Life insurance for teachers has become an industry of its own. More companies are creating life insurance policies designed to meet the needs of educators and their administration.
Do teachers get life insurance? In general, public school teachers receive a compensation package. Often included are options for life insurance policies in addition to the salary and benefits offered. The amount of the life insurance policy ranges from $10,000 to $50,000 of coverage in most instances.
Securing enough life insurance coverage requires knowing two things. One is where to get the best deals. The other is knowing how much is enough.
Sources of Security
Teachers have a number of options to consider when choosing a life insurance policy and provider. When state budgets allow, public schools will provide a small amount of coverage that the teacher can bump up by paying a monthly premium. In most cases, the cost can be withheld from the teacher’s paycheck in the same manner as health insurance.
School districts obtain life insurance policies of this nature through a group rate. This keeps the per-person premiums much lower than individual plans. These lower costs make it easier for the school districts to offer their teachers better compensation packages.
Teacher’s Union
A life insurance policy as part of the teacher’s employment benefits will depend on where they work. Those school districts that do offer life insurance policies generally only provide up to $50,000 in coverage. As members of the National Education Association (NEA) Union, teachers can obtain an additional $100,000 life insurance policy.
In addition to the national union, the NEA, teachers can join the American Federation of Teachers. They can also join their state union if they so choose. Both national and state-level teacher’s unions provide benefits to their members, including discounted rates for life insurance.
Out of Pocket
Teachers can get life insurance on their own through any number of trustworthy insurance providers. One such company has made it a priority to provide quality service to those who serve our communities. National Teacher Associates (NTA) Life Insurance Company offers policies designed to meet the needs of teachers, first responders, and other government employees.
Companies like NTA Life Insurance can provide supplemental health insurance as well as life insurance when your school district doesn’t provide enough. They, like many others, offer a wide range of term and whole life policies to meet your needs. By obtaining a life insurance policy through NTA Life, the policy follows you wherever your teaching career takes you.
How Much is Enough
Life insurance is intended to clear up any of your outstanding debt such as a mortgage or car loan. Money from a life insurance policy is usually budgeted to cover the cost of any accrued medical bills or hospice care expenses. Oftentimes, life insurance money will be put towards the funeral services and celebration of life events for the deceased.
If you’re the breadwinner of the family, your life insurance policy will need to be enough to support those you left behind. A spouse and children will be devastated by the loss of their loved one. Not having enough money to stay afloat as they readjust to life without you could be even more damaging to their recovery.
How much life insurance you need to get depends on several factors including:
- Relationship status
- Are you married, single, cohabitating, etc?
- Do you have any dependents such as children, elderly parents you care for, or pets that will need assistance?
- Age
- How old you are at the time of purchasing an insurance policy affects what type of policies are available to you.
- Younger customers will have a greater selection to choose from at a much lower price than older clients.
- Personal Debt
- Are you still paying on your student loans?
- Do you owe money to credit cards, car loans, or a mortgage company?
Every teacher’s situation is different so it’s not easy to give a concrete answer as to how much life insurance will be enough. A young and single teacher doesn’t need nearly as much as an older married one with several children still at home. In either case, aiming for somewhere between 10-20 times your annual salary is a safe rough estimate.
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A Quick Lesson on Policies
Life insurance policies are available in several different forms. The first group is temporary life insurance policies. These are commonly referred to as term life insurance because they are only good for a set amount of time. Most insurance providers offer term life policies in 10-year, 20-year, and 30-year increments.
Term life insurance policy premiums will typically increase over time as the expiration date of the policy approaches. Level-term life insurance policies are available as well. These have premiums that remain constant throughout the life of the policy but will jump significantly in price if a renewal is needed.
Permanent life insurance policies are available in 3 forms: Whole Life, Universal Life, and Variable Universal Life. This type of life insurance takes on more of a gamble than your guaranteed term life policies. While the whole life policy has a set rate of growth, the other two play the stock market to perform.
Universal life insurance policies can be a fixed rate like whole life is or it can take a chance on big gains by playing the odds of the market. This also means the value of the policy can take a hit if the market is doing poorly. Because of this higher risk investment, the premiums of universal policies are lower than the whole life.
Variable Universal life insurance also uses the stock market to increase its value. Gains and losses of the policy’s value are directly affected by the health of the stock market. However, the money of Variable Universal is put into mutual funds making it a bit safer than the Universal policy.
Related Questions
How much do teachers pay out of pocket for life insurance policies?
Life insurance companies base the amount of the policy’s monthly premium on personal circumstances that are unique to the policyholder. These factors influence the risk of dying and thus affect the cost of the insurance. These items include:
- Age of the policyholder
- Gender
- Medical history of the policy holder’s family
- Smoking and drinking habits
- Personal medical history
- Current health status
- Lifestyle and activities
- Profession
- Obesity
What is the average salary for public school teachers in the United States?
A teacher’s compensation package will include the standard offerings of health insurance for you and your family. It will provide the allotted amount of vacation and sick days based on tenure. The salary portion of a teacher’s pay will vary greatly by school district, city, and state.
Average Teacher’s Salary in the United States in 2020
*listed in descending order
| 1. New York | $87,500 |
| 2. California | $84,700 |
| 3. Massachusetts | $83,600 |
| 4. Washington DC | $79,350 |
| 5. Connecticut | $78,200 |
| 6. New Jersey | $76,400 |
| 7. Maryland | $73,400 |
| 8. Washington | $73,000 |
| 9. Alaska | $70,900 |
| 10. Pennsylvania | $70,300 |
| 11. Illinois | $68,000 |
| 12. Oregon | $67,700 |
| 13. Rhode Island | $67,000 |
| 14. Hawaii | $65,400 |
| 15. Delaware | $64,900 |
| 16. Michigan | $62,200 |
| 17. Vermont | $61,000 |
| 18. Georgia | $60,600 |
| 19. New Hampshire | $60,000 |
| 20. Ohio | $59,700 |
| 21. Wisconsin | $59,200 |
| 22. Wyoming | $59,000 |
| 23. Iowa | $58,900 |
| 24. Minnesota | $58,700 |
| 25. Colorado | $57,300 |
| 26. Texas | $57,100 |
| 27. Nevada | $56,700 |
| 28. Nebraska | $55,300 |
| 29. Maine | $55,000 |
| 30. North Carolina | $54,700 |
| 31. New Mexico | $54,300 |
| 32. Alabama | $54,100 |
| 33. Oklahoma | $54,000 |
| 34. Virginia | $53,900 |
| 35. Kentucky | $53,900 |
| 36. Idaho | $52,900 |
| 37. Utah | $52,800 |
| 38. Kansas | $52,600 |
| 39. North Dakota | $52,300 |
| 40. Montana | $52,100 |
| 41. Tennessee | $51,900 |
| 42. Indiana | $51,500 |
| 43. South Carolina | $51,500 |
| 44. Missouri | $50,800 |
| 45. Arizona | $50,400 |
| 46. West Virginia | $50,200 |
| 47. Louisiana | $50,200 |
| 48. Arkansas | $49,800 |
| 49. South Dakota | $49,200 |
| 50. Florida | $48,800 |
| 51. Mississippi | $45,200 |
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Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.
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