Term Insurance. How much do I need and for how long?
Wibble - 2006-11-07 10:02:01 - Insurance
I am married and in my thirties my wife is the same age. We have an 18 month child and another baby on the way. After doing some research between Whole Life and Term Insurance I decided that Term Insurance should be able to fulfill my needs incase something should happen. My question is:
1) Am I making the right decision in going with Term?
2) How much coverage should I buy
3) How many years should I buy
4) Can anyone recommend a reputable Insurance Company
Thanks!
Best Answer:
1. Yes. You will find that you can afford much more coverage at a much better price and use the difference between term and Whole Life to save on your own.
2. You should buy as much term as you need to replace the income your family would lose if you were to die. Make certain to buy enough to pay off the house and put your kids through school.
3. A 20-year level premium term policy is a great idea. It locks in the rate for 20 years. By then, you'll have paid off your house (hopefully) and put most of the two kids through school. As you age, you need the income replacement less and less.
Caveat: At the end of the term, you will not have a cash value. So after 20 years, if you didn't die, then you will have nothing from the insurance policy except that peace of mind for the last 20 years that you did the right thing and had insurance.
Hopefully, you will have been diligently saving the extra that you didn't pay for Whole Life and put it into extra house payments, college savings and your retirement plans.
4. There are plenty of good, low cost term policies out there. There are so many good ones that recommending any one or two is a disservice.
You will likely hear from some who claim its a great idea to buy whole life......and it is a good idea for those who want to leave some money to their heirs...but the cost is so much higher that unless you are in the upper middle class where the extra cost won't put you in a pinch and you can easily afford both the insurance and your other savings costs (house, college, etc.), then it isn't worth it.
Remember that those that tell you whole life is a good idea are almost exclusively those who profit off people who make the same decision. Whole life contains a lot of high fees, costs and commissions that you can dramatically lower by buying term.
Answer:
wayne - 2006-11-07 10:12:38
yes you need the best life insurance available due to you poor dient,excessive drinking and motorcycle riding
markmywordz - 2006-11-07 11:35:43
1. Yes. You will find that you can afford much more coverage at a much better price and use the difference between term and Whole Life to save on your own.
2. You should buy as much term as you need to replace the income your family would lose if you were to die. Make certain to buy enough to pay off the house and put your kids through school.
3. A 20-year level premium term policy is a great idea. It locks in the rate for 20 years. By then, you'll have paid off your house (hopefully) and put most of the two kids through school. As you age, you need the income replacement less and less.
Caveat: At the end of the term, you will not have a cash value. So after 20 years, if you didn't die, then you will have nothing from the insurance policy except that peace of mind for the last 20 years that you did the right thing and had insurance.
Hopefully, you will have been diligently saving the extra that you didn't pay for Whole Life and put it into extra house payments, college savings and your retirement plans.
4. There are plenty of good, low cost term policies out there. There are so many good ones that recommending any one or two is a disservice.
You will likely hear from some who claim its a great idea to buy whole life......and it is a good idea for those who want to leave some money to their heirs...but the cost is so much higher that unless you are in the upper middle class where the extra cost won't put you in a pinch and you can easily afford both the insurance and your other savings costs (house, college, etc.), then it isn't worth it.
Remember that those that tell you whole life is a good idea are almost exclusively those who profit off people who make the same decision. Whole life contains a lot of high fees, costs and commissions that you can dramatically lower by buying term.
mbrcatz17 - 2006-11-07 12:32:47
Absolutely, go with term. It's pure insurance, you get the most bang for your buck. Buy the longest term you can - usually it's 20 years. Make sure it's "renewable and convertible". Buy as much as you can comfortably afford - at least $250,000, but $1,000,000 if the premium is cheap enough.
You should start with the agent that sells your house car insurance, but call some local agents, get AT LEAST three quotes. They'll know who's the most competitive in your area.
Be sure to check the company rating - you do NOT want to buy insurance from a company that's rated lower than A- with AM Best.
Also, at the same time, you should look at putting some insurance on your wife. If, heaven forbid, she kicks off and leaves you with two little ones, you'll need to be able to hire a nanny to help raise them.
AmericaInsured - 2006-11-07 14:56:23
Get A Free Quote For Your Term Insurance And Find Out For Yourself
Get Your Free Quote Here: http://www.insureme.com/?refby=614482...
They Have Affordable Rates
rahnside - 2006-11-07 17:54:32
1) Am I making the right decision in going with Term?
I personaly think that you should have a policy that would cover you for as long as possible for as long as possible what I recomend to my clients is that they have 2 policies 1 a whole life policy for $100,000.00 that would cover you for the rest of your life and the second a trem policy now you said your children one 18 months and the second is on the way so if they go to college you are looking at 23 to 28 years so I would recomend a 30 year term for the rest of your coverage.
2) How much coverage should I buy
I am a big believer in at least 10 times your annual income however it would depend on your budget and what kind of income you plan to make over the next 30 years to support your family
3) How many years should I buy
well I think you should go with a whole life policy Equity Index UL for $100,000.00 that would be good for the rest of your life and then a 30 year trem on the rest if you can afford it and make sure you move forward on it now instead of a few years because the rates go up every year and as you hit 35 and 40 respectively those rates jump more then they would before those ages
4) Can anyone recommend a reputable Insurance Company
well if you send me a IM I can ether help you myself with the choice of over 10 AM Best rated A- or better or if I am not licensed in that state I will get you in touch with the other gentleman in my office that is licensed in the states that I am not licensed in.
A Life Insurance Specialist
Rahn Sidebotham
IM:rahnside
Hadley - 2006-11-08 06:41:59
1) I believe you are making the right decision to buy term, because term will provide you with the maximum amount of coverage at the lowest cost.
2) The amount of coverage you buy depends on you and your family's financial needs. Go to http://www.term-life-online.com/term-life-insurance-calculator.html to use the life insurance needs calculator to determine your life insurance needs. It only takes a minute or two.
3) How long do you need term life insurance? You need it for as long as you have loved ones who rely on you for financial support. There are term insurance plans that offer coverage for up to 30 or 40 years. That may be right for your situation.
4) There are several reputable life insurance companies that offer term life insurance - There is a list of leading term life insurance companies at http://www.term-life-online.com/top-term-life-insurance-companies.html
I hope that helps you find the term life insurance coverage you need.
MostChoice.com - 2006-11-10 12:39:36
The general rule of thumb is 5 to 10 times your annual salary (many people meet in the middle and multiply their annual salary by 7).
I’ve linked to two articles describing how you calculate how much life insurance you need and two links to online calculators to help you figure it out. The first article includes some online calculators and tables as well. Deciding how much life insurance is enough is a very personal decision – what’s right for you might not be right for someone else. I’ve also linked to an article about what to look for in renewable term life insurance.
Once you’ve figured out how much life insurance you would like to purchase, try shopping around for the perfect policy at MostChoice.com. Like a lot of sites, you can find free online quotes and policy information, but you can also get in touch with locally licensed life insurance agents. Talking with more than one agent will help you better understand what’s available near you and putting more than one agent to work for you will increase the chance that you will quickly find the right coverage at the right price.
You can find MostChoice here:
http://www.mostchoice.com/life-insurance.cfm
Good luck!
Barnes@MostChoice