How much life insurance?

[thyme4change]

Arch - if it makes you feel better, we didn't have enough insurance for the first couple of years of my daughter's life. We had some - but not nearly enough. I think my company gave me one year of my income - so my husband wasn't totally screwed.

We upped it when the expiration date of the 20 year term made sense.

[yogiii]

Beth - I won't get prime because I had a parent that died at <55 years old. DH should get a good rate though.

[lynnerself]

Maybe we're pragmatic, but we never got enough insurance to pay off everything and let the surviving spouse take several months off. Basically we just acquired enough to replace the lost income, pay for additional child care and some of college.
Also, remember it doesn't have to be all at 20 or 30 years.
We had some for 15, 20 and 25 years, figuring that the amount we needed would decline as the children got older.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Bummer Yogii.

Yeah, we figured 25 years would put the kids in their mid to late 20s and us around 65. At that point, we'd need long term care more than life insurance... And currently, all our debts is around 85K or so and most of that will be done in the next 10 years.

[thyme4change]

We had some for 15, 20 and 25 years, figuring that the amount we needed would decline as the children got older.

That is a good idea, and I didn't think of it when we signed up. I should have!

[april47]

I'm not so sure about these 20 yr term life insurance policies. My husband and I both got a $100,000 15 yr term a while back. I had to unfortunately benefit from his when he died a few years ago. The 15 years is up in 2 yrs now for mine and the cost at my age has skyrocketed! I could actually keep my policy if I went from $35 a month to $2100 a month. Obviously I'm not keeping it. Everyone contemplating 20 years for a policy better think how old they are now and what their needs will be then too. If you have pre-existing contitions and are over 62 you'll be lucky to get a policy with enough to bury you. Time really flies.

[thyme4change]

Actually, that is exactly why we went for a 20 year term. I didn't want to be without insurance while my kids were under 18 (actually, under 20) but I didn't want to have to renew my insurance when I was approaching 50. I was able to lock in my rates for 20 years, and when it expires, I'm done. If something happens to one of us after that, the other one will have to depend on our savings, investments and their own earning power. It makes sense for us because we both work.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Jun 1, 2011 13:44:08 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Actually, that is exactly why we went for a 20 year term. I didn't want to be without insurance while my kids were under 18 (actually, under 20) but I didn't want to have to renew my insurance when I was approaching 50. I was able to lock in my rates for 20 years, and when it expires, I'm done. If something happens to one of us after that, the other one will have to depend on our savings, investments and their own earning power. It makes sense for us because we both work.

Yeah, that's kind of our thoughts too. We need it for the next 15-20 years but went with 25 because I wanted a bit of a buffer as the kids are 3 and 19 months. After that, we're probably done with life insurance.

[brian964]

In my experience it is cheaper getting quotes online. Some of the top insurance companies offer discounts when ordering online, because it is less work for them. But to be safe you could compare rates online, pick the best offer and try a local agency to see if they can match it or do better: www.quotes-center.com/life-insurance-premium-calculator

[IPAfan]

I just bought a $500,000 20 year term policy today for $55 a month. I think that's expensive for my age, but I'm not in the best health. I've got a wife and three kids. My wife is going back to school (she has a bachelor's degree, but no earnings potential) for law school. If I kick the can I want to provide enough for my family to live for at least a few years while my wife retrains + enough money to help with more childcare.

I think $500,000 should be plenty to bridge any gap. I've actually got a $250,000 policy as well (that's even more expensive for the amount of coverage) and I suspect I'll let that one lapse.