Do you carry Life Insurance?

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Life can sometimes bring tragedy. Financial pressures as a result can be very stressful. Are you prepared or take your chances?

My wife and I have had term life insurance since the kids were born over 32 years ago. But as the terms expired and our ages have increased, we have had to lower coverage to keep the premiums reasonable.

I just couldn't imagine leaving my family struggling if something happened.
 
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Seems we're about the same age.

It depends on what you're wife would need if you pass. I had to go down to 100K when I hit 60, was at 500K.

Not cheap, but shop around, you should be able to get 100K for around $100 a month.
 
Of course. At 41, with a wife and a five year old, it would be crazy not to. At the very least, I want my wife to be able to start clean with zero debt.
 
Absolutely no need for life insurance as you age and kids are gone assuming you have built a reasonable retirement fund and have the house paid off.
 
Without young children I see no reason to carry life insurance. I had term insurance when I had dependent children but it's simply not necessary any more.
 
Bare bones through work. No family to support after I leave so if it happens, the funds will be more than enough to plant me and throw a nice party for anyone who shows up.
 
I carry quite a bit right now at 55. Mostly term. I've got obligations - college, replacement of my income for my wife, etc.

But, as I hit 60 (one policy ends), then 65 (the other policy ends), the insurance will gradually dwindle from what it is now (about ten times my income) to $100,000, a small policy bought when I was 20 years old, and it will serve to provide some liquidity to ease the costs of my passing.

The large policies that exist now will be replaced by the value of our investment portfolio. Once it reaches "critical mass", there won't be a need for insurance. If I die (or, more properly, when) after 65, then that portfolio will be more than enough for my wife to live on. Why pay for insurance at that point?
 
Yes. I had a few times my salary once we bought a house and start a family; wife got a policy worth quite a bit less. Just in case. They were to cover us if the worst happened.

But when their terms are up, they are done. I'll self insure via savings. Once I hit 59.5 I have access to my 401k, and hopefully long before then I'll have money squirreled away elsewhere. I shouldn't need it once past age 50, if I play my cards properly.
 
Also remember a good way to reduce after death costs is to pre-pay/arrange your funeral. Prices really go up each year.
 
With a wife, kids, mortgage obligations, etc, yes. We carry more than enough on both of us to cover the mortgage to pay off the house, cover funeral and estate expenses, and provide for a decent start on a college education for both the kids. Other than the Mortgage, we are debt free, so eliminating that expense in the event one of us goes is a major goal.
 
Well, I was on SSA.GOV and I read your Spouse will get your Social Security benefit if you croak. When? I don't recall.

I have big pile of cash in my 401K.

I carry 2x Annual salary policy through work. Cheap enough
all of the above should be enough for her.

I have no children or goats or kids.

I DO have a niece that I helped through College and She is now a cable news line producer at 30Rock in NYC making 2x more money a year than I ever made during my career peak in the early Y2K
smile.gif

I'm happy about that outcome
smile.gif
 
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I can maybe see having a large policy for parents with young children who need to be raised.
Me, however at 61 with no debt and a decent amount saved and my wife set for a pension and large inheritance it would be foolish.
 
Originally Posted By: ffhdriver
Also remember a good way to reduce after death costs is to pre-pay/arrange your funeral. Prices really go up each year.
And less stress on the family trying to figure out what you would have wanted.
 
Originally Posted By: bradepb
I can maybe see having a large policy for parents with young children who need to be raised.
Me, however at 61 with no debt and a decent amount saved and my wife set for a pension and large inheritance it would be foolish.


Agreed.

Insurance is a bridge, to cover the gap, until people reach the place that you've reached.

Well done.
cheers3.gif
 
Originally Posted By: bradepb
I can maybe see having a large policy for parents with young children who need to be raised.
Me, however at 61 with no debt and a decent amount saved and my wife set for a pension and large inheritance it would be foolish.

Agreed
 
I had whole life and term for about 8 years.
This year i shopped again and got term + IUL for less than I was paying before for just term with better benefits.

I am 43, with kids and (for now) sole bread-winner in the family. But only mortgage as debt.

Unfortunately, the offers from my places of work are/where too expensive than what i found on the open market (older or mfg places)


P.S. ZZMan, very good responses from the knowledgeable BITOG folks. I give this thread a 10 out of 10.

P.S. 2: paraphrasing Dave Ramsey, It is not Life insurance but (knock on wood) Death insurance....
 
On both my property mortgages (also disability insurance). When I die the mortgages are paid in full. The value of those properties easily takes care of my obligations, with money left over. If I manage to live 10 more years, they will be paid in any case, but I suppose I could always re-mortgage to take some equity out.

I don't have direct heirs, so there will be plenty of cash in the estate to make some distant relatives and friends happy.

If I had a wife or children, there would be conventional life insurance as well.
 
My widowed mother was a mutual fund sales person before there were many no-loads. All I ever heard growing up was "buy term and invest the rest", which I did. I have low seven figures socked away and absolutely no insurance since my kids (thankfully) left home.

However, in putting as much away as possible into tax deferred products, I'm now over seventy and hit hard with minimum withdrawals on my IRA. My taxes have tripled since retirement.

I keep seeing more and more insurance as investment spiels, if I seriously looked into these, my mother would probably rise from the grave and hit me with a fund prospectus from 1963 "insurance isn't an investment, dummy"...

Has anyone actually used insurance as an investment vehicle? My suspicion is that such products are fraught with large, hidden fees. My girl friend fell for a bunch of annuities and I was shocked at how much money for the agent was hidden in there. Still....am I missing something?
 
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