The safety net in your benefits packet: is it actually enough?

It shows up in your benefits packet, it costs little or nothing, and checking the box feels responsible. Employer life insurance is a genuinely good perk. The trouble starts when it quietly becomes the whole plan.

Three catches most people never read

1. It is usually small. The median basic workplace policy is a flat $20,000 or one times salary, per LIMRA. Families tend to need far more than that.
2. It is not portable. Leave, get laid off, or retire, and the coverage typically ends with your badge.
3. Replacing it later costs more. You will be older, and any health change between now and then can raise your rate or complicate approval.

The numbers behind the risk

Among insured Americans, one in four rely only on workplace coverage, and nearly half of workplace-only households say they would struggle financially within six months of losing a wage earner, according to LIMRA. That is the definition of a plan built on a supplement.

The message is not to cancel your work coverage. Keep it, enjoy it, let it be the bonus it was designed to be. The message is to own a policy of your own underneath it, sized to your family, that no employer can take with them.

Wondering where you stand? The Coverage Gap Check takes 60 seconds and shows whether your own policy would cover the difference. Say goodbye to guessing and hello to knowing.