Get into the saving habit early. Money you begin accumulating now will one day help pay for your wedding or the down payment on your first home. You’ll also want to create an emergency fund equal to three to six months worth of basic living expenses. When you consider all the demands on your monthly budget, the thought of setting aside money for long-term savings probably seems quite daunting. Fortunately, you have time on your side and that’s very valuable. The power of compounding will really pay off one day. Just $25 a week set aside over 15 years builds a net egg of more than $31,000, assuming a 6% annual return.

If you haven’t already, you should immediately enroll in your company’s 401(k) retirement savings plan. This will probably be the primary source of your retirement savings, so you should start early. Some companies match employee contributions to these plans, so not participating is like turning down free money.

It may seem counterintuitive that “empty nesters” need life insurance after the kids have left home. But some retirees still have dependents, such as disabled adult children. Many empty nesters also still have financial obligations, such as the mortgage on a home or second home, that could become burdensome if a spouse dies or becomes disabled.

More importantly, if you died today, your spouse could outlive you by 10, 20 or even 30 years. Would your spouse have to make drastic lifestyle changes to make ends meet? Your death could reduce the Social Security benefits your spouse had been counting on. It also could bring on unplanned medical and funeral expenses and other costs. Life insurance coverage can preserve the retirement plan you worked so hard to put in place.

Life insurance also can ensure your estate will be passed on, intact, to your survivors. A policy’s death benefit can help foot the estate tax bill from Uncle Sam. It also can provide a legacy for your children and grandchildren even if you use up most of your assets during your lifetime. For all these reasons, if you’ve been thinking about dropping your coverage, you may want to reconsider.

But what if your retired or nearing retirement and you don’t have life insurance? You may think that you’ll no longer qualify due to your age or health conditions you may have. That’s not necessarily the case. Americans age 60 and older is among the fastest growing markets for life insurance purchases.

Even if you’re considerably older or coping with serious health challenges, there still may be an option for you. Final expense insurance is a form of life insurance that requires little or no underwriting, which means almost anyone can qualify. Policies are available in face amounts typically ranging from several thousands of dollars up to a maximum of $50,000 or $75,000 – much less than a standard life insurance policy. That’s because these policies are only intended to cover final expenses and not longer-range expenses like ongoing living costs or college or retirement funding.

 Final expense insurance typically comes in two varieties. Immediate full benefit policies, which pay the full face value upon your death, are generally available to people with no serious health concerns. Graded benefit policies provide limited benefits during the first few years and are available to people with serious health concerns. These policies can provide the peace of mind of knowing that your survivors won’t struggle to pay for your funeral or be saddled with outstanding medical bills and other debts.

 Long-term care insurance usually takes effect when you cannot perform at least two activities of daily living, such as bathing, eating or dressing. The cost of this insurance rises as you grow older. But if you do not have it and can afford it, you should consider it. The cost of home health care aid, an assisted living facility or a nursing home can quickly deplete your life’s savings. Medicaid, a government program, only kicks in once your assets are significantly depleted, and you may not get exactly the care you want through Medicaid.

 On the other hand, long-term care insurance isn’t right for everyone. If you have substantial assets and won’t be adversely impacted by the cost of long-term care, you won’t need the insurance. Or, if your assets are modest (less than $80,000 if you’re married, or $30,000 if you’re single) it’s probably not cost effective.

Many workers from our parents’ generation could count on a financially secure retirement thanks to a guaranteed lifetime pension from their employers. That’s no longer the case. Nowadays, workers must take responsibility for their own retirement. At this point you should have quite a bit of savings tucked away in a 401(k), and IRA or some other type tax-deferred retirement plan. If not, it’s not too late to get going. Most of these plans have a so-called “catch-up” provision that allows you to contribute extra money to your retirement plan. For example, the $15,500 maximum annual contribution to a 401(k) plan rises to $20,500 once you turn 50.

Make sure your retirement investments are well diversified in a broad mix of stocks and bonds. Many workers unwittingly allow their own company’s stock to take up a dangerously large portion of their retirement accounts. Companies often encourage this by offering their stock for sale to employees at a discount or by using it to match retirement plan contributions. But if you’re receiving a regular paycheck – not to mention health insurance and other benefits – from a company, a great deal of your personal financial security already rides on the fortunes of that firm. Don’t compound that risk by making its stock a large part of your retirement portfolio.

Now that your children are self-supporting, you may feel you no longer need the life insurance policy you bought when they were babies. But if you are like many families, you may have wiped out your savings to put your kids through college. Now you need to begin saving aggressively for retirement. Life insurance can be an important part of a retirement savings program.

At this point you may have 10 or 20 more years of an active working life left. These are likely to be the most productive and highest-earning years of your life. What would happen if you died suddenly? Your spouse, deprived of the benefits of your most productive years, could be forced to drastically cut back on his or her retirement plans. Life insurance proceeds, invested wisely, could provide your spouse a stream of income for several decades.

Life insurance can also ensure your spouse is not saddled with debts if you should die prematurely. In the past, a family’s home mortgage was largely paid down by the time the kids were in college. But nowadays many people have cashed out some or all of the equity from their homes to finance a better lifestyle or perhaps a second home. Life insurance can ensure that your spouse can continue to live in the style to which he or she has become accustomed.

The first step in establishing your financial security is to confront the biggest threats to it. That requires asking yourself some tough questions: What would happen if you or your spouse became sick or injured – or died? What if you lost your job? What if your home was seriously damaged in a storm or by fire? What if you were in a serious auto accident? All of these situations are potentially devastating to your family’s financial health. That’s where insurance comes in.

Life insurance can provide your family members the resources to maintain their lifestyle when you die. It can replace some or all of your income. It also can pay off debts and cover funeral costs. It can even help fund longer-range needs like college tuition or retirement. Don’t forget to insure your spouse as well, even if he or she doesn’t work outside the home. A stay-at-home parent provides vital household services that would be expensive to replace, like childcare, transportation and household chores.

Life insurance is a must for any young family, and disability insurance is no different. A young person is actually four times more likely to become disabled than to die. Disability insurance will replace a portion of your income if you are unable to work due to a disabling illness or injury. Why is that important? Think about how long you could make ends meet if your paycheck suddenly disappeared because of a disabling event. Surveys indicate that a large majority of workers wouldn’t make it more than a month before serious financial sacrifices would have to be made. Many larger companies and some smaller ones offer some disability coverage to employees through a group plan. If you need more, it may make sense to buy additional coverage through your employer’s group plan, if it is available. Buying your own disability insurance policy outside of work is another option worth considering. Unlike group coverage, privately owned insurance stays with you even when you change jobs.

Health insurance is also a must. Most Americans have health coverage through their employer’s group plan. If your spouse also works, choose the plan that provides the highest level of family coverage. If you don’t have health insurance through work, look into to buying an individual policy for you and your family. It’s generally more expensive than group coverage and may create a strain on your family budget, but it’s the only thing that will shield you from the catastrophic costs associated with major surgical procedures and hard-to-manage chronic medical conditions.

If you borrow money to buy your home or auto, the lender will require you to purchase at least some insurance to protect your investment. In addition, state laws require drivers to have liability insurance as well. But don’t assume the minimum required level of home and auto insurance is enough. Consider adding inflation protection to your homeowners insurance so the policy will continue to cover your home’s replacement value in the future. And make sure the liability coverage in your homeowners and auto policies is enough to protect you in all contingencies.