DEAR MARY: I have a lot of books I'd like to get rid of — mostly on the subject of internet technology. What is the best way to sell used books? — Deborah

DEAR DEBORAH: There are multiple online sites that buy used books — each with different criteria. And let me warn you — book buyers can be fickle about which books they're buying on any particular day. It all depends on trends and what particular set of subjects the buyer believes is hot for its particular audience.

Rather than try to find all of the individual companies that purchase used books yourself, I suggest you go to BookScouter. This is a one-stop shop that searches 55 different online book buyers with one click. You'll quickly discover which book dealer, if any, is interested in buying the books you have. With that kind of an audience looking at what's on your bookshelves, I think you have a decent chance at making quite a few sales. Most buyers make it easy to send the books by paying for shipping and allowing you to simply print a prepaid mailing label. Just keep in mind that IT is a quickly changing field.

If you are unable to sell the books, the IRS will allow you to take a fair-market tax deduction when you donate the books to a recognized charitable organization such as The Salvation Army. If you go that route, make sure you use Money For Your Used Clothing to properly value your donations. You don't want to get audited only to discover that the values you assigned to your donated items are not anything close to what the IRS sees as their values.

Good luck. I hope you can make a lot of sales.

DEAR MARY: I enjoy your column, and just read the one about life insurance. My husband and I retired within the last year and are 64. We live on our social security plus investment income from 401K and SEP/IRA accounts. We don't have a lot of "extra" income but we live frugally and are doing fine. I have a $250,000 term life policy and my husband has a $150,000 term policy. Should we keep these, or reduce our monthly payments and cancel them? — Gail

DEAR GAIL: There is only one reason to have life insurance: To replace income that upon your death would disappear, leaving your dependents financially destitute.

Let's look at your situation. You do not mention any dependents, such as children, grandchildren or elderly parents who depend on your income. That leaves you with one another. If your husband were to precede you in death — even with the provision that you would continue to receive the higher of your two Social Security monthly benefit checks — would the loss of the smaller monthly check put you into a financially difficult position? If you answer yes, then life insurance is an excellent way to replace that income that will go missing and upon which you will depend.

As for the funds in your 401k and SEP/IRA accounts, either of your deaths should not affect them, provided you have named each other as beneficiaries.

Once you have determined the monthly income you will need to replace upon either of your deaths, multiply that by a reasonable life expectancy of the remaining spouse. That is a good estimate of the amount of term life insurance each of you need.

I suggest you leave the policies in place for now, while you do your own independent research. As you age, life insurance becomes more expensive and many companies require a health exam as part of the application process. I wouldn't cancel any term insurance until you are confident a remaining spouse will be well protected without it.

Mary invites questions, comments and tips at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or c/o Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Suite B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com, a personal finance member website and the author of "Debt-Proof Living," released in 2014. To find out more about Mary and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Sheila Sund