It is true that insurance can be a real life-saver. After all, health insurance, life insurance, auto insurance and home insurance are all necessary parts of financial planning for the future. You want to be sure that you are covered against catastrophic loss. But not all insurance is worth the money. "Better safe than sorry" and "Just in case..." are sage bits of advice, but there are plenty of unnecessary insurance policies out there. And, while they are legal and will often pay benefits, the fact of the matter is that you probably already have the matter covered. Here are 5 common insurance policies you don't need:

Mortgage life insurance. This is different from mortgage insurance. Mortgage insurance is required by your home loan lender if you don't put 20% down on your home loan. Mortgage insurance is a necessary part of home buying if you can't make the desired down payment. Mortgage life insurance is different. It is designed to pay off your mortgage if you die. While this may seem like a good idea, especially if you have a family, hold up. You can usually get a term life insurance policy in an amount sufficient to cover the mortgage and then some. And term life costs significantly less than mortgage life insurance.

Flight life insurance. Trip insurance is nice. For about $40 you can cover your plane tickets so that if you have a change of plans, or if weather or some other reason requires you to book a different flight, your plane tickets aren't a total loss. Flight life insurance is a different proposition. This is insurance that will cover you if you get hurt in a plane crash, or if you die in a plane crash. However, you probably already have coverage for a plane crash. It's called health insurance and life insurance. If you have these two things, you're already covered.

Credit life insurance. Yet another ploy to get you topay for an insurance policy that covers the family in case you die. Credit life insurance is designed to pay off a loan when you die. However, your term life insurance policy should have enough coverage to take care of all of your debts. Check into term life coverage, and you'll find that you can get a large amount of coverage, for as long as 20 years or more, for a small amount of money each month.

Credit card balance insurance. You will find these insurance policies generously offered by your credit card company. While they can be a good deal if you never carry a balance (and don't cost anything) you could find yourself paying more than you bargained for if you do carry a balance. The idea is that if you become ill, or lose your job, the insurance will make the minimum payment each month. However, you would be better served to open an online savings account and start an emergency fund. Then you could make the payments (the fund should have 3 to 6 months' worth of expenses) out of your savings.

Credit protection insurance. This one's my favorite. This is the grandaddy of unnecessary insurance policies. Peddlers scare you with stories of identity theft. They warn you about people stealing your credit card (or finding it after you misplaced it) and rackig up debt in your name. They promise to help you straighten out your credit and get rid of erroneous debt. The problem: you can straighten it out for free with help from the credit bureaus, and the Federal Government already has laws in place to limit your loss to $50 per card in identity theft cases. Debit cards aren't protected in this way, though, so watch out. Incidentally, credit protection insurance doesn't cover debit cards, either.