At least once a year, plus after any major life event. That's the short answer. But 40% of policyholders never review their coverage after buying it (LIMRA, 2024). If that sounds familiar, here's how to fix it with a simple annual habit.
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Your life changes gradually. A raise here, a new car loan there, a kid starting college next fall. None of these feel like a dramatic shift in the moment, but they add up. An annual life insurance review catches the drift before your coverage falls out of sync with your actual financial picture.
Pick a date that's easy to remember. Your birthday, the new year, the anniversary of when you bought the policy. The specific date doesn't matter. What matters is that you do it consistently, every single year. And if you set a life insurance review reminder, you don't even have to remember the date yourself.
Not every review needs to be a two-hour project. Most years, a 15-minute quick check is enough. Every 3 to 5 years, do a deeper dive.
The 3-to-5-year deep review is where most people discover they're underinsured. Income grows, mortgages get refinanced, families expand. A quick check flags obvious issues, but the deep review catches the structural ones.
An annual schedule is your safety net, but certain events should trigger an immediate review. Getting married, having a baby, buying a house, changing jobs, getting divorced, or losing a spouse all change what your policy needs to cover.
We have a full breakdown of life events that trigger a life insurance review if you want the complete list. The short version: if your financial obligations or dependents changed, your coverage probably needs to change too.
LIMRA's research found that 40% of life insurance policyholders have never reviewed their coverage after the initial purchase. Among those who have, many haven't done so in over five years. The result is a gap between what people think they're covered for and what the policy actually pays out.
That gap grows quietly. You don't notice it until someone needs to file a claim. By then, it's too late to fix. An annual review takes less time than most people spend choosing what to watch on a Friday night. The mental load isn't the review itself. It's remembering to do it. That's the part a reminder solves.
At least once a year, plus any time you experience a major life event like marriage, having a child, buying a home, or changing jobs. An annual check keeps your coverage aligned with your current financial picture.
For most people, yes. An annual review catches gradual changes like salary increases, new debts, or shifts in your financial goals. But if something big happens mid-year, don't wait for the calendar. Review your policy right away.
Some financial advisors suggest a deep review every 3 to 5 years, where you reassess the policy type, coverage amount, and beneficiaries from scratch. This is different from an annual quick check. Think of it as a full audit vs. a routine scan.
A quick annual check takes 15 minutes: verify beneficiaries, confirm the coverage amount still makes sense, and make sure premiums are being paid correctly. A deep review means evaluating whether your policy type is still the right fit, comparing rates, and recalculating how much coverage your family actually needs.
Both. Use a fixed annual review as your baseline so nothing slips through the cracks. Then trigger an extra review whenever a major life event changes your financial situation. The annual review catches what you might not think of as a "life event," like gradual income growth or paying off a mortgage.
Set a reminder for the same date each year. BoldRemind will email you when it's time, then keep following up until you mark the task as done. That way the review doesn't quietly disappear from your to-do list the way a single calendar notification would.
Pick a date, set it once, and stop wondering if your coverage is still right. BoldRemind will remind you every year until you say stop.
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