Moving Life Insurance to the Top of People’s To-Do List

Do a deep clean? Or figure out how much life insurance you need?

When it comes to checking things off their to-do list, most people would rather clean out their email inbox (39%) or their basement or garage (31%) than figure out how much life insurance they need. One in five adults said they’d be willing to sit on hold with customer service for three hours rather than doing life insurance planning.

This data comes from the 2026 Life Happens Life Insurance Survey, released in conjunction with September’s Life Insurance Awareness Month, the public awareness campaign that Life Happens created and coordinates each year.

What is stopping them from looking into and getting the coverage they need? Cost concerns emerge as one of the biggest barriers. Overall, 64% say cost affects whether they look into life insurance, with 32% of those saying it affects their decision “a lot.”

While some have already addressed their needs and feel confident, others remain uncertain even after taking action, suggesting that completing the task does not always eliminate confusion. The divide between genders is telling: 53% of men say they have life insurance and are confident they have enough, while only 41% of women say the same. Generationally, Gen Z seems the most confident in their decision that they have enough life insurance (53%) versus 46% of Millennials and 40% of Gen X.

Encouragingly, the findings indicate that perceptions can be shifted through education and reassurance. Overall, 55% say if they learned that life insurance may be easier to get than they expected, they would be “more likely” to start the process, including 30% who say they would be “much more likely.”