Most Americans need life insurance. To figure out if you need life insurance, you need to think through the worst-case scenario. If you died tomorrow, how would your loved ones fare financially? Would they have the money to pay for your final expenses (e.g., funeral costs, medical bills, taxes, debts, lawyers' fees, etc.)? Would they be able to meet ongoing living expenses like the rent or mortgage, food, clothing, transportation costs, healthcare, etc? What about long-range financial goals? Without your contribution to the household, would your surviving spouse be able to save enough money to put the kids through college or retire comfortably?

The truth is, it's always a struggle when you lose someone you love. But your emotional struggles don't need to be compounded by financial difficulties. Life insurance helps make sure that the people you care about will be provided for financially, even if you're not there to care for them yourself.

Life insurance proceeds can help pay immediate expenses including uncovered medical costs, funeral expenses, final estate settlement costs, taxes and other lump-sum obligations such as outstanding debts and mortgage balances. They can also help your family cover future financial obligations like everyday living expenses, money for college or your spouse's retirement, and so much more.

But how do you know if you need $100,000, $500,000, $1 million or more? The most common way to determine your life insurance needs is by conducting what's called a Capital Needs Analysis.

Here's how it works. Start by evaluating your family's needs. Gather all of your personal financial information and estimate what your each of your family members would need to meet current and future financial obligations. Then tally up all of the resources that your surviving family members could draw upon to support themselves. The difference between their needs and the resources in place to meet those needs is your need for additional life insurance (see diagram below).

This may look simple enough, but calculating one's life insurance needs can actually get pretty complicated. To make it easy for you to get a general sense of your needs, check out our life insurance needs calculator. It'll walk you through the process and provide you with an estimate of your insurance needs in a matter of minutes

In the event of a disabling illness or injury, a disability income plan provides monthly income benefits directly to you to help pay your bills, mortgage payment, as well as everyday living expenses.

Four Groups Need Paycheck Protection. Are You in One of Them? Are you protecting your most valuable asset? Your most valuable asset isn't tangible. It's not your home, your car or your retirement savings — it is your paycheck.

Just how valuable is your paycheck? To find out, multiply your annual earnings by the years until retirement. By doing this simple equation, you can quickly see that your income far exceeds the worth of all your other assets combined.

The only way to protect your paycheck and your future is with disability insurance. Paycheck protection is of paramount importance to the following four key groups.

1. Baby Boomers – This group runs a high risk by earning the highest income and having the greatest debt load. Baby boomers could face financial ruin if an injury or illness takes them out of the workforce. The need for this group to insure their earnings is at an all-time high as 82 million boomers enter middle age. If you're a boomer, imagine how devastating it would be to work hard all your life and then lose everything just because you didn't have disability insurance.
2. The Sandwich Generation – This generation is defined by supporting both children and elderly parents. Typically already pinched financially, incomes and savings can be depleted if a disability stops the breadwinner from earning a paycheck. The wise move is to protect yourself and your family with disability insurance.
3. Single Parents and Divorcees – With limited incomes and large expenses, many newly single parents and divorcees don't have a backup plan to protect their earnings. This group's paychecks are important because of the single-incomes and no other earner for backup. As a single earner, it is hard to create enough savings to cushion for an injury or an illness. This is where paycheck protection comes in.
4. Business Owners and Self-Employed Individuals – Business owners and the self-employed have many advantages. However, one thing this group doesn't have is employer-sponsored group disability coverage. When many venture out on their own, they don't replace that lost coverage, which is a big risk. Because incomes and earning patterns for the self-employed are already unpredictable, their paychecks need protection, especially if an injury or illness occurs.

Do you fall into one of the above categories? If you do, get disability paycheck protection now. You must take action to protect your income and your future.