Life insurance is a plan to protect your family. It’s a good idea to examine your level of coverage periodically to ensure it meets the needs of your loved ones, especially if your family grows or changes.

Take Steps during Open Enrollment

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, a good opportunity to assess your family’s needs. Then, during Open Enrollment from Oct. 18-29, your once-a-year chance to change your benefits, you can implement or revise your plan. 

This year, eligible faculty and staff have a one-time opportunity to enroll in the university's Optional Life Insurance plan or increase their coverage during Open Enrollment without having to provide a health statement of insurability for limited coverage increases.

Under the Optional Life plan, you can choose coverage in flat amounts of $5,000 or $50,000. Or, select salary-based coverage by choosing a multiple of one-to-eight times your annual salary for coverage up to the plan maximum of $1.5 million.

During 2022 Open Enrollment, you don’t have to provide a health statement to:

• Newly enroll in the plan and elect $5,000 or $50,000 flat coverage or the 1x salary plan.

• Increase your current salary-based coverage by one level. For example, if your current enrollment is 2x salary, you may choose 3x salary coverage during Open Enrollment without submitting a health statement.

Learn more about the Optional Life Insurance Plan.

How Much Do I Need?

It’s tough to calculate how much money your family would need without your financial support. Consider this: If you aren’t there to contribute, how will your family pay for:

• Your home and upkeep
• Your child/children’s education
• Your transportation and upkeep
• Your outstanding debts, such as college and credit card loans
• Your family’s standard of living

Why Buy through U-M?

You can purchase life insurance through your employer or privately. The advantages of buying as part of U-M’s benefits during Open Enrollment include cost and convenience. You’ll generally get a better cost when purchasing as part of a collective group, rather than individually. And the payment will be deducted straight from your U-M paycheck each month, so you won’t have to write checks or pay online. 

Keep Your Beneficiary Current

No matter how you purchase life insurance, make sure you keep your beneficiary – the person who will receive the payout from your policy – current. Sometimes, divorce and death mean the people in your life change. Make sure these changes are in your paperwork. This goes for the beneficiaries of your retirement savings plans, as well.