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.
Years ago I bought 2 policies on my husband who was the main breadwinner. One larger one is until age 65 and a smaller one till age 70. I have a small one on myself. He is now 62. We were only in our 40s when I purchased them and 65 & 70 seemed so old then! The cost is very reasonable but will be too expensive to renew.
We have little insurance. Only what was available free from former employer and it declines until at age 65 its enough to pay burial expenses. But, we don't need it, the cost was prohibitive and it was much cheaper more lucrative to pay for survivor annuities on both our pensions.
On the other hand, my sister and BIL had several hundred thousand which I presume was fairly affordable through his employer and he was still employed at 65 when he died. That life insurance meant a huge difference in my sisters situation. Because of a ten year age difference she is unable yet to collect SS.
Without the insurance, she would have probably had to go back to work and significantly downsize her lifestyle. Or, she would have had to hit their savings much harder/faster than they had planned or would be wise.
I don't know if this was foresight on my BIL part or if he would have gotten rid of the insurance when he retired next year, but she would have been in a bad situation if he did and died then. So, you really need to look at what will happen to the surviving spouse in the worst possible situation, not just if you live a normal life expectancy.
Plus the beauty of life insurance is its all tax free vs pulling money out of IRA's or other tax sheltered savings that may become taxable.
As all things, depends on your situation. For us I took out life insurance at 60 because I was the one with a pension, not my DH. We weighed the options of reducing my pension and taking survivors benefits and the difference was such the life insurance annual premium was less than I was losing if I took survivor benefits.
We made exactly the same choice and took out a Term Life policy on my wife. The only downside here is that they would only write the policy for 20-years (until she turns 85). But, by that time, I suspect the loss of her pension will no longer be an issue. - In fact, it may cease to be a real issue prior to then, but, the premiums are too reasonable to not keep it in force for estate purposes.
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.
