slo’s MONDAY 4/4 poll - Life Insurance (part 1)

[slo]

This is a 3 part poll - first today, second tomorrow and third on Wednesday

Do you have life insurance for yourself?
If yes…how many?
(multiple choice)

*tomorrows poll will be about life insurance for your children.
*Wednesdays poll will be about life insurance for your spouse.


For Me…..I have 3 life insurance policies for myself.
One my parents started when I was born
The other two were started after I got married.

*The inspiration for these polls is me paying over $400 this month on life insurance policies. Every month is different in regards to amount, but I can always count on spending at least $200 a month on life insurance. I asked my DH if he thought other people had all these policies for themself, spouse and kids and he thinks that more people don’t than do. So….I decided to do these polls to see if he’s correct.
There‘s no right or wrong with your answer, everyone needs to do what’s right for them. Both our parents ground into our heads that everyone needs life insurance, so that’s what we do.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

Sadly a lot of people don’t even when offered cheaply through your job - a person I used to work with who was fairly young and had 6 kids and made very good money and spouse did not work died and did not have any life ins. That woman lost everything because of that - yet he could have gotten some so cheap at work - boggles my mind . For what it’s worth we did several fund raisers for the family
Yes I have life ins - I don’t feel I ever have enough but as I have aged and gained issues it’s not so cheap and easy to obtain - I work for a very small co - if they Wouk’s someday offer us life insurance I would sign up for that too
I also have a policy through my DH job also although it’s very small
I’ve got enough to take care of business - as long as I die before I get real old and the premiums become insane

 

[mjkacmom]

Yes, I pay about $20 a month for $500,000 on me, although we are almost at the end of the 20 year term. I was a SAHM, so that amount was to cover childcare, housekeeping, etc. if something happened to me. My parents has a policy for me which I cashed out in college to help pay for a car.

 

[Kitty 34]

No

 

[Christine]

I have one term life on myself and I have life insurance through my work.

My term ends next year and I pay $32 per month for $250,000. Didn't get it until my 30s and I had a cancer diagnosis so not overly cheap. My husband's pays $23 for $250,000. As I said both of ours end next year. I doubt we will renew because if either of us goes, we have the money to take care of things and no one will be kicked out and left destitute. Nearing retirement, I'm looking for ways to cut expenses and that's running me $60 per month but would be a lot more on renewal.

 

[nene0182]

I just have the policy through my job which is free and worth 2x my current yearly salary and then my husband has one on me through his job. (Not sure how much it’s worth but it’s super cheap)

 

[RedAngie]

I do have a policy that is part of my benefits package from work. I’m not even sure of the amount, but it isn’t all that much.

My parents got a life insurance policy on me when I was a very young child. For $1000. Probably because my uncle was a insurance salesman.

Anyway, it’s sitting In Pennsylvania’s unclaimed property agency. My childhood street is misspelled on their website, and I have nothing to prove I ever lived there. There are other options, but it’s too much of a hassle for such a small amount.

 

[BrianL]

I do not have life insurance as I have nobody who would need to be named a beneficiary - no dependents. I do get a small policy with my work benefits, but it's not large unless it were to be work-related, which is unlikely to happen sitting in my cubicle.

 

[fla4fun]

I have a small personal policy. I had coverage through work, but lost that when the company closed down.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Yes have through both my work and private.
We pay less than $100 a month for our private policies for husband and I.
Work one is super cheap.

 

[Meriweather]

No

none here either

 

[mumto3girls]

2 on me. 1 that DH and I bought and 1 that my parents bought me when I was born.

 

[ronandannette]

DH and I each have one policy as part of our work benefits. They’re not huge; 2.5X our annual salaries at the time of our death, should such a thing occur while we are employed. The policies will no longer be in force once we leave our companies.

DH will retire first, somewhere between the ages of 70 and 72, according to our current plans. By that time, buying a private policy will be prohibitively expensive and we see now that not having had a private policy in place previously was a mistake of sorts. Oh well, at least we understand and have planned our retirement finances to NOT include an insurance windfall.

 

[mjkacmom]

DH and I each have one policy as part of our work benefits. They’re not huge; 2.5X our annual salaries at the time of our death, should such a thing occur while we are employed. The policies will no longer be in force once we leave our companies.

