TTMA: Life Insurance

[ellabee]

So, I feel like I need to get on this...

Do you have life insurance? What kind is it? What's your premium like? 


DH and I set up our will/trusts when we had DD, but we haven't gotten around to buying life insurance (beyond the minimum policy that my job covers..1M I think?). It feels irresponsible to not have it, so I'm resolved to getting us signed up in the next month or so. Halp. 

[hurricanerek]

We just bought more insurance. I forget the term but we bought the kind where the rate stays the same for 20 years. We got a $250,000 policy for DH (he gets matched through work too) and $150,000 for me. I know my plan costs $154 a year. My costs went down because my urine and blood tests came back with excellent results.


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[Nymeria]

MH and I did life insurance (in addition to what I get through work) just after we started TTC DS. I don't have the paperwork on hand, but they are term policies and go until 80 or 85.

The policy on MH is enough to pay off the house and my student loans, cover final expenses, plus some amount of expected future expenses. The policy on me covers all the same, plus money to cover MH during retirement since most of the retirement savings is through me (he's self-employed).

We worked with someone at Northwestern Mutual who ran some scenarios to give us some recommended coverage amounts. We started really high, and can reduce coverage as we decide it's no longer needed, rather than trying to add coverage as we get older.

We also did long-term disability policies which I think are just as important to have.

[pippa]

DH and I signed up through SelectQuote (after hearing a recommendation from a parenting poster). The process was super easy. They sent a nurse out to do our physical exams.

The policies are through Banner Life. Both are 30 term and came to about $100 a month for both. My premium was more than DH's because my policy is double his.

[moutonrouge]

We both have term life, but I'm not sure about the premiums. DH has more than me because his salary is double mine.

When thinking about what we needed, the idea is that my policy will basically cover a night nurse and extra nanny care for DD until she's old enough to be in school, final expenses, and some ongoing expenses/savings. DHs policy would pay off the house, final expenses, and give me a good cushion until I can sell the house and move. My job is mobile and I'd leave for a lower COL area, otherwise his policy would need to be much larger.

Ours are through Amica. They sent a nurse to our offices and it took a good little while to get it all sorted out.

[marshian]

I had a whole thing typed up and APTM ate it. Here we go again. H and I both have term life insurance policies. We got them last year before I got pregnant.

H: 20-year, $2 million policy, $74/month premium
Me: 10-year, $750k policy, $34/month premium

We got ours through North American Company. Our financial adviser had us do one application and health screening (they come to your house, super easy) which was sent to 5 companies. We got quotes for different term lengths and payouts.

The logic for us is H will be a full attending surgeon in a few years and will have a significant pay bump. His insurance needs to cover our mortgage, childcare, college for kids, living costs, etc. While I'm the breadwinner, my insurance needs to cover the mortgage and childcare, which will leave his current salary for living costs (much more manageable once those two items are paid off). We will convert H's term policy to a permanent/whole life policy at some point.

If a financial adviser is a possibility, I highly suggest one for life insurance purchasing. It can be tricky to understand.

[emilie]

We bought insurance for H before DD was born. I am working on getting mine now that my weight is back in a non overweight range, yay.

I am usually very DIY about everything but insurance is one of those things where you really should use an agent because they can get the quotes from various companies so much more easily than you can individually. The key is to use an independent agent - one who can pull quotes from many companies and who doesn't just sell insurance for one company. You can get a good ballpark on quotes at the term4sale website and they can give you names and numbers of some good independent agents based on your zip code.

And so that's the other thing. There are lots of different types of life insurance (whole life, variable, universal). I think a lot of them are just and investments. I recommend getting TERM life insurance. This is a fixed term where the rate stays the same over that term.

What we ended up doing after figuring out the overall amount that we wanted to insure for was take out two term policies - one for 20 years and one for 30 years. This is less expensive than a full 30 year policy but also provides us with a little extra security past the 20 year mark.

[cmb]

We have multiple policies on both of us.

Through work, we each have a policy of $20k for the spouse and 3x each of our salaries. I also have a small policy on each kid. This would only pay out if we die while working there.

For private, we each have term plans that we got two weeks before DS1 was born. Each is for $500k:

Mine: $17/month, 15 year term
DH: $24/month, 10 year term.

We did term based on a financial advisor's recommendation. We'll be reapplying soonish to add more as both of our salaries have significantly increased in the past year

[moonandback]

You've got great info about insurance, so I just want to suggest that you also put together a will. Especially if you have specific opinions about who should get custody of your child.

[notagoddess]

MH is the main breadwinner in our family -- his salary is 2x mine. We buy life insurance through his work. It's the additional, optional coverage beyond the small policy offered by his work. I think he has a $500k plan. I currently only have the small plan offered through my work.