Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm looking to buy life insurance for myself. Any recommendations?
31 yr. old male, married w/ 9 month old, good health, non-smoker, live in Suffolk County.
You will get a lot of different reccomondations on here depending on what your "goals" are and life siutation, but I'm in a similar siutation than you. If you are looking for what "insurance" was designed for, you will be fine with a term policy covering you for a 20 or 30 year term and policy benefit that will at least cover all your current expenses (ie. mortgage) and future exsense (ie. children college education). There are variable and universal policies that will have a growth benefit with a guranteed payout, however your premimim will be a lot higher. For me, the best decsion was to save on the premium and invest that money on my own.
I'm looking to buy life insurance for myself. Any recommendations?
31 yr. old male, married w/ 9 month old, good health, non-smoker, live in Suffolk County.
This company is good. I found them when I was really young and they're better than ever:
I also have life insurance through my job. Have you tried to get some through your job? Usually they will pay for it up to a certain amount and you can choose to supplement it and get more coverage on your own dime.
i am against cash value policies but unless you are a good saver or investor the wild card of course is do you think you can save enough on your own so your spouse is self sufficiant without it at retirement.
while everyone talks a good game about not needing it after the kids are grown and the mortgage paid the fact is your spouse may need it late in life and you may be a poor saver or investor.
no one really should be telling anyone what to do without knowing the situation.. to many spouse get the crap end of the stick because the husband dies and does not have enough in savings during retirement. term ends and the spouse has little.
there are so many questions to be reviewed..
does the husbands pension end without spousal benefits.? are there annuities involved that do not pass to the surviving spouse?
will the loss of a social security check hurt the surviving spouse?
these all are part of the deciding factor before you say get term only.
i could list alot more deciding factors but you get the idea.
remember we are not talking buying whole life for the cash value, thats not good sense. we are talking needing insurance until death.
many folks have income from other sources that may end for the other spouse when they do.
anything happens to my wife and a pension she gets from her deceased husband ends. if i wasn't a good investor my entire life i would need life insurance on her or it could be a hardship.
Last edited by mathjak107; 02-14-2013 at 03:08 PM..
there other valid reasons too for going whole life. while federal estate limits are quite high ny has a pretty low estate tax limit. in fact some states are way lower , others have inheritance taxes. some have both inheritance and an estate tax.
you can pass quite a bit of money through life insurance tax free and outside the estate.
if i leave my wife a 1 million dollar ira she has to take rmd's and we have no clue what taxes will be . you can buy a spl policy for less then what the policy pays and you can leave your wife 1 million tax free dollars instead of the ira.
notice not one reason i gave is cash value on it.
i just wanted to give ya'all a little education why it is so bad to believe our own bull-sh*t many times.
most of us take the little bits we hear and without knowing all the details we spew what is in our head but the fact is our head can be missing many pieces of the puzzle.
whole life policies are high because they are designed to actually have to pay off if held to old age death.
term only pays off if you happen to die when you are younger or die while a policy is in effect but basically they just end when you stop paying. . there is not a 100% chance term will ever have to pay off like whole life would.
they are high ,that is why you really need to think things through.
if you are single with no dependents there may be no reason at all to even have insurance. if you are married that is another issue.
it is not the little bits we save from our pay checks that deveolps wealth. a penny saved is a penny earned but it is still a penny.
our wealth for most of us will come from decades of investing those pennys saved and compounding capital gains.
well if you know you are a risk adverse person or have little interest or knowledge in investing then odds are you won't accumulate that much over time either.
unless you can sock away alot of dough with no growth and most of us can not then you need to think about how your spouse will survive and on what.
not getting a whole life policy may be the most expensive mistake you make in that case.
the problem with whole life vs term comparisions is they are used for different purposes and times of our life but whole life is marketed like it is some kind of savings plan.
it is not. life insurance is all about what if i die? it is not a plan for what if i live?
annuities are a plan for what if i live, they are the exact opposite of life insurance and are designed to deal with what if i live? yet whole life goes to market as if it was some great savings plan if you live . it is not. most of the time it is quite poor when used for a what if i live product.
basically in its simplist form there is no savings aspect at all in whole life despite the way they explain it to you.
a whole life policy is 100% life insurance premium. that high price is the cost of having a policy until death no matter how old.
the cash value is actually an agreed upon refund of some of your premium if you cancel and are not going to use the insurance.
that is all it is folks. it is a refund of over payment .
that cash value is not even in an account in your name. it is the insurance companies money and like a store refund they give you some back.
that is why when you die no matter what your cash value was your heirs only get the face value of the policy . there is no cash value in actuality, never was.
heck , maybe i should sell this stuff, i seem to have the rap .. ha ha ha . on second thought without promoting it as a savings vehicle i would do lousy.
Last edited by mathjak107; 02-15-2013 at 03:29 AM..
mathjak107 got it right. Life insurance provides valuable financial protection to an individual at various points in the person’s life. Depending on the financial risks you want to secure, the usual are:
Terms are affordable at young age, however, it becomes very expensive later on. Dropping it will lessen the protection for your love ones. Whole life can help off-set that with its build-in equity mechanisms. The equity also provides tax and inflation protections. Which can be a better source of deferred income for high net-worth or high tax-bracket individuals.
Also, for individual who wants to stay independent and protect against care at old age. (no family or friend to help with care) There are whole life policies with medical/assisted living options. These services can be very expensive later on and can easily wipe out a person’s life savings in a matter of 1-2 years.
Anyway, life insurance is a major purchase/commitment and requires a through evaluation. Just think, it is comparable to a 50 year mortgage. I suggest first discuss it with your love ones and write down what the needs are. Talk to different reputable life insurer’s agents about your needs and how they can help you reach those goals. Verify those benefits with your tax advisor, attorney or research it on the web. Take your time to evaluate those plans and proposals, 6 months to 2 years is very reasonable. Lastly, make sure you can afford it without making significant changes to your current life style.
one correction , it sucks if you want it for any kind of income. that is why you buy an annuity.
life insurance has one use, dying... annuities have one use ,living. they become bad deals when you veer from the intended purpose.
the policy becomes overly priced if used in any way for its refund amount or as they call it cash value. it means you way over paid for the insurance part .
even though that cash value is some of what you over paid they still keep way to much compared to term.
the beauty of whole life is only that you will still have insurance into old age and until you die. anything else get term and invest elsewhere.
Last edited by mathjak107; 02-20-2013 at 11:56 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
