Why should you get (and pay for) extra life insurance when you have it at work? Here are three reasons.
First, you might be paying too much. Yes, group insurance isn’t necessarily less expensive than the individual. Think about it. Group insurance is open to the employees of the company. That is a lot of people and some of those people aren’t healthy. So the premium has to cover the risk of both the healthy people..and the not-so-healthy people. If you are one of the healthy ones (or younger ones) you are very possibly paying too much. This dynamic does change if the company is paying a large portion of your coverage. However, the second and third points still stand.
Second, you may not work there forever and the next place might not have life insurance. Now you lock in a rate at an older age instead of the younger age. In the long run you could end up paying more by going solely with company coverage.
Third, your health might not be as good when you leave there. People develop diabetes. They develop lower back issues. They develop high blood pressure. As people get older those waistlines get bigger and the cholesterol levels go up. All those things raise your premium or can eventually make you uninsurable. So, again, in the long run you could pay more and/or end up uninsurable.
Corporations large and small have benefits to attract and retain great employees. Some of these benefits are solid, cost-effective solutions for people. Some are fluff to make you think you are getting something for nothing. I don’t know what your life coverage is at work. It could be great. It might not. Ask your HR person for details on your health or life coverage. I can help you understand those benefits, price customized options for you, and then you can decide if different coverage makes more sense for you.