Life Insurance??

[El Wood]

How many here have life insurance? My wife and I currently have a policy of 200k. We're thinking of bumping that number up to $400,000. We pay around $50 a month for our policy. It seems like with insurance, it's always good to shop around every few years...

Can anyone here suggest a good company? Would you mind posting your numbers?

 

[k0ua]

Well the wife is a Modern Woodmen of America agent...so...

 

[gilbertmsg]

Retired from military in Apr 13. Had Serviceman's Group Life ($400,000) for $24.00 per month. That was a great deal. I'm 52 with some stints and could not purchase insurance outside of the military. Transferred policy to Veteran's Group Life ($200,000) for $77.00 per month. Still a fair deal. The veterans policy doubles every 5 years so it will get expensive as I get older. Also purchased survivors benefit for my spouse that will pay her half of my retirement for life ($260.00 per month). Insurance is a rip off, but I would never leave my spouse and child without a income if at all possible.

Eddie

 

[gwdixon]

Ever see those life insurance buildings? Wonder how they got all that money? Wonder how an agent (k0ua's wife for instance) makes money? They have all of the statistics and play them to their advantage.

If it is such a wise choice then why do the insurance companies advertise life insurance with such tear-jerking emotional commercials. Scare tactics are also an effective theme. A good deal does not have to be advertised.

To me, life insurance is a losing bet. You bet you'll die, the insurance company bets you will live (term insurance) and then they get to keep your money. If you die the payout money is of no use to you, after all, you're dead.

It will come as no surprise that neither my wife nor I have life insurance.

Someday I'll tell you how I really feel about it. :laughing:

 

[the old grind]

Understand the difference between 'term' and conventional policies. Term is the most economical, but ... you are more or less renting coverage with no accrual or paid up coverage. When the 'term' is up the deal is over, and another policy will cost more due to your age. Mortgage and credit-life policies/payouts are term-type and tied to a decreasing balance rather than increasing their premiums over time. (BT when the Mrs died)

'Whole life' or 'endowment' policies can accrue value ('annuity' included), often have a point where they're 'paid up', and are offered as investments as well as including death coverage. Beware of the details of these types! Some may use up your 'annuity' to pay a death benefit before their 'maturity' date, tho' not all will. Experts advise against these, as a rule. Annuity return %s are 'variable' (some have minimums) and not necessarily guaranteed, despite an agent's promises of building a substantial nest egg.

Between these extremes are varying degrees of o'all coverage and company profits. One only needs to guess which end of the spectrum benefits whom, and how an agent's 'residuals' are proportional to the policy type & terms. One might best be served with a term policy and a separate annuity if you want the investment part included. Some annuities are tax-deferred, and an honest agent with nothing to gain from your decision will explain better than we can to help you sort options. Ask more than one who knows the biz!

Remember that old argument of whether the mob or the Catholic church has more $$? The insurance industry and its vast pool of bucks puts both to shame. What part of the '08 meltdown wasn't caused by folks borrowing against inflated home values was the industry buying each other's risky investment policies (derivitives, etc) and not having the cash to pay each other off when the fecal matter contacted the rotary air-displacement device. (We know who the gov't helped out of that jam.)

A CD in an insured account, IRA, or 401k can be counted on. Insurance may be a gamble at best, and YMMV as usual. Shop wisely and read the fine print.

 

[wjmst]

I have 500k 20 year term life through tiaa-cref. $300 per year fixed. I am 35.

 

[grnspot110]

We have enough to more than cover all final costs, no need for much more than that! ~~ grnspot

 

[ultrarunner]

Never went down the insurance road...

Can't really comment other then some Life Insurance agents have been very pushy in the past...

We were to have a policy at work for one year annual pay plus employees could buy more... I did sign up for it and the offering was rescinded when the merger didn't happen.

 

[sodamo]

Not a set it and forget it decision. Age 25, 45, 65 could be a significant difference.

We just surrendered our policies last month after paying $190/month since 1986 for 250k for me, 50k for wife and son. 200k of that was term, which disappeared last year - I should have been paying more attention.

When we took out the policy, mine was adequate to leave my wife and son in a worry free position for a bit, meaning there was money left after all debts. At the time I was also active duty military and had coverage.

Now, at age 66, I decided to take a good look, especially with the loss of term coverage. Fortunately, I found we are in pretty decent shape. Still worth more dead than alive, still bucks left after debts paid, plus my wife gets portion of my retirement plus hers, so while some adjustments to daily living, no hardship. Our son is grown and has own insurance.

So last month, we cashed out, opened an investment account for our 7 yo granddaughter with the surrender cash and changed my premium allotment to $200/month straight into granddaughters account. She will be a very happy girl some day.

My only regret is not doing this same day the term coverage expired.

David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[forgeblast]

We have both term and whole life. Term covers the cost of the house if something happens to either of us. The whole life is done to protect my daughter, provide a bit of a savings, and its structured to grow in value. I also have term, through my work.

