Comments on: Should I Buy Term Life Insurance?

By: Christian

Christian — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:37:07 +0000

Only $54/mo for a 1 million dollar life insurance policy?!?!? Please tell me who your broker is! I am 31 years old (and in excellent health) and I pay $70/mo for a policy of $300k. I wonder if the premium is somehow based on location of where you live as I live in Los Angeles?

By: jessica

jessica — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:18:32 +0000

I should be clear–wife’s assets become part of the “estate” as do your debts, so to clear the estate debts must be paid. That’s what was taught to me–but as always, seek proper legal advise on this one.

By: jessica

jessica — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:16:59 +0000

I just heard Dave Ramsey talking about this today on the podcast from yesterday–he says that in 20 years you should be financially secure because you should have enough in the bank and your house paid off. He thinks that beyond that, it’s not cost effective.

Honestly, I’m likely to keep life insurance a lot longer than I “need” to. For now our policy is super cheap, but if our price increase in 18 years is outrageous then I might rethink or lower the amount, but this is an area where I’m cautious.

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:12:15 +0000

I have 500K on myself. I am married with 2 kids. I think it’s sufficient but I will review my situation once a year. Do wait until you get married before getting the coverage. Doing so before marriage means you’ll have to go through name changes and paperwork. Good Luck.
BTW….I think 10X annual income is a good guide.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:52:07 +0000

Even if it is a joint property state, she is not liable for the debt. She didn’t sign for it. If you however move the debt or change the terms, she may become liable if her name is added to the note.

On the insurance deal, you might decide to get 20 year term. You can pick up another 20 year policy in a few years once you have children. I have a large family and my initial policy just isn’t large enough now so I am adding another policy. This is due to needing more financial coverage than the length. The initial policy will end once the last one is more self sufficient which gets us past the early years where more care is needed.

By: jessica

jessica — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:59:52 +0000

You might check with an attorney on this, but I think as soon as you’re married (since WA is a community property state) your wife also inherits ALL debt, so it would be more than just whatever is owed to your mom. I’d do whatever is owed plus 10x your annual income.

For our family of four $500k each was good enough plus we’re setting up a special needs trust to ensure our youngest daughter always has health insurance available to her, even if something were to happen to my husband and I.

A million might be excessive, but you’re a young guy, and if you’re in good health, you’ll likely get great rates, so may as well buy it now (maybe buy the 30 year term instead of 20 to lock in those low rates?). We only qualified for 20 year term (I had open heart surgery the year before I applied for insurance and that seriously messes up one’s insurance qualifications)