LIMRA reports 50-year low in insurance ownership

The Trends in Life Insurance Ownership study, conducted every six years by LIMRA, found that:

• Only 44 percent of U.S. households have individual life insurance.
• Thirty-five million households have no life insurance coverage, up 8 percent from 2004.
• Eleven million households with children under age 18 have no coverage.
• More than 40 percent of Americans say a major reason they have not bought more life insurance is because they have other financial priorities right now, such as paying off debt or saving for retirement.
• Four in 10 households with children under 18 say they would have immediate trouble meeting everyday living expenses if the primary breadwinner died today.
• Twenty-four percent of households with children under 18 want to speak with a financial professional about their life insurance needs.
• Twenty-five percent of all households plan to buy life insurance in the next year.
• One in 4 middle-market households admit they don’t know how to obtain or reach their financial goals, including buying life insurance.
• Almost 8 in 10 U.S. households currently do not have a personal life insurance agent or broker to turn to and most of them say they never did.

Source: LIMRA