Since life insurance is such an important investment, it is imperative that one conduct reviews of his or her policies and make adjustments as needed. As a general rule, people are encouraged to conduct a review of their policies at least once a year. Keeping such a schedule allows one to perform regular reviews of policies without going overboard (doing monthly reviews, for example, is unnecessary, as there usually aren’t major life changes on a month to month basis). Usually, people only need to schedule additional meetings with their financial advisors to review life insurance policies if unexpected events arise, such as the sudden death of a family member. When it comes to actually making changes to policies, these are usually done to accommodate changes to one’s life or the lives of one’s family members. Some events, such as getting married or having a child, will require creating new policies or completely restructuring existing ones in order to ensure that all family members receive the proper amount of coverage. Others, such as retirement or paying for a college education, may involve increasing or decreasing the amount of coverage one is receiving to deal with new life needs. Many of these situations are predictable, so one would naturally want to plan ahead for these situations, and make sure that appropriate policies are set in place before they happen. One thing that everyone needs to consider with their policies, in addition to addressing the needs of any family members left behind, is the issue of debt. All forms of debt still have to be paid off of the person in question dies. Paying these expenses, especially in the case of mortgages and other large sums of debt, can result in large financial burdens for surviving spouses and children. Therefore, one must ensure that his or her policy adequately covers any outstanding debts. Likewise, if such debts are paid off, a person can consider making reductions to the amount of coverage he or she receives.