PeacefulChaos Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Like, at all. I know I could ask our insurance agent but I also know he's just going to try to sell me something. I don't want someone to sell me something, I want to know how much we need, what to expect to pay for what we need, etc. When I go to rate quote calculators on the ins company website I don't know what the difference is between all the term life and other life policies. I think I get the basic difference... term is only good for a limited period of time or something? Idk... but our agent called today and wants to meet with us to discuss life insurance, but I'm not sure whether we can even begin to afford it, nor what would be a reasonable amount to expect to pay, nor what we would even be looking for in the first place. Is there a generic calculator out there that can say what we'd need without trying to sell us something? And what is the difference in all the different types of policies? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 http://www.smartmoney.com/plan/insurance/term-or-whole-life-8011/ http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/how-much-life-insurance-do-you-need.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Oh, and we have 20 year term that automatically renews as long as we keep paying the premiums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 The money quote from Mrs. Mungo's links above: The purpose of life insurance is to allow your family members to pay the bills and live their lives as planned despite your absence. If both spouses work, your family's life insurance needs will be different from a breadwinner/SAHSpouse situation. Once your children are grown (and done with secondary education), your life insurance needs change. We have term life insurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebug42 Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 It has always been explained to me that with life insurance you should carry enough to replace that person's monetary contributions to the family for one year. Obviously with dh working full time, enough to cover his salary for a year would be ideal at minimum. For me, I only work part time so my monetary contribution is less but we would have to take into consideration what it would take dh to replace all the rest that I do in addition to that. For instance, private school tuition would be a necessity if I were no longer here because our public schools are in now way any kind of option ever. That is all things that we have to take into consideration. We actually have whole life policies that do not expire. We also carry term life policies on each of our children that would cover burial expenses etc if God forbid, anything were to ever happen to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted October 23, 2012 Author Share Posted October 23, 2012 THANKS!!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 i'm not sure what our policy is exactly. i'd have to ask my husband. we are pretty close to being completely debt free, so we don't have a ton of life insurance...but enough that either of us could live comfortably while we figure things out. i think we have $300,000 on each of us. it's only $31 a month for the two of us...so it's really cheap. we had a home health nurse come out & do some tests beforehand. super simple though :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 If you follow Dave Ramsey, he suggests getting term life insurance at 8 - 10 times your salary. As a PP mentioned, a SAHM needs to consider childcare and other needs if she were to pass away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 This is all great advice. I would just add that the insurance salesman will be trying to sell you lots of insurance . . . which is why you need to be prepared ahead of time with what you want. Term life insurance is JUST insurance. Whole life insurance includes an additional amount which is an investment. Usually the frugal advice is to just buy term life, for the time estimate that your children will be dependent upon your support. We have $250K on dh and me, and it's about $45 a month. We're 50yo, and I think the term goes for another 15 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyndiLJ Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 We have a universal life policy on each of us, and then a term policy on each of us. Our universal life policies would have been sufficient until we realized we kept on adding more kids! Haha! After child #3 we added a larger term policy on my hubby, just in case. Life insurance is important, term policies are relatively inexpensive, and if you get a non-term type of policy you can think if it this way...it is the only insurance policy you'll ever purchase that is guaranteed to pay out, as long as you pay the premiums. After all, we are all going to die someday and someone will benefit. Cindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 All kinds of opinions out there, but I would personally suggest term and have it be enough to pay off your house (and other debt) and get you through a couple of years of 'living' until you can re-group or whatever. I only have $50K on dh...oh wait now I have more because his work provides some...but $50K would help me survive (my house is free and clear) until I could figure out what the heck to do next. Shudder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labst60 Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 (edited) we have about 8 years on dh (I think it started as 10 but his salary has goneup and we haven't made a change to the life insurance) and about 300k on me. I may not bring in a salary, but I woudn't be cheap to replace! :-) He'd need a nanny and a housekeeper, a cook, a gardener, a teacher, etc etc etc Eta: About 1/4 of DH's premium would go to pay off the house. We are in our mid-30's so we are counting on 25-30 more years of (increasing) salary from DH.... so I often joke to him that he is worth so much more (financially) if I keep him around. :-) In all seriousness though, we have made a decision to pay for the policies so that in the horrible event the girls do loose one of us, their lives can remain as 'normal" as possible (meaning if it were dh to go, I could still stay home with them - and if it were me to go, they could go to private school vs. public and would have quality care after school and taking care of the home). Edited October 24, 2012 by labst60 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.