Homeowners insurance helps protect your home and the belongings inside it if they’re damaged or destroyed by events like fires, lightning, hail or theft. It also includes liability protection if someone is injured on your property or if you accidentally damage someone else’s property.

Auto insurance helps pay to repair or replace your vehicle after an accident, theft or other covered damage. If you’re responsible for an accident, it offsets the cost of medical bills, legal fees or damages. Without the right coverage, one major accident or disaster could seriously slow down your path to building wealth.

With homeowners insurance, your policy should cover the full cost to rebuild your home at today’s construction prices, not what the home could sell for on the market. It also needs to include enough personal property coverage to replace the belongings inside your home if they’re damaged or stolen. And in case someone is injured on your property, Ramsey recommends $300,000–500,000 in liability coverage.

For auto insurance, make sure your coverage can repair or replace your vehicle if it’s damaged or totaled. And when it comes to liability protection, Ramsey recommends at least $500,000, if possible, to better protect your finances from lawsuits.

Many households spend around $150–200 a month per car on car insurance, whereas homeowners can spend anywhere from $40–400 a month. Your actual cost will depend on things like location, driving history, and coverage levels. See our guide on the average cost of car insurance and homeowners insurance to learn more.

If anyone depends on your income, you need life insurance right now. But you also need the right kind of life insurance. Policies that try to combine insurance and investing (like whole life) come with high costs and bad returns. Term life insurance is simple, affordable, and does the only thing life insurance is supposed to—replace your income if you die.

We recommend getting a 15–20-year term life policy worth 10–12 times your annual income. And since term life is way more affordable than whole life, you can invest the extra money you’ll save in good growth stock mutual funds that yield way better returns.

Factors like health, age, gender, policy length and policy size play a role in the cost of term life. For example, a healthy 30–40-year-old man might pay about $40–60 per month for a 20-year, $1 million policy, while a woman the same age might pay around $30–50 per month for the same coverage. Check out our article on the average price of term life insurance by age to learn more.

Health insurance helps pay for the often-expensive costs of medical care—hospital visits, surgeries, emergency room stays, prescription drugs, all kinds of things. No one’s  immune to serious medical situations, and care without coverage is crazy expensive—so everyone needs this.

The right plan depends on how much risk you can afford to take on. Most health insurance companies offer an 80/20 Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan. That means after you pay the deductible, the insurance company will cover 80% of the costs and you’ll pay 20%. But many companies also offer a 70/30 plan. That makes you responsible for more risk but lowers your premium. And again—with a big emergency fund, that’s no problem.

Choosing a higher deductible can lower your premium (yes!), but only do that once you’ve built up a fully funded emergency fund that can handle it. If you and your spouse are healthy and don’t expect to regularly use medical services, a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) can save you money on premiums too. These plans come with a Health Savings Account (HSA) that offers benefits like tax-free contributions, tax-free growth, and tax-free withdrawals for medical expenses.

If you can get insured through your employer (usually the cheapest option), the average cost is $111 per month for individual coverage and $509 for family coverage. If you can’t, the average cost is about $456 per month for individuals and $1,483 for families, depending on your age, location and plan. Check out our article on the average cost of health insurance for more info.

Long-term care insurance covers costs related to nursing home care, assisted living facilities, or caretakers coming to your house. When you’re 60, you need a policy in place. Before then, it’s not worth it.

For traditional long-term care policies, you pay an annual premium for a set amount of coverage. You choose how long the term of your coverage will go (often 2 to 3 years) and how much money you’ll get. You’ll want something in the neighborhood of $150,000–300,000.

Hybrid policies combine life insurance with long-term care. You can access the death benefit while you’re alive to cover long-term care costs. And if you end up not needing care, your heirs get the full payout. If your health disqualifies you for traditional LTC, hybrid’s an option, but we don’t usually recommend them due to the higher cost.

Long-term care insurance costs vary based on your age, health and coverage. For example, the average 60-year-old man pays about $1,200 per year, while a 60-year-old woman pays about $1,960 for a policy covering around $165,000 in care. Couples often get discounts, with the average combined policy costing about $2,550 per year. Buying coverage around age 60 usually keeps premiums more affordable. Check out our article on the average costs for long-term care for more.

Almost every adult should have a will, especially if you’re married, have kids, own a home, or have money or belongings you want to pass on. It’s one of the best ways to say “I love you” to your family. It keeps the state from deciding who gets your stuff, and protects the people you care about from wasted stress, money and drama.

For most people, a simple online will is the best choice. It covers the basics—like deciding who gets your assets, naming guardians for your kids, and appointing an executor to carry out your wishes.

You may want to work with an attorney if your situation is more complex—like owning property in multiple states, running a business, having a blended family, special circumstances for your kids, or managing an estate that exceeds $1 million.

An online will still works in most situations, like if you’ve had a simple finalized divorce, have legally adopted children, or you run a side hustle or do contract work without an LLC.

An online will usually costs somewhere in the ballpark of $100–300, while an attorney-built will could cost anywhere from $300–1,000 or more. See our article on the average price of the different types of wills for a deeper dive.

While you’re beating debt and building wealth, cyber criminals are online trying to steal your identity. This could look like taking your personal info to drain bank accounts, using your medical services, taking out loans in your name, or worse. They even target the identities of kids! Identity theft protection helps you recover what was stolen, saving you countless hours, and keeping your financial future on track. But just remember: Recovery services only apply to identity theft that happens after your plan is in place. So getting it now is crucial.

If you’re single, don’t have a ton of assets, and don’t do a lot of online shopping, then a basic individual plan works. Otherwise, a premium plan is the safest way to go. The same goes for families—if you have either a spouse or kids, but have fewer assets and don’t shop online much, a basic plan does the job. But a premium plan adds extra protection if you have more to lose.

Prices for identity theft protection services range from around $7–66 a month. Basic individual plans tend to be the least expensive, and premium family plans generally cost the most. But prices for those features differ widely between companies.