Life Insurance - Albion,MI

A.:

Life insurance is a VERY personal "thing"...

I have $500K on me through USAA (we're prior military) and it's VERY reasonable - $42.10 a month. We also have a $250K policy on me that we've had since we got married....that one is $38 a month as it's whole life vs. term.

Term policies are usually cheaper than whole life...and after a while - whole life starts paying for itself.

My husband has $1.5M on him - I believe...and in my opinion, not enough. However, since he will be 50 this year - to get more on him would be very expensive (he is a smoker as well)...

Search around for life insurance policies...Met Life, Fidelity, etc. and find one that works for you and your budget.

We have $750K total on me - so if I die before my kids graduate school - they will each get $100K (I would HOPE that is enough to get them through school) and the rest divied out...we also figured if I died while our kids were still in school, we'd have to compensate for after school care, maid service, etc...all the things I currently do as a SAHM...

My husband, if he was to die today- I would get $1.5M...our home has a $250K balance...so I don't think $1.5M would last long - in my opinion - about 4 to 5 years...with taxes eating up much of it so maybe not even that long....

Any way - you need to figure out what the life insurance is going to cover - your funeral expenses or to help take care of the family...lots to consider...

GOOD LUCK!!

Contact a good broker in your area. It's free to get quotes.
There are so many different options.
I know a lady that was so thrilled her husband had $100,000 life insurance through his employer. They have 3 kids, their mortgage is $1000 a month.
$100,000 is nothing, sad to say.
The younger and healthier you are, the cheaper the premiums so you really should start looking into this now.
Find a reputable broker and go over everything. People who are in tight financial situations as it is are the ones who really need the protection life insurance can provide in the event, heaven forbid, something happens.

Best wishes.

A. - I would search for life insurance on line - then research the companies - how long they've been around, etc.

Then choose between Whole Life (a policy that ends up paying for itself) or Term (you put in and only get back when you die!)

You also need to take into account what you need it for - funeral expenses, income, etc. and then realize that this is supposed to last for a while....and it's hard....

Do what you can afford to do..don't be pushed into more if you can't.

We're also through USAA... and have 500k & 750k respectively. It's funny, it sounds like a lot... but if you make 50k a year, that's only 10 years worth of 'normal' money to contribute to the family, and if you make100k = only 5 years of normal salary. We currently pay less than 150 a month for both of us. This is our stop gap amount. When we can afford more, we'll double it.

500k is the BARE minimum to cover what I 'do' for the family (though I'm a SAHM) for the next 10 years, not including college. Childcare costs, school costs, it sounds like a lot... but it would just see my boys through should I die tomorrow until my son is an adult and that's IF AND ONLY IF my husband continues to work and make the same salary or greater that he does now.

Look at Zander Insurance online. I'm guessing you're pretty young so it will be pretty reasonable. They're a great company to work with.

I'm an insurance agent in AZ. Just google "independent life insurance agent in your city, state" and see what comes up. You don't need to try to search around on your own. There are agents like myself who are contracted with many companies and just like your home/auto can search for the best coverage with the best rates. Good luck.

I literally just got off the phone getting our life insurance set up. I've been looking for someone with cheap rates for quite a while now. I finally found one. It's through select quote. I chose this place because Suze Orman recommended them for young couples. We are getting 1 million on my husband and 500 thousand for me. We're only doing 10 years, but when we free up some more money, we can easily expand it to 20 or 30 years. We are only going to pay $45 a month for this plan! I think it's great. Check it out!

In your situation, term would probably be best for you, although if you could get a smaller whole life policy in addition to the term policy, all the better. You can get quotes online, but make sure to research the stability of the company prior to purchasing, such as looking at AM Best. You can also check with your auto and home/renters insurance company as a life policy may give you additional discounts on your other policies. If you go term, try to lock in as long of a term as you can. 30 year term policies are great. Also, if you are in good shape and non smoker, ask about preferred rates. Sometimes you have to take a physical and some blood work, but the cheaper rate is worth it. Good luck!

Edited to add: Whole life insurance is NOT a scam or rip off. I also had my life license, but I now work on the Corporate side of insurance and not on the agency side. There are many protections in place by the government for whole life policyholders. Like all products, there are some that are bad, some that are good, and some that are great. It comes down to knowing what you are buying. Read your policy! To Momof4, a policy that was taken out decades ago probably had different policy language than what is in place today. Also, it's possible that your grandfather took out a loan against his policy, which could have reduced his benefit.

The way insurance works is that you can NEVER be overinsured. The max you can get is a multiple of your income, based on age and health. The goal of insurance is to REPLACE the income lost when a person dies. So if you can afford the maximum, get the maximum. For example, if your husband makes 40k, and is young and healthy, he may qualify for $800,000 - which sounds like a lot of money; but invest it and live of the interest (say 5%) - that's 40k - his "value". Depending on your health, you may qualify for almost as much, or at least half, as the spouse.

Since your budget is tight, get term insurance with a good company (at least A rated). Your husband may have some through work, but it's not going to be very much. If you have Auto insurance with one of the companies (AAA/State farm, etc) they should have a life insurance policy offering, and you may get a discount for having multiple policies with them.

Feel free to e-mail me if you have questions. Take care :)

NEVER take out whole life insurance, it's a rip off/scam (I use to have my license in this). Only take out term insurance, plus it's cheaper than whole life. Call your agent that you have home ins, auto, renters etc & get a quote. Also get quotes online but look the company up with the BBB.

My husband grandfather just passed. He took out a whole life policy decades ago for $40,000 the payout was only $10,000