Edward Terragni’s annual insurance review checklist: is your family fully protected?

Most families set up their insurance once, file the documents away, and never look again. Then life happens — and the coverage they bought three years ago is no longer enough.

A new baby. A job change. A paid-off mortgage. A child heading to college. A parent turning 65. Each of these milestones can quietly expose a gap in your protection — one you won’t discover until it’s too late to fix.

Edward Terragni, Founder and Principal of My Family Assured, recommends that every family conduct a thorough insurance review at least once a year. Not because insurance is complicated — but because your life changes constantly. Your coverage should keep up.

This checklist covers every essential category: life insurance, health coverage, Medicare, beneficiary designations, and more. Work through it section by section. By the end, you’ll know exactly where you’re protected — and where you’re not.

Step 1: Review your life insurance coverage

Does your policy still match your family’s financial reality?

Life insurance is the foundation of any family protection plan. But a policy purchased at 30 may be dangerously inadequate at 40. Income grows. Mortgages get bigger. Children arrive. Your death benefit needs to reflect the life you have now, not the life you had then.

A useful rule of thumb: your life insurance coverage should equal 10 to 12 times your annual income. If you earn $80,000 and carry a $250,000 policy, you have a serious gap.

Check these items during your annual life insurance review:

• Is your death benefit still sufficient to cover income replacement, mortgage balance, and education costs?

• Does your term policy have a conversion option before it expires?

• Have you experienced a major life change that warrants increasing coverage?

In practice, many families realize during this step alone that they are underinsured by hundreds of thousands of dollars. That discovery during a review costs nothing. The same discovery after a death costs everything.

Step 2: Audit your health insurance plan

Annual changes that can quietly reduce your protection

Health insurance plans are not static. Insurers update networks, formularies, and cost-sharing structures every year — often without alerting you directly. The plan that worked perfectly last year may have dropped your primary care physician or removed a key medication from its formulary.

Here’s a real example of what can happen: a family in Ohio renewed their plan automatically for three consecutive years without reviewing changes. In year four, they discovered that their daughter’s pediatric specialist had been out-of-network for 18 months. Every visit had been billed at the out-of-network rate. The total difference: over $4,200.

During your annual health insurance review, confirm:

• All your doctors and specialists are still in-network for the coming year

• Your regular prescriptions are still covered on the formulary at the same tier

• Your deductible, copay, and out-of-pocket maximum haven’t changed significantly

If your family’s health needs have changed — a new chronic condition, a planned surgery, or a pregnancy — open enrollment is your window to switch to a better-suited plan. Missing that window means waiting another year.

Step 3: Update your beneficiary designations

The overlooked detail that can derail your entire estate plan

Beneficiary designations are the most commonly neglected item in any insurance review. They override your will. They override court orders. In the event of your death, the name on that form determines who receives the money — full stop.

Consider this: a man named his first wife as primary beneficiary on a $500,000 life policy in 2009. He remarried in 2014 and updated his will to reflect the new marriage. But he never updated the beneficiary form. When he passed away in 2021, his ex-wife received the full $500,000. His current wife received nothing.

This scenario is not rare. Edward Terragni’s team encounters outdated beneficiary designations regularly — often on policies held for 10 or more years.

Check your beneficiary designations on every policy — life insurance, annuities, retirement accounts, and any employer-sponsored plans. Confirm both primary and contingent beneficiaries are current. Do this every year, and immediately after any major life event.

Step 4: Evaluate Medicare coverage (for those 64 and older)

Annual enrollment windows you cannot afford to miss

If you or a family member is approaching 65, Medicare planning must become part of your annual review process — ideally starting at age 63 or 64. The enrollment window is strict, and missing it can result in permanent premium penalties.

For those already enrolled in Medicare, the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) runs from October 15 to December 7 each year. This is your opportunity to switch between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, change Part D drug plans, or add a Medigap supplement.

During your Medicare review, ask:

• Are your preferred doctors and specialists still in your Medicare Advantage network?

• Has your Part D plan changed its formulary for any of your medications?

• Is your current plan still the most cost-effective option for your health needs?

Medicare options change every year. A plan that was ideal at 65 may not be ideal at 72. An annual review with a licensed Medicare advisor can identify savings and coverage upgrades that most beneficiaries simply don’t know are available.

Step 5: Check for life events that change your coverage needs

The milestones that make last year’s plan obsolete

Insurance needs are not fixed. They evolve with your family. The most essential part of any annual review is stepping back and asking: what changed in the last 12 months?

Here are the life events that most commonly create new coverage gaps:

• Marriage or divorce — requires updating beneficiaries and evaluating joint vs. separate coverage

• New child or adoption — increases life insurance needs significantly

• Job change — may affect group health coverage, disability insurance, and employer life insurance

• Home purchase — warrants reviewing life insurance to cover the full mortgage balance

• Child reaching 26 — must transition off parents’ health insurance plan

• Retirement — requires a full review of Medicare timing, income replacement, and survivor benefits

If any of these events occurred in the past year, your current coverage almost certainly needs to be reviewed and updated. Don’t wait for the next enrollment period to find out how big the gap is.

Your family’s protection deserves more than a set-and-forget approach

Insurance is not a task you complete once and never revisit. It is an ongoing commitment to the people who depend on you. And like any commitment, it requires attention, honesty, and a willingness to adapt.

Edward Terragni built My Family Assured on a simple belief: every family deserves to know — with genuine confidence — that they are protected. The annual review is how that confidence gets renewed every year.

Here’s a quick recap of what to review each year:

• Life insurance — death benefit, term expiration, and conversion options

• Health insurance — networks, formularies, and cost-sharing changes

• Beneficiary designations — on every policy and retirement account

• Medicare — plan performance, network, and formulary for the coming year

• Life events — anything that changed your family’s financial picture in the past 12 months

So here’s the question worth sitting with: if something happened to you today, is your family fully protected? If you’re not completely certain, that’s your signal to schedule a review. Schedule your annual insurance review with My Family Assured. Edward Terragni’s team will walk through every area of your coverage — at no cost, with no obligation.