Life insurance

SammysMom · August 13th, 2006, 11:50 PM

My husband and I were talking today about life insurance. He has if from work but I dont. I feel its important to get it for me cause I could die unexpectedly.
Is there a good company to go with if you dont work and want life insurance on yourself? My mom I also found out doesnt have life insurance and is looking into it.
My biggest fear is passing away and leaving my husband or family to pay for the funeral out of their pocket. My husband's mother had a small policy like $20,000 and a policy that paid strictly for funeral expenses. I just dont want to be a burden to anyone and I also want my son to have something should I die so he can go to college.
Its sort of a depressing thing to think about but something that's been on my mind for the past year.

A*O · August 14th, 2006, 12:57 AM

You've been watching too many of those scary TV ads "If YOU die tomorrow do YOU want to burden your GRIEVING FAMILY with THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in funeral expenses"? [proudly sponsored by the American Funeral Directors Association].

By all means get yourself a life insurance policy but leave instructions that you want the money to be used for something positive like a college fund or to pay off the mortgage. Expensive funerals are a complete waste of money.

SammysMom · August 14th, 2006, 01:08 AM

You are so right. Oh my gosh do you have a hidden camera in my house watching me. HEHEHEHE
I dont want to be buried, I want to be cremated and divided up (I know it sounds weird) so my son, husband, 2 nephews and niece and sister can have a little bit of me with them always. I wouldnt mind having some of my ashes scattered in Alaska and Australia. I would hate for my body to be in the ground taking up "space" so to speak.

KD · August 14th, 2006, 03:20 AM

EEEWWW, Aunt Sammy left me some of her ashes! I wonder what part of her I got??

No, really, I *just* got life insurance on myself. Only $100,000, probably should have gotten more. Who will help my DH with all our children should anything happen to me? Also we just upped his to 500 or 600,000. I can't remember which.

A*O · August 14th, 2006, 03:54 AM

When my kids were younger MrAO had a fairly hefty life insurance policy to pay off the mortgage and any other debts and also perhaps employing someone to help me out as a single mother. Now the mortage is paid off and the kids are older and not so dependent or demanding it's not quite so necessary any more so we've reduced the payout. No amount of money is going to compensate for the loss of a parent, but at least you know the kids would have a secure financial future, ie no debts and perhaps enough to get them through colleage. As for funerals, like I say, the dead person doesn't give a shit whether he/she ends up in a paupers grave in a cardboard box or has a funeral and tomb to rival Elvis so spend the money on something else, especially a HUGE party/celebration of my life, not my death please.

missbazilb · August 14th, 2006, 12:35 PM

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

AliceInWonderland · August 14th, 2006, 01:06 PM

more importantly than life insurance; you need a Trust set up to decide what to do w/ you if you're in some kind of accident and you're incapacitated.

LynnieD · August 14th, 2006, 01:09 PM

And don't forget the Living Will!!

SammysMom · August 14th, 2006, 03:36 PM

Quote:

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.

Quote:

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