This article is sponsored by Haven Life Insurance Agency.
Last September, my now-husband, Peter, and I were…anxious, to say the least. We were in the throes of planning for our upcoming wedding in November, and at that point only had the last, most stressful pieces of the puzzle left: putting together the seating chart, confirming logistics and transportation, and, of course, making sure we had enough set aside for all of our final vendor payments (not to mention generous tips for vendors and venue staff).
Anyone who has planned a wedding will tell you that, in the months leading up to the big day, other “regular” life planning takes a back seat. Life doesn’t pause right when you get married, of course. But for me personally, spending much of my free time fielding questions with parents, relatives, vendors, and wedding party members meant I never felt like dealing with other life admin tasks, no matter how pressing.
Plus, that September meant another big event was upon us: Peter was turning 30!
Major milestones always push me to pause and reflect on my life. I view getting older as a privilege, not a burden. And with every passing year, I’ve realized that being “young” is relative. 30 is an age I’ve always associated with finally feeling “grown-up,” but in the big picture of most of our lives, 30 is very young. Peter doesn’t seem older to me now than he did when we met in our mid-twenties, and I’m grateful that most signs point to us having many years of life ahead of us.
But I’m also a very practical person. Between Peter turning 30 and us getting married, we had a lot of reflecting and planning to do, and not a ton of free time to do it. We needed to sort out health insurance, finalize combining our finances (a process we’d started months earlier), and other practical aspects of our futures together.
We’d been living together for a few years, but we knew the world was going to start seeing us differently the minute we got married. From an emotional standpoint, I don’t think marriage is strictly necessary for pledging devotion to your partner. I always wanted to get married and have a somewhat “traditional” wedding reception, but I get why that doesn’t appeal to everyone. But for me, the idea of getting married is romantic because of the practical and legal aspect of it. You’re saying “this is the person I’m building the rest of my life with,” and for better or worse, the world recognizes you as more of an official team (even if you do eschew a name change and a white dress, like I did).
We also started to realize that, just like I’ve always thought the age of 30 carries a significant weight to it, the world would start seeing Peter differently when he left his twenties behind. Turning 30 still invites all sorts of existential crises (I’m not saying Peter had a mini breakdown after we went out with all our friends on his birthday, but I’m not not saying that). It’s obvious you’re not getting any younger when you don’t fit into the same decade category as you did the day before.
And the rest of the world knows this, too. Peter and I had been putting off buying life insurance for a while at this point. We knew it was something we both needed to protect each other’s financial well-being, even though we still felt so young. But as we were sorting out the practical needs in our lives, we had to face the facts: we were building a life together, and one that didn’t plan for one of us suddenly not being in the picture. We are two independent people whose lives vastly depend on one another; it’s painful to think about the new reality either of us would face should anything ever happen to the other. Getting married is an ordinary choice, but there’s a reason it feels so significant on an individual level.
Getting life insurance means that, should one of us pass away before our time, whoever is left behind would have a financial safety net — a payout from a life insurance policy could help pay for bills such as rent, mortgage payments, or other day-to-day expenses. We’re lucky that we manage to live well below our means, but we can’t deny the financial blow that would occur if anything happened to either of us. The longer we put off getting life insurance, the more we were risking the future of our partner. (Plus, coverage on a new life insurance plan is typically more affordable the younger and healthier you are — so Peter applying before turning 30 could have saved us a little bit on his monthly payments.)
If you’ve been putting off getting life insurance, too, rest assured that it’s a simplified process thanks to Haven Life , an innovative life insurance agency backed and wholly owned by MasMutual. Haven Life has modernized the process of buying term life insurance, and they have thousands of positive customer reviews to prove it. Their easy online application process may have you approved for a policy in as little as 20 minutes, so there’s no reason to keep procrastinating — especially if you, like us, have loved ones who depend on you.
Haven Life’s rates for term life insurance are super affordable, especially if you apply sooner rather than later in your life — a 30-year, $500,000 Haven Term policy, issued by MassMutual, for a healthy 30-year-old woman is $27.40 per month. For many of us in our late twenties or early thirties, a 30-year term length is a good choice as a financial safety net — it could last until many people’s mortgages are paid in full, the kids (if you decide to have them) are adults, and you and your partner are near retirement. And when it comes to selecting coverage, most people need a coverage amount that’s 5 to 10 times their annual income. You may qualify for up to $3 million in term life insurance coverage, subject to age limitations. Calculate your needs and apply online today.
Getting term life insurance means you’ll live with the reassurance that your loved ones will have a financial safety net if something happens to you during the coverage term of your policy. It’s one of the best money moves you can make in your adult life, and there’s no reason to put it off.
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Haven Term is a Term Life Insurance Policy (DTC and ICC17DTC in certain states, including NC) issued by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), Springfield, MA 01111-0001 and offered exclusively through Haven Life Insurance Agency, LLC. Policy and rider form numbers and features may vary by state and may not be available in all states. In NY, Haven Term is DTC-NY. In CA, Haven Term is DTC-CA. Our Agency license number in California is OK71922 and in Arkansas, 100139527.
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