What a Life Insurance Policy Review Actually Covers| Costello Agency, Bangor

Most people buy a life insurance policy, file it away, and don't look at it again for years. That's understandable — but the policy you bought was built around the life you had then, not the life you have now.

A policy review is a straightforward conversation that answers a few questions worth knowing the answers to.

Does the coverage still match your life? Marriages, divorces, new children, grandchildren, a new home, a new business, a mortgage paid down or paid off — each of these changes what your coverage is actually protecting. A policy sized for your life ten years ago may be too small for today, or in some cases larger than you still need.

Are the beneficiaries right? This is the most common issue a review turns up, and the easiest to fix. People move, families change, and beneficiary designations quietly go out of date. Confirming that the right people are named — and that no one is missing — takes minutes and matters enormously.

Do you understand what you own? Policies come in different types, and many people can't say with confidence which kind they have, what it does over time, or when it might change. A review puts that in plain language, using your actual policy, so you know what's in the drawer.

Has anything changed that's worth discussing? A review doesn't automatically mean changing anything. Often the answer is that the policy you have is doing its job, and the review simply confirms it. When something does deserve attention, you'll know what it is and can decide what to do about it — on your timeline, not anyone else's.

John Costello of the Costello Agency in Bangor helps Maine families and business owners walk through exactly these questions. If it's been more than a couple of years since you looked at your policy — or if you're not entirely sure what you'd find if you did — a review is a sensible place to start.