Life Insurance

[Anonymous]

Hello All,

This May not be a usual topic here but I want to get insights. I am a mother of a toddler and would like to get a life insurance. I don’t want to start looking yet because I don’t want to be bombarded by emails and phone calls.

The only thing I want is protection, if suddenly I die, I want to make sure my child won’t be poor. 

‘So tell me what should I look for, I am 20’s, does not use tobacco, no pre-existing condition, healthy. I’m looking between 250-500k coverage,

Thanks in advance!

[Shooting-For-800]

I would invest mostly into term.

Generally, you don’t save much on higher amounts so I would get several policies from different companies.

ie $200k cost twice as much as $100k.

Stick with real companies:  Statefarm, Allstate, etc.

I have separate email addresses just for stuff like this so I can easily ignore solicitors.

Get a yahoo email and leave your phone number off or use the local time and temperature number.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP,

This is an excellent thought! More power to you.
I recently got another life insurance policy for DW and myself with similar intent - Taking care of the loved ones and income replacement, should I get hit by a bus while crossing the street.

I second getting a term life insurance instead of a whole life.

- 20 yrs should be good (assuming by then you have enough equity, savings, and the toddler is up on thier feet by then)

- You can create a new email address and sign up for google voice, but that might be a stretch. Start with policy genius or a similar company, so that they are the only ones contacting you. You can also approach an independent insurance agent. These guys will do all the running around for you, finding the best rates, setting up med exams, etc. and will pick up their commission from the insurance company, not you.

- Look for companies that have at least an A+ rating (A.M. Best financial strength rating) so that you know they will be around for at least 20 years. You will find most of the big/familiar names here. Stick with them.

- Based on your age, health you can still shop around to get the "best" rates with though the agents or yourself.

Good luck!

My insurances are from Guardian and now from Mutual of Omaha.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

... So tell me what should I look for, I am 20’s, does not use tobacco, no pre-existing condition, healthy. I’m looking between 250-500k coverage ...

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A few things to consider:

* get an independent life insurance agent to find you a policy;

* don't procrastinate -- at your age insurance is very inexpensive);

* all life policies have a policy fee (usually around $50-75) so it is not a good idea to buy multiple policies of the same type;

* there are many companies you might never have heard of that specialize in life insurance and thus offer the best rates -- choose one of them, not the name that sounds familiar, or where you buy your auto insurance;

* consider not just the best rate but also: 1) is the policy convertible to permanent insurance; 2) is the current premium guaranteed for the duration -- ie, a 20-yr term quote should give you a price guaranteed for the full 20 years; some companies offer a product where only the first 5 years are guaranteed;

* some companies use a lexis nexis report to underwrite -- your agent should know which companies to avoid if this is an issue for you;

* like groceries, life insurance offers volume discounts -- typical price breaks happen at 100K; 250k; 500K; 1m; some companies do not offer at 500k or 1m, or the discount is nominal; I have seen quotes for 200K cost more than 250K;

Ballpark cost for a F-25 NT in Texas for a 500K 20-year term policy is roughly $350 annually; if this same female qualifies for a preferred rate (clean driving record, good family history, etc) then the cost drops to $250 or, even less. 

If you are a single mom and healthy, you might consider buying at least 1M if, you can afford it; your income justifies it (companies allow multipliers of income when assessing how much coverage they'll allow -- at age 25 it wouldn't be hard to find one that allows 40x, so 40 x 25,000 salary = 1M face amount).

I hope this helps. Good luck.

[Shooting-For-800]

I completely disagree with putting all you eggs in a basket you never heard of to save $10 per month.

[TheBoondocks]

I'm 26 and I actually just got life insurance last year, it's been a year now actually and I pay $300/m for whole life insurance. However, this isn't just any whole life insurance, I know it's worth so that's why I pay a lot. Once you understand how it works, you will see. Not too many people know about this but I will keep it as that, not every whole life policy is the same either. Mine happens to be better than most. I never believed in term insurance in the first place. I have no kids either but maybe in the near future. I wish I started younger but it's okay. I started the credit game young so we gotta start somewhere.

[GApeachy]

@Camicookie14

(Edit: as @Shooting-For-800  pointed out on page two....my post is wrong, wrong, wrong)   

Get Whole Life early, before you "could" get sick.  After our Term policies expired we couldn't renew (Rheumatoid Arthritis) and we can't add to the Whole.  We have what we have and that's it. We both have Whole but it still is not enough to cover our mortgage, our sons would have enough to figure something out but not enough to stay in our home unless the mortgage is paid before we croak. 

    We have been offered through our Credit Union a policy (without a physical or medical records) we are about to jump on but it's so much less coverage for twice the price....beggars cannot be choosers.

    Anyway, get what you can now, don't let it lapse....Term if that's all you can afford for now but try to get the Whole life as soon as you can, life and illness happens.  (I truely thought this is what happened but it was not....so I apologize)

[Shooting-For-800]

Whole life is rarely a good option for people who care about the payout and can handle their own investments.

You can get term for up to 30 years and it costs 75% less than whole.

People buy whole because they were SOLD whole or they have no savings or investment accounts and they were SOLD whole.

You can buy FIVE $100,000 30 year term policies for the price of ONE whole life policy.  

[Shooting-For-800]

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@TheBoondocks wrote:
I'm 26 and I actually just got life insurance last year, it's been a year now actually and I pay $300/m for whole life insurance. However, this isn't just any whole life insurance, I know it's worth so that's why I pay a lot. Once you understand how it works, you will see. Not too many people know about this but I will keep it as that, not every whole life policy is the same either. Mine happens to be better than most. I never believed in term insurance in the first place. I have no kids either but maybe in the near future. I wish I started younger but it's okay. I started the credit game young so we gotta start somewhere.

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Please tell us why your insurance is better and the amount of coverage you get for $3600 per year as a 26 year old.

[GApeachy]

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@Shooting-For-800 wrote:

People buy whole because they were SOLD whole or they have no savings or investment accounts and they were SOLD whole.

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We bought both Term and Whole....our Whole policies have earned a lot of dividends and they can't cancel on us due to health issues plus the premiums stay the same, our Terms we lost at renewal.