 

[PRF]

I bought the family business back in 1996 and bought a large 20 year level term policy so I wouldn't saddle my family with a bunch of debt if I died while paying it off.. I think if you have young kids, buy level term 20 +/- policies.. I think it's the responsible thing to do, and it's inexpensive to buy when you're young.:2cents:

 

[BraveheartGN]

Never was a big fan of other than term insurance. There is a saying that you should invest like you will live forever and insure like you will die tomorrow. Hybrid products like whole life blur the invest/insure line and there is so much fine print it is difficult to understand. There are some tax advantages to whole life, but the complexity and restrictions are the tradeoff. Use term insurance to get your loved ones over the hump of your loss - for kids, enough to provide for their support and get through college, spouse, enough to pay off the mortgage and transition to a new career or retirement, depending on his/her age. As kids get out of school and onto their careers, reduce coverage as needs decrease, until you don't need it, then cancel. The money you save on term vs whole ins. premiums you invest and have control over.

 

[riptides]

I carry a 1mill policy through a previous employment. In another five years, once the bills are paid, no more policy.

I view it as a bridge, to cover the business, wife and kids.

 

[Bird]

I guess I've had about all kinds of life insurance over the years. When we had small children, I had larger term life insurance to take care of the family if anything happened to me. And once when we bought a new house in 1977, salesmen tried to sell me on buying an insurance policy that would do nothing but pay off the mortgage if I died. However, it was cheaper to buy a decreasing term policy that started a little more than the cost of the mortgage.

But I got rid of all those old policies some years ago, and I have one $50k policy, which I've had for nearly 15 years, for which I pay $162.28 a month. Sound ridiculously high? Of course it does. But first, I was 58 years old when I bought it; premiums naturally get higher as you get older. And second, it's a whole life policy that builds cash value. So I just now calculated the total premium payments, total months I've paid, minus the current cash "surrender value", and that $50k policy has actually cost me $59 a month. Still pretty high, in my opinion, but worth it to me.

 

[clemsonfor]

Ever see those life insurance buildings? Wonder how they got all that money? Wonder how an agent (k0ua's wife for instance) makes money? They have all of the statistics and play them to their advantage.

If it is such a wise choice then why do the insurance companies advertise life insurance with such tear-jerking emotional commercials. Scare tactics are also an effective theme. A good deal does not have to be advertised.

To me, life insurance is a losing bet. You bet you'll die, the insurance company bets you will live (term insurance) and then they get to keep your money. If you die the payout money is of no use to you, after all, you're dead.

It will come as no surprise that neither my wife nor I have life insurance.

Someday I'll tell you how I really feel about it. :laughing:

The life insurance is not for you its for your family. I only carry a small amount right now but will bump it up with the addition of our baby.

If i were to die i want to leave the wife money to bury me, pay off the house and her debt, as she would not be able to afford the home with out my income.

If i were to die with the child i need her to have enough money for all of the above then also to supplement her life while she raises our son, possibly the first few years not haveing to work at all while coping with the loss.

Now if we were 60 years old with grown kids a home paid off, no debt other than say something that could be liquidated like a tractor or boar or something and enough money in the bank to cover the expenses it does not make much sense for insurance. But i think it stupid and selfish for a younger person like my self to not carry anything. If i were to die not only would my widow have to cope with the loss of me, and every thing i help out with and the monetary outlay to bury me but the loss of my income ( i make more than 2x what she does) but also would have to look into the sale of the house that is her home and that she and i both put so much work in to make it our own. And all the work that i did would now HAVE to be sold. I just cant stand that thought.

 

[brin]

I just cant stand that thought.

Then stop thinking about it...you are a young guy...buy your term insurance and get on with your life and ignore old guy threads...

 

[NorTracNY]

I've never understood why I'd give money I wanted to invest to an insurance guy. Term life insurance is the only thing I'd look for.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Most life insurance is a rip off.
Better to take the money you'd spend on premiums and invest it.

 

[user.69169]

Tell you one thing for sure, them insurance companies that sell life insurance to old people for them "final Expenses" are the biggest crooks on earth. Friend of mine just spent 6 months trying to collect on 2 of them deals from crooks called Monumental Life who sold insurance to his mother when she was in her 90s.
Woman paid the premium every month till she died at 100, and them crooks played every card in the deck to not pay.
She died in December, and they was notified. Took a month to get some form he had to fill out & send back with the Death Certificate. Meanwhile they CANCELLED the policy in January cause she didn't pay for that month. They expected a dead woman to pay for life insurance.
He finally went tot he State Insurance Department after they claimed they lost the paperwork and claimed they never got it. Funny thing was he had a Post Office Receipt that the Monumental signed.
They finally agreed to pay after the State got on them.
Makes you wonder how many of those policys they sell and cancel that they keep all the money paid in and never pay off. Seems like their main policy is cheating people.

 

[RHP]

Life insurance made sense to me when I was younger and had more debt. I can remember discussing life insurance with a friend of mine when in my twenties, he said he didn't believe in it and besides, he said his wife was good enough looking to get herself another man. Unfortunately, he was killed in a car accident about a year later and left his wife and two kids with little income. She did remarry a few years later, as he predicted. What a prophecy.

Each to his own, I was glad to have it when younger.