DH will retire first, somewhere between the ages of 70 and 72, according to our current plans. By that time, buying a private policy will be prohibitively expensive and we see now that not having had a private policy in place previously was a mistake of sorts. Oh well, at least we understand and have planned our retirement finances to NOT include an insurance windfall.

Once my husband retires we won’t need life insurance, because we have our retirement accounts.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

DH and I each had life insurance when we had a mortgage and kids to raise and put through college. Never through a job, always self paid. Now that we are retired, the kids and married and out of the house, and the mortgage is paid, we don't really need it so don't carry it anymore.

 

[LoveSpringsteen]

I have 3 total now. I have one paid for by my employer, which is 2 X my salary. I also "buy up" additional life insurance through work. I also have a separate policy that I pay $74/month for - but it's really not much coverage on that one.

 

[ronandannette]

Once my husband retires we won’t need life insurance, because we have our retirement accounts.

“Need” is subjective when it comes to life insurance, I guess. I personally feel nobody “needs” it unless they are replacing the income of a bread-winning spouse or would need to hire out the work of an unpaid spouse (like in the case where minor children are being cared for at home). It may also be “needed” by those who have significant financial obligations (debt, support payments, etc.) that couldn’t be handled otherwise.

I think to “need” a life insurance payout as support during retirement is a bad gamble, given nobody knows which spouse will go, or when. I also don’t believe parents “need” life insurance policies on their children, outside possibly small ones to cover funeral expenses because the loss of a child, while devastating, does not usually cause a material change in the family finances.

And as for single people with no financial obligations or dependents, well, they may wish to leave a windfall to people or organizations but financially, they really have no “need” for life insurance.

 

[mjkacmom]

“Need” is subjective when it comes to life insurance, I guess. I personally feel nobody “needs” it unless they are replacing the income of a bread-winning spouse or would need to hire out the work of an unpaid spouse (like in the case where minor children are being cared for at home). It may also be “needed” by those who have significant financial obligations (debt, support payments, etc.) that couldn’t be handled otherwise.

I think to “need” a life insurance payout as support during retirement is a bad gamble, given nobody knows which spouse will go, or when. I also don’t believe parents “need” life insurance policies on their children, outside possibly small ones to cover funeral expenses because the loss of a child, while devastating, does not usually cause a material change in the family finances.

And as for single people with no financial obligations or dependents, well, they may wish to leave a windfall to people or organizations but financially, they really have no “need” for life insurance.

I told my adult working kids to get the cheap work offered policy and put us down as dependents just in case. Their student loans are in their names only so we won’t need money for that. At our age the money a new term policy would cost would be better served in one of the IRA’s or other retirement account.

 

[Christine]

“Need” is subjective when it comes to life insurance, I guess. I personally feel nobody “needs” it unless they are replacing the income of a bread-winning spouse or would need to hire out the work of an unpaid spouse (like in the case where minor children are being cared for at home). It may also be “needed” by those who have significant financial obligations (debt, support payments, etc.) that couldn’t be handled otherwise.

I think to “need” a life insurance payout as support during retirement is a bad gamble, given nobody knows which spouse will go, or when. I also don’t believe parents “need” life insurance policies on their children, outside possibly small ones to cover funeral expenses because the loss of a child, while devastating, does not usually cause a material change in the family finances.

And as for single people with no financial obligations or dependents, well, they may wish to leave a windfall to people or organizations but financially, they really have no “need” for life insurance.

I agree with this. It will feel weird to drop my policies next year, but we don't need it. I do know a lot of people carry them past need because they actually desire their survivors to get a cash windfall upon their death. I'm not interested in that personally. But some older people should have it. My aunt is a perfect example. Both my aunt and uncle were horrible financial planners, spent their 401Ks early to do things like "make Christmas be wonderful" or pay off debt. My uncle carried the best pensions and together they did okay. But once he passed (I think they hoped he wouldn't be the first to go), some of the pensions and VA disabilities had zero or very little survivor benefits. So when he died my aunt's income dropped dramatically, she had to give up her home because she couldnt afford it, and now she lives with one of her children. They each should have had enough life insurance so that when one died, the house would pay off. It would have only take about a $250K policy to do that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have one from when I was 18 it's a IIRC Universal Life and for $85K
I have one from when we got married it's a term 80 for $500K

Together those are about $40/month. The Term 80 is getting a yearly dividend although not much (like $12-$14/year) that is just automatically applied to the monthly charge.