information about Colonial Life's voluntary life insurance plans, call Jenkins at (803) 798-7000 or visit www.ColonialLife.com.

Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company is a market leader in providing insurance benefits for employees and their families through their workplace, along with individual benefits education, advanced yet simple-to-use enrollment technology and quality personal service. Colonial Life offers disability, life and supplemental accident and health insurance policies in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Similar policies, if approved, are underwritten in New York by a Colonial Life affiliate, The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company, Worcester, Mass. Colonial Life is based in Columbia, S.C., and is a subsidiary of Unum Group, one of the world's leading providers of employee benefits. For more information, visit www.ColonialLife.com.

Exclusions and limitations may apply. Benefits may vary by state.

SOURCE Colonial Life