The National Association of Insurance Commissioners recommends reviewing your life insurance program every few years to keep it aligned with changes in income and financial needs. Waiting for the policy to expire is not a useful review strategy because important changes can occur long before then.

A major life event is also a reason to review coverage immediately. Events that can change your insurance needs include:

• Marriage or remarriage.
• Divorce or separation.
• Birth or adoption of a child.
• Buying a home or taking on a larger mortgage.
• A major increase or decrease in income.
• Starting or selling a business.
• Becoming financially responsible for another family member.
• Retirement or paying off significant debts.
• Death of a beneficiary or another major estate-planning change.

Start with the financial effect your death would have today. The amount you bought years ago may be too little, more than you now need, or still appropriate.

NAIC consumer guidance suggests considering how much family income you provide, who depends on you financially, how survivors would repay debts, and how long the need for a death benefit is expected to continue.

Potential obligations can include:

• Replacing household income.
• Mortgage or rent obligations.
• Other debts.
• Childcare and household services.
• Education goals.
• Support for a spouse, children, parents, or other dependents.
• Final expenses.
• Business or estate-planning obligations where applicable.

Also consider resources survivors would already have, such as savings, investments, other life insurance, certain employer benefits, and other financial assets. The goal is not simply to choose the largest possible death benefit, but to determine an amount and duration that reasonably match your current needs.

Review all life insurance together rather than analyzing one policy in isolation. Someone can have several policies from different sources, each covering a different portion of the financial need.

Beneficiaries deserve a separate review even if your desired death benefit has not changed. NAIC recommends reviewing beneficiary designations every few years and after major life events.

Confirm:

• The correct primary beneficiary is listed.
• A contingent beneficiary is named when appropriate.
• Multiple-beneficiary percentages are accurate.
• Names and identifying information are current.
• The designation still makes sense after marriages, divorces, births, adoptions, and deaths.
• Arrangements involving minors, trusts, or estate planning still reflect your intentions.

If you own term life insurance, check when the initial term ends. Do not confuse the ability to renew a policy with a guarantee that the premium will remain unchanged.

NAIC guidance notes that many term policies can be renewed after the original term, but premiums may increase with each new term. A policy can also have an age after which renewal is no longer available.

Questions to ask include:

• When does the level term end?
• Can the policy be renewed afterward?
• What could the renewal premium become?
• Is there a maximum renewal age?
• Does the contract contain a conversion privilege, and when does that option expire?

If the financial need is expected to disappear before the term ends, the existing schedule may remain appropriate. If you expect the need to continue considerably longer, waiting until the last moment to evaluate alternatives can reduce your options.

A policy only provides long-term protection if you can maintain it according to the contract. Review what you are paying today and whether future premiums can change.

NAIC consumer guidance recommends asking whether premiums are paid on a set schedule, whether premiums or policy values change over time, and which elements are guaranteed.

Review:

• Current premium.
• Whether the premium is guaranteed.
• Potential future premium changes.
• The effect of missing payments.
• Whether automatic payment information is current.
• Whether maintaining all policies still fits your budget.

Whole life, universal life, variable life, and other cash-value policies require a different review from straightforward level-term insurance.

NAIC recommends understanding how cash values build, how policy values change from year to year, what is guaranteed, and what is not guaranteed. Your insurer can provide current policy statements and, where applicable, illustrations that help show how the contract is performing.

Depending on the contract, review:

• Current death benefit.
• Current cash or account value.
• Guaranteed versus non-guaranteed values.
• Premium requirements needed to maintain coverage.
• Any outstanding policy loans or withdrawals and their contractual effects.
• Surrender provisions if you are considering terminating the policy.

Life insurance contracts can include riders or additional benefits that modify the basic policy. Availability and terminology vary by insurer, product, and state.

Examples may include conversion features, waiver-of-premium benefits, certain accelerated death benefits, or other optional provisions. Do not assume a rider continues forever simply because it appeared on the original policy.

For every rider, check:

• Whether it is still active.
• What triggers the benefit.
• Any age or time restrictions.
• Whether it has a separate cost.
• How using the benefit could affect the remaining policy or death benefit.

Employer-provided group life insurance should be included when calculating how much total coverage you currently have. NAIC consumer guidance specifically recommends factoring workplace group insurance into a life insurance review.

However, do not automatically treat workplace coverage as identical to individually owned insurance. Review the employer plan documents to determine:

• The current death benefit.
• Whether supplemental coverage was elected.
• Who is currently named as beneficiary.
• What portion of the premium you pay.
• What happens if you leave the employer.
• Whether any portability or conversion provisions are available under the plan.

If a significant portion of your family’s protection comes from work, understand what a job change could do to the overall life insurance plan.

A review may reveal that your current policy no longer fits your goals, but that does not automatically mean canceling it and buying a new policy is the best solution.

NAIC advises consumers not to drop an existing life policy and buy another without carefully studying both contracts. The California Department of Insurance provides similar caution because replacement can involve new expenses and changes in contractual protections.

A new policy can differ because:

• You are older than when the original policy was issued.
• Your health may have changed.
• New underwriting can produce different pricing or eligibility.
• An older permanent policy may have accumulated cash value.
• Surrender charges or other costs may apply.
• A new contract can have different contestability, guarantee, rider, and policy provisions.

Consider a hypothetical policyholder who purchased a $500,000 20-year term policy several years ago. Since then, the household has added a child, purchased a larger home, and obtained $150,000 of group life insurance through an employer. These amounts are examples only and are not recommended coverage amounts or national averages.

A useful review would not simply ask whether $650,000 sounds like enough. The policyholder would estimate current income-replacement needs, mortgage and other obligations, education goals, savings, the remaining term on the individual policy, and how dependable the employer benefit is for long-term planning.

The result might support keeping the existing coverage, adding another policy, changing beneficiaries, or making no change at all. The purpose of the review is to identify a mismatch between current needs and current protection rather than automatically generate a new insurance purchase.

• How much death benefit do I currently have across all policies?
• How much coverage would my survivors realistically need today?
• How long will that financial need continue?
• Are my primary and contingent beneficiaries still correct?
• When does each term policy expire?
• Can premiums increase, and can I afford them if they do?
• What parts of my permanent policy are guaranteed?
• What are the current cash values and other policy values?
• Are any riders still useful and active?
• How much of my protection comes from an employer?
• Would modifying or adding coverage make more sense than replacement?
• Does the insurer have my current address, payment information, and beneficiary information?

A life insurance review should answer three basic questions: how much protection your survivors currently need, how well your existing policies meet that need, and whether the coverage is likely to remain appropriate and affordable for as long as you expect to need it. Review the death benefit, policy duration, premiums, beneficiaries, employer insurance, riders, and any cash-value features rather than focusing only on the face amount.

Revisit the plan every few years and after significant life changes. If a gap appears, adding or modifying coverage may be appropriate. If you are considering replacing an existing policy, compare old and new contracts carefully before making an irreversible change. The appropriate decision depends on your financial needs, health, policy terms, affordability, and applicable state rules.

• National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Life Insurance Consumer Resources, accessed August 2026.
• National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Life Insurance: Reviewing Your Policy Important to Securing Your Family’s Future, September 1, 2008.
• National Association of Insurance Commissioners, What Type of Life Insurance Is Right for You?, accessed August 2026.
• California Department of Insurance, Life Insurance Guide, accessed August 2026.