Life Insurance

Hi Laura,
I would like to know the answers to this question also. Could you email me and let me know what people say, and where to go? Thanks,
D. ____@____.com

Level term life insurance is what you need as others have said. We have 30 year from sbli. I don't think it is necessary to get whole when you are older (someone said around 40, that's not even old!!) so you have permanent insurance. Doesn't make sense to me, as the point of insurance is to take care of your dependents in your absense. So, 20, 25 or 30 year term insurance should get you through the dependency years.

As for the gerber ins someone recommended, that is just a waste of money. If anyone tries to sell you anything other than term insurance for you and your husband and tries to convince you on the basis of investment, don't buy it. Insurance is insurance, investments are investments.

Someone recommended the money show on 96.9 talk fm. Really good show and they always get calls about insurance. You can listen on the web if you aren't local 969talkfm.com, I think. It's on Sat afternoons and Sun ams.

Hi Laura, I actually work in the insurance field(we sell all companies and types of insurance) and we use AM Best ratings system to find what companies would work best for individuals as not everyone has the same needs. With Term insurance, you can have a high face amout for very little cost, but once the term is over and you are still alive you get no money for your investment. Whole life usually has a higher premium with a lower face amount but the death benefit will always be there. Personally, I too have term, but I once I turn 40 I am planning on getting a whole or universal life policy. 40 seems to be a good age to look into a more permanent policy as you aren't too old and you won't have to go through the more in depth, invasive medical exam.
Here is the AM Best website. Good Luck!

http://www3.ambest.com/ratings/advanced.asp?bl=0&Menu...

Hi Laura and everyone else,
My husband & I picked up a term policy from Primerica. The company is locally owned as a franchise and I like that. Erick Arndt came to our house and talked to us about all our finances and expenses, where we are and where we want to be in the future. He then went back to the office and put together a financial plan for us. He has an office in Nashua, NH and is expanding to Valencia, CA. He can be reached at 866-255-8057. Tell him D. Cole recommended him.

As to the question of term vs. whole life, term is the way to go. Whole life is recommended for older people as a savings for funeral costs. The return on investment isn't as good as a money market and the policy costs so much more than term. Erick can tell you more about it.

Good luck,
D. C
Breast Cancer Survivor Mom of 4: g 16, b's 14, 11, & 8

SBLI is a great insurance company...low rates, great plans...go to www.sbli.com for more information

we use AMerican GEneral for term insurance..

Laura - having life insurance is a good thing but make sure you are not over investing here...you just need to make sure that insurance for kids covers any costs that would be incurred (god forbid) anything happened to them.

For couples you should carry a bigger policy on the breadwinner - and the policy only needs to be large enough to cover costs if anything happened and the balance of any debts (mortgage, car, credit cards) that you should pay off. this assumes you both work and the survivor would continue to bring home money. I hope this helps.

For your kids, I recommend Gerber or Metlife. They have great policies. The younger your kids are when you buy, the cheaper. My son's insurance is $100 per year for a great policy (GERBER). I still have the one my mom bought for me when I was very young (METLIFE). I think these are both whole policies.

For adults, whole policies are VERY VERY expensive and most people can't afford to buy much coverage... so I would recommend term for an adult or at least mostly term.

Good luck!

I recommend term life insurance. There are better ways to invest your money than to get into whole life insurance policy. My husband and I just got life insurance this year (we are both 40 and have 2 young children). I recommend an insurance broker who shop for the best rates and best policy for you. I highly recommend my broker Matt Goldwasser, www.goldwasser.org. He came to our home to explain our options and the process. He also helped out a lot in getting the insurance co. to reconsider my rating (and thus reduced my annual premium). Good luck.

Hi Laura,
One of my best friends from college works for AXA Advisors. Several years ago, my husband & I purchased an IL (Investment Life) policy from him which is both life insurance as well as a fund that earns money based on market conditions (similar to a Money Market). The best thing about this fund is that it's tax free (similar to a Roth IRA), you can contribute up to $14,000 a year into it & you can borrow against it at 4% interest before you retire (we borrowed against it last year to put an addition on our house). My husband & I decided NOT to open up a college fund & put the $ that we are saving for college into the IL policy. We didn't want to pay all of the fees associated with the college fund & liked the flexibility that this policy provided us (there are a lot of rules associated with college funds that we didn't like). I know this is a lot of information. If you (& your husband) would like to call me to get some more details, I'd be happy to speak with you. My # is ###-###-####. If you're comfortable calling my friend directly, his name is Dave Rosell & he can be reached at 866-AXA-BEND. You can tell him you got his name from R. (Parmegiani) Hennelly.
Good luck,
R.

Hi L.,
A few years ago we looked into life insurance, asking friends, family, anyone and shopping around. In the end, we found that Term coverage at SBLI was the best option for us. This recommendation came from the CFO of my husbands company, and he strongly recommended them saying they were the best deal around. (Mind you that was about 5 years ago.) Good luck in your search! I know it's a pain, but it's a great way to protect the ones you love.

Hi,
My husband and I are looking into life insurance right now too. We have found that SBLI seems to be what we were looking for. From what has been suggested to us 30 yr term is best. This might sound silly but... we listen to a talk radio show on sunday am on 96.9 fm at 9am. THe show is great and we have gotten fantastic advice. They are often discussing life insurance and it is pretty easy to get on air and ask a question if you need more info. Or just tune in and you might hear something related to your question.

Hi Laura,
I have only replied to a couple of posts on Mamasource but felt compelled to do so since I work for a financial planner/insurance agent. First off, it is especially important to have life insurance if you have children. It is important to have it on both parents even if one is a stay at home parent. Whole life is now obsolete and is replaced with universal life. Universal life is more expensive and is usually a tool when dealing with estate planning. Term insurance is the less expensive insurance and is like renting the death benefit for a certain amