Americans Hanging on to Life Insurance despite Recession

A recent survey finds that despite considerable economic pressures, relatively few Americans are giving up their life insurance policies.

The latest version of the First Command Financial Behaviors Index finds that among consumers who made changes to their policies, 42 percent actually increased their coverage.

In contrast, 29 percent decreased their coverage while only 17 percent eliminated their coverage outright. Still, fewer Americans appear to be purchasing new policies in light of the current economy, with the index reporting a 23 percent sales decline in the first half of the year.

"We are encouraged and relieved to see that middle-class consumers are not reacting to the economic turmoil by sacrificing their life insurance coverage," said First Command CEO Scott Spiker.

In other findings, the index found that 3 percent of workers said their employers had made changes to their premiums, mostly decreasing coverage.

Also, 34 percent in the survey said they felt extremely or very uncomfortable with their existing coverage, which was actually an improvement over the 40 percent who expressed such sentiments in the index at this time last year.

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