[SammysMom]

Originally Posted by missbazilb

I work in this biz, not for individuals, but I happen to be studying for another license and have some fresh stuff in my brain. Your husband's life insurance will be what's called "term", and is a payout if he passes away while employed with his company.

A better type of life insurance is called participating whole life. It costs a little more, but has a savings component that can end up being worth a considerable amount of money, depending on your age when you buy it. It pays dividends that you can reinvest, and with compounding, can add up to tens of thousands of dollars over the years. Also, you want to get a policy with a non-forfeiture clause, that will use the cash reserves if you can't afford your premium for any reason. This is important, because in America, the regulations are slightly different, and the insurance companies can cancel your contract for non-payment right away without that clause. It's bullsh*t, but they can do it.

Hopefully this helps

Oh it helps. I have been reading up on the different life insurances and Im pretty sure Im going to go for what they call "permanent life". Im looking at going with MetLife.

Permanent life insurance is distinguished from term insurance in several ways. While term insurance provides protection only for a specific initial period of time, permanent insurance can provide protection for your entire lifetime, or in certain instances, up to a specific age -- at which point MetLife will pay the policy owner the cash value. In addition, permanent life insurance policies can build a cash value -- money that you can borrow against and, in some instances, withdraw to help meet future goals, such as paying for a child's college education. Note: You will usually have to wait a period of time after the purchase of your policy for sufficient cash value to accumulate for you to borrow against. If the unpaid interest on your loan plus your outstanding loan balance exceeds the amount of your policy's cash value, your policy and all coverage will terminate.

Permanent life insurance policies enjoy favorable tax treatment. Cash value generally grows on a tax-deferred basis, meaning that you pay no taxes on any earnings in the policy so long as the policy remains in force. Cash value may be taken out of the policy income tax free, as long as you adhere to certain premium limits so your policy is not considered a Modified Endowment Contract (MEC). Policy loans generally are not considered taxable income, and withdrawals generally can be taken up to the amount of premiums paid without being taxed.

The two general types of permanent life insurance policies are Whole Life, a dividend-paying policy,* and Universal Life, flexible policy.
http://www.metlife.com/Applications/...2,P392,00.html