How Much Life Insurance Do You Have?

[JBinKC]

Re: How Much Life Insurance Do You Have?

I am also single without dependents and have no life insurance. I see it as a waste of money unless you have dependents. Even if I were destitude I could donate my organs and body parts to persons who may need them.

[webcontacts00]

We have term life insurance. It is three times our yearly salary.

[Exile]

Unless you have dependent kids or a spouse who is not able to work, I think life insurance is a waste of money. If you're a homeowner and want to protect your partner in the event of your death, mortgage insurance is likely to be a better investment.

[rooskers]

$500,000 term life insurance (20 years) on my DW since she provides 90% of the income. $50,000 for me so it will cover funeral costs and other misc. things if something were to happen to me.

We only had $10,000 apiece until our daughter was born. We are currently looking to up mine to around $250,000 so it would be enough for my wife to pay off the house and have enough left over for part of my daughters college tuition (around $50,000).

We are taking our time looking into insurance now and trying to make sure whoever we go with is financially stable. The last thing I want to happen is my insurance company going bankrupt. I am not sure what would happen if it is covered through some government agency or not.

[Caoineag]

We just have free policies through work, 10k on me, 25k on him. We don't have children though and both of us can afford our expenses on just our single incomes (I would have to cut things down, but it would still be affordable).

[MonkeyMama]

We've upped ours. I'm covered for $700k/dh for $500k.

His is too cheap to bother with. I was able to add $200k quite cheap through my professional association. I will drop the extra $200k if my spouse returns to work.

For my spouse, since he relies on me 100% financially, it is well needed.

For his coverage, I look at it for financial security early on (I would probably work less rather than hire more childcare) and for the long run, and probably could do okay without it. But his wages when he works primarily goes to retirement and long-term savings, so would also shore that up a bit.

The $500k policies we got super preferred rates in our late 20s. They are 30-year-term. I imagine we will self-insure when they expire; or even drop them before 30 years. But if we waited to age 30 we couldn't have gotten anything near as cheap.

[tripods68]

I have a $500K term life policy on myself and an $800K policy on my spouse. Do you have life insurance, how much?

I can't. If my wife finds out i'm worth, she might plot to kill me

[JinCO]

My wife and I are both insured at $500K for a 20 year term. I am planning to drop it to around $250K per in about 5 years once our debt is lower and savings are higher.

[creditcardfree]

We are probably a little underinsured. Since I last posted mine has been increased from $250K to $350K. DH still has $400K. I guess we are still at about 4x salary.

[FrugalFish]

I don't carry any and DH's doesn't have much.

People keep insisting I need to get some, especially if we have kids. I don't know. I'm not really convinced. DH is the sole breadwinner. I don't bring in any money (that we count on for general budget) and while he might need to pay for daycare if I were to pass away, he could cover that out of his salary without much difficulty.

I guess it would be nice if he could afford to hire a full time nanny, housekeeper, etc. if I were to pass away, but they aren't necessary. Then again I suppose it would be tough to be a single parent and maybe it would be nice for him to have it as easy as possible.

I also suppose he could become disabled and become unable to work, in which case having a life insurance settlement could replace my being able to return to work to help support us (he has short & long term disability).

I'll have to talk to him some more and price policies...

What if both of you passed away at the same time? Wouldn't you want a policy available that could be converted into a trust to help someone else with the expense of raising your kids? What about money to help your kids through college?

OT, but a will/trust is also important to safeguard minor childrens' inherited assets against unscrupulous relatives in the event of your untimely death.

[skydivingchic]

DBF and I each have enough term insurance to cover the mortgage balance and funeral costs should either of us pass. We could both swing the full payment on our individual incomes, though it would be tight. But we figured that it would be one less thing for the other to worry about during a stressful and upsetting time. My policy is through work and he has a stand alone policy. I also have a $10k whole life policy that my parents got when I was little. One of the things on my to-do list this year is to get some term quotes so that I am covered even if I leave this job. Also, I will most likely be cashing out the whole life policy, as I have been having to pay $50-$75 per year to keep it.

[Angio333]

My wife and I each have $240,000 in term insurance.

[coreys]

I have 250k on me for 20 years and hubbie has 1.5 million for 20 years and 500k through his work. We are in debt and have young ones at home so I don't think we're overinsured. If anything I may try to up ours.

[jIM_Ohio]

500k me
500k wife
plus the coverage from our employers.

I have 2X salary from employer at no cost and wife has 1X at no cost. The employer money pays off short term debts (like cars) and frees up some cash flow in budget.

The 500k can sit in bank, earn 4% and we probably would not need to draw the money down until kids either went to private HS or college.

[Merch]

I have 1.5 million on me. None on my wife. I'll probably get 300k - 500k on her.

I heard to have about 8 times your income.

The thing you have to think about is if you and your wife die. You don't want them to be a financial burden. I have the kids goinf to one family matter and another one controling the trust. I think 1.5 million would be enough to take care of the kids and pay for college and high school.