life insurance

[all4money]

Originally Posted by LivingAlmostLarge

it's not a lot of savings is it? I wonder. Is it with a better or worse company than you have? Can your current company give you a matching deal?

Yeah, in the big picture of things, it doesn't seem like a huge savings for me to try to switch companies at this point, does it? I got the quotes from Selectquote so they gave me a list of several companies they deal with, some of which I'm not familiar with. My current company I've been told is a really good life insurance company. I think I've talked myself into staying put with what I've got. I usually go for saving every penny I can but in this instance I don't think it is worth the aggravation to save $7.50 a month.

[elessar78]

Met with an insurance rep the other night. He proposed something that I thought was interesting. Basically a term policy AND a very small whole life policy so my beneficiary/estate can recoup my cost eventually.

Any wisdom to this? Basically it's 280K (term) plus 20K (whole).

The math works out that if I invest the difference (and just get 300K of term straight up) that I'll make more in the long run. But I wanted to check in here first to see if there are any other drawbacks to the "hybrid" approach.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Why whole life? Seems like a waste for you, but great for them.

[TermMonster]

I'm not a fan of whole life insurance outside estate planning and tax avoidance strategies. Whole life is NOT a good investment and is very expensive relative to term life insurance.

The one benefit you should consider with whole life is that as long as you pay the premium, you have coverage no matter what happens to your health, hobbies, or occupation as you age. Pay the premium and you're covered for life.

[TermMonster]

Originally Posted by elessar78

Met with an insurance rep the other night. He proposed something that I thought was interesting. Basically a term policy AND a very small whole life policy so my beneficiary/estate can recoup my cost eventually.

Any wisdom to this? Basically it's 280K (term) plus 20K (whole).

The math works out that if I invest the difference (and just get 300K of term straight up) that I'll make more in the long run. But I wanted to check in here first to see if there are any other drawbacks to the "hybrid" approach.

Please remember that you're recouping the original cost of your investment with no adjustment for inflation which will likely be massive provided you live 30 years or more. Your instincts are correct - this strategy has drawbacks. There is opportunity cost, insurance company specific risk (because you are a creditor to the corporation in the event of bankruptcy - think AIG), and assumption risk. What I mean by "assumption risk" is there is no conceivable way of knowing what estate taxes will be when this strategy is designed to payout. Maybe someday there will be no estate tax?

[zetta]

We have $500k each group term life through a professional association (IEEE). It costs us $150 every six months plus $180 membership dues annually. DH also has 3x salary and 66% LTD through his employer. I want to look into LTD for myself when I start working again.

The interesting thing about group term life vs regular term is that technically the policy is owned by the group, where regular term is owned by you as an individual. There are some estate planning strategies (involving the B portion of an AB trust) you can only use with the latter. I have yet to evaluate whether it will be cheaper to switch to regular term, or just to increase our current policies to make up for the tax bite (if our estste eventually exceeds $3.5 M or the law gets rolled back to $1M.)

Something to look into since you'll want to redo your wills for the baby.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Don't have a will yet, still have to do it.

But I'm pretty sure that we do not need whole life. I just want a term policy.

Zetta, I looked into the group policies. The problem is that rate starts off low and then goes up with age bracket, but you don't have a physical. Also you don't ever get denied.

[docstudent]

30 yr term for $37, a month, is that too expensive? I got the policy with Tripple A, should I get rid of the policy? $250,000


32, non-smoker

[fruitbowlk]

How much do you all have? $250,000 on myself and $100,000 on DH.
Where did you get it? selectquote, New York Life.
What did you pay? $17.28
And how long a term? 30 years

We have way less than what we really need. We need around 500,000 each.

[fruitbowlk]

Originally Posted by docstudent

30 yr term for $37, a month, is that too expensive? I got the policy with Tripple A, should I get rid of the policy? $250,000


32, non-smoker

Yes that's too much.

I pay 17.28 for 30 year 250,000 and I'm 32 non-smoker. Female.

Yes get rid of the policy.

Try Selectquote or Zander insurance.

[TermMonster]

Don't get rid of the policy until you have the new one in possession. Lot's of factors can impact rates. Why don't you check an online reasource like You should know that a quote is not final until the policy issues to you. It has to go through underwriting which requires you, in most cases, to take a medical exam and disclose health history. The process takes a minimum of three weeks. If you cancel your current policy there will likely be a gap when you are uninsured (which is not good).
Your other option is to buy no-medical life insurance but you will absolutely pay more for the coverage (because everyone who can't pass a medical opts for no-medical coverage).

[Dmancini]

Originally Posted by elessar78

I just started shopping around for my term life and checked out accuquote.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND ACCUQUOTE!

I cross checked their affiliated insurers with A.M. Best ratings and their insurers all came in under my A+/A++ rating requirement. Also, now I get two phone calls a day from a recorded message, so I can't even tell them to stop calling—this is the most frustrating part.

Hi there - I'm sorry to hear about your experience with AccuQuote. First, I wanted to first let you know that if you'd like to contact me directly, I'd be happy to add you to our do not call list.

In addition, I wanted to take a moment to clarify a misconception. We do in fact work with companies that are rated A or better by AM Best. In fact, several companies we work with are rated A+ including Prudential and Banner Life.

I'd love to hear more about your experience with our company. Again, feel free to contact me directly. Thanks and happy holidays!

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Me too! I get tons of calls from insurance agents.