Life Insurance - why did we procrastinate?

joanieb

joanieb

New Member
Location
Upstate New York
Hello everyone.:) This is my first post - and a boring one. I hope to do better in the future!

Foolishly my husband and I never bought life insurance. He had a great policy through work but is now retiring. Panic time. Term would be cheap, but we need to be covered until the end of our lives. The 'whole life' policies can end up costing hundreds a month, which we couldn't possibly handle. Just wondered if anyone has been through this and what you did.

Thanks for reading - I appreciate it.
 

I bought term life when I was 66. One hundred thousand policy cost $895 per year. Guaranteed ten years at that price. As we get older we really don't need as much life insurance..

Just stay away from those that advertise on tv or send flyers in the mail. I got mine with Shelter where we also have car and home insured.
 
Hubby & I don't have life insurance. We don't want it. Both plan on no fan-fair when our lives end. Both want cremation without a service. Whichever one of us remains alive will be in good shape. Everything's paid for & there's money in the bank. There's also good health benefits and ongoing income from retirement, social security, etc. will continue.
 

Like Lois, my husband and I have never bought a life insurance policy. We don't have any children, and we both want to be cremated, so the cost when one of us passes will be minimal and affordable. We didn't want another monthly bill to pay.
 
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Starting a small whole life policy, especially when you are young, is good because they are so cheap then, and the cost never goes up. Then, if you have a family, term policies are cheap at that age, and can be bought for the time that you need the extra income for the family if something happens.

Once we are retirement age, a small burial policy is about all that is needed, so a small whole life policy can still be affordable, if you don't have any other insurance.
It is always best not to get one put out by a specific funeral home, since you have no idea where you will be when you die, and it could be on vacation somewhere, or an accident on a trip.
I needed something just to cover final expenses, so I won't be a burden to my daughter when I die; and I found a policy that is not worth much more than the payments for the first two years, but after that, it is in full force. It also pays extra if it is an accidental loss of life, and that is in force right away.

Just because you are in good health now, you can't assume that will still be true later. A car accident can leave one person dead, and the other seriously injured, and the expenses can be much higher than you plan for, in this case.
Even when you have a large life policy, it is always a good idea to have a small policy as well. The small one will pay off right away, so the beneficiary will have money for immediate expenses, whereas, the large policy could take much longer to pay out, especially if the cause of death has to be determined as natural or accidental.
My friend's husband died when he had a heart attack, and the car ran into a tree.
They didn't know which happened first; did he have a heart attack and run off the road, or did he slide on the ice, run off the road, and have the heart attack when he hit the tree.
If there is an accidental death clause, then this kind of thing is important, and can delay the payout for months.
That is when that little policy, which should pay immediately, can be very important to your beneficiaries.
 
Recently, while making final arrangements for my son, I had to tell them I would have to have some time to find the money. The man asked me about life insurance. I thought he meant my son's, who didn't have any, of course. No, he wanted me to let him put a lien on my policy. I cound not believe him, in the first place we are not responsible for our son's debts. We will take of our son, but is that normal procedures? :cart:
 
Ina said:
Recently, while making final arrangements for my son, I had to tell them I would have to have some time to find the money. The man asked me about life insurance. I thought he meant my son's, who didn't have any, of course. No, he wanted me to let him put a lien on my policy. I cound not believe him, in the first place we are not responsible for our son's debts. We will take of our son, but is that normal procedures? :cart:
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Actually, taking out a policy loan on your life insurance might not be a bad thing, if you are paying for all the final expenses for your son, anyway. I don't know if they can legally hold you responsible to pay, since your son is very much an adult, unless you sign paperwork to be responsible for the expenses.

If the interest rate is low, you might be paying less interest than if you have to get a bank (or other) loan. Also, there is no qualification to borrow the money, and you can take whatever time you need to pay back the policy loan, rather than having a set amount to pay each month.
You do not let the man take out a lien, you ask the insurance company for a policy loan on your policy, if you do it that way.
I think if he took out a lein on your policy, then you would not have to pay anything right now, but the money would come out when you die, and your policy is cashed in, so that might be an option to look into, as well.
 
My family for several generations have believed in cremation, and those generations have been distributed in our small lake at the back of our property. So cost is not a large burden. My husband and I have both $60,000. policies. We wanted enough there for the survivor to have enough to be able to have some fredom time to contemplate what they need, without the pressures of money, family, and grief. We don't to be at the mercy of anyone. :cart:
 
We both plan to be cremated too, but burial is not where the expense is. Living expenses are what's important. Most of our retirement income comes from my pension and my social security. If I die first my pension is set up so she will receive the same amount but the social security benefits will drop. The $100,000 policy I got is very reasonable. It will stop after ten years if I'm still alive (hopefully ) but then she'll have less years to live and the money won't be needed so much.
 
Thanks everyone - I didn't know I had received so many responses. I appreciate it.

We are being cremated too - it isn't the final expenses I'm concerned with. We just want to leave each other with something to work with - as Ina said. We do not own property (yet) and will not have much in the way of retirement income. So, it's a little scary. If we buy term policies they will most likely end long before either of us have died.
 


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