Add “Review Life Insurance Policy” to your Fall To-do or Benefits Enrollment Checklist, CIGNA Recommends

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Checklists, to-do lists, honey-do lists. They all equate to the same thing: Getting an important task done. While Americans are continuing to cut expenses and save money in a recovering economy, CIGNA® (NYSE:CI) suggests everyone, young and more seasoned individuals alike, pay attention to the life insurance options available during their employer’s benefits enrollment period. For many, this enrollment period takes place in the fall.

“For those who already have life insurance, it’s a good idea to periodically review their beneficiary designation, as well as reassess the family’s changing needs”

September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, and for nearly 70 million Americans who don’t have life insurance¹, it’s a good time to add getting life insurance to the list. Life Insurance Awareness Month is a national campaign to educate people about the financial challenges their loved ones could face if they do not have enough life insurance or any at all.

Newbies to Life Insurance

“Life insurance offered through an employer’s benefits package is often a very affordable way of protecting a family’s long-term financial health,” said Diane Russell, assistant vice president, Group Insurance, for CIGNA. “A good place to start is deciding how much protection your family may need.”

While some employers offer life insurance coverage equal to an employee’s salary as part of the employee’s benefit package, family expenses now or in the future may often exceed this amount. Life insurance can help a family cover the cost of many one-time or ongoing expenses, including funeral costs, mortgage payments, household bills, college tuition payments, and can even help to fund a spouse’s retirement. Online tools, such as CIGNA's online life insurance calculator can help people gauge how much insurance may be suggested for their family’s needs. CIGNA also offers additional helpful tips and information in an online toolkit at http://www.cigna.com/liam.

Established Policyholders

“For those who already have life insurance, it’s a good idea to periodically review their beneficiary designation, as well as reassess the family’s changing needs,” said Russell. “Aside from the annual benefit enrollment period, families should review and update a policy after every new life event, such as buying a home, getting an increase or decrease in income, going through a divorce, having a baby or sending a child to college.”

There are many life insurance options available to families. CIGNA offers two group coverage types – term and universal life insurance. Term and universal life insurance policies can help protect against the loss of a wage earner. Universal life insurance can also provide a way to build up funds for life events.

For more tips and information visit CIGNA's “The Value of Life Insurance” webpage. CIGNA’s featured podcast for September, also linked on the webpage, speaks to both life insurance newbies and seasoned policyholders (http://www.cigna.com/podcasts).

About CIGNA

CIGNA (NYSE: CI) is a global health service and financial company dedicated to helping people improve their health, well-being and sense of security. CIGNA Corporation's operating subsidiaries in the United States provide an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy and vision care benefits, as well as group life, accident and disability insurance. CIGNA offers products and services in over 27 countries and jurisdictions and has approximately 60 million customer relationships throughout the world. To learn more about CIGNA, visit www.cigna.com. To sign up for email alerts or an RSS feed of company news, log on to http://newsroom.cigna.com/rss. Also, follow us on Twitter at @cigna, visit CIGNA’s YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/cignatv and listen to CIGNA's podcast series with healthy tips and information at http://www.cigna.com/podcasts or by searching "CIGNA" in iTunes.

"CIGNA," and the "Tree of Life" logo are registered service marks of CIGNA Intellectual Property, Inc., licensed for use by CIGNA Corporation and its operating subsidiaries. All products and services are provided exclusively by such operating subsidiaries and not by CIGNA Corporation. Such operating subsidiaries include Life Insurance Company of North America, CIGNA Life Insurance Company of New York, and Connecticut General Life Insurance Company.

¹ The Life Foundation’s Life Insurance Awareness Month, http://www.lifehappens.org/content/view/774/479/, July 19 , 2010