Life insurance question - no kids yet, no house yet

[newlywed2012]

I am thinking my husband should maybe take out a policy but don't know what kind to get. And I don't know if we get term life insurance how long to make it. Suze Orman says it should last until your youngest child turns 20, but we don't have children yet but would like to start a family soon. We do not have a house yet either. We are 30 and 32 and neither of us smokes or drives motorcycles or has had a serious illness. I'm very healthy and a part-time aerobics instructor, but my husband is overweight and eats junk. Try as I might, he won't make the changes to lose weight. It's the pessimist in me that keeps thinking life is too good for us right now and something terrible is going to happen soon. I know it's no way to think but I'm a Debbie Downer. I want to be financially secure and smart about things when times are good. I'm thinking it might be best to get a life insurance now and lock in rates - is that possible? - so he doesn't have something later that makes it much more expensive.

Also, if he takes out a 30-year term at X amount of dollars can we increase that amount in a few years if we find we have more kids than we anticipated?

[maat55]

I always get a 20 year term and renew it every five years. You should carry 8-10 times your yearly income. You can revisit your terms anytime you wish.

[MonkeyMama]

I'm thinking it might be best to get a life insurance now and lock in rates - is that possible? - so he doesn't have something later that makes it much more expensive.

Also, if he takes out a 30-year term at X amount of dollars can we increase that amount in a few years if we find we have more kids than we anticipated?

Yes, if you get a term policy it should lock in the rate for the length of the term.

Rather than increase an existing policy, you would generally replace it or supplement it with another policy.

I think it is good to plan ahead because rates are lower when you are younger and rates are low right now. & I would say this no mattter how healthy you are. So few people ever get around to getting ample life insurance that I think early is better than never. (& serious health problems can appear out of nowhere to those in the best of health - cancer is a perfect example).

I think one thing that seems to be missed by many is that you can always cancel a term life policy. So if you buy a policy now to hedge your bets, doesn't mean you have to keep it forever if things change and realize you don't need it after all.

[jpg7n16]

I am thinking my husband should maybe take out a policy but don't know what kind to get. And I don't know if we get term life insurance how long to make it. Suze Orman says it should last until your youngest child turns 20, but we don't have children yet but would like to start a family soon.

You should get coverage for the timeframe you have concerns about losing income.

You are banking part of your future on his income, and he on your's. So each of you should have some sort of coverage to take care of the other should something happen.

You should also consider disability policies. It's much more likely that you'll be disabled, than that you'll pass. It's obv worse if you pass, but it's not as likely.

We do not have a house yet either. We are 30 and 32 and neither of us smokes or drives motorcycles or has had a serious illness. I'm very healthy and a part-time aerobics instructor, but my husband is overweight and eats junk. Try as I might, he won't make the changes to lose weight. It's the pessimist in me that keeps thinking life is too good for us right now and something terrible is going to happen soon. I know it's no way to think but I'm a Debbie Downer. I want to be financially secure and smart about things when times are good. I'm thinking it might be best to get a life insurance now and lock in rates - is that possible? - so he doesn't have something later that makes it much more expensive.

Also, if he takes out a 30-year term at X amount of dollars can we increase that amount in a few years if we find we have more kids than we anticipated?

Assuming that you are both insurable at the new time you determine your insurance need has risen, then yes - you can buy an additional policy.

You never know what will happen. The fit aerobics instructor could get cancer or get hit by a car, while the person with poor eating habits today goes through life just fine. You never know. Insurance such as life insurance and disability insurance help minimize the financial impact of those risks.

My point is that you should both have some coverage to protect against the financial impact of death/disability.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

We didn't get any until we had kids. At the time like you we didn't have debt and we did have a house but we had 2.5x our income from work and we put 20% DP and had savings to cover the other person. Now we did however max out our disability insurance.

We'd heard from a lot of people that being disabled was a lot more likely so we got the maximum 70% in our state after tax allowed on our incomes. it's more likely you'll have cancer or other illness, need treatment, etc than straight out dying so we've been told. And surprisingly less people have disability insurance versus life insurance.

[mynarky]

I think it is good to plan ahead because rates are lower when you are younger and rates are low right now. & I would say this no mattter how healthy you are. So few people ever get around to getting ample life insurance that I think early is better than never. (& serious health problems can appear out of nowhere to those in the best of health - cancer is a perfect example).

I took it a step further as my grandfather did. By it well before you need it for a much large amount than you currently need. It costs pennies in your early 20's. Get it out of the way! When you're 40, whether healthy or not, it will clearly cost more than double to purchase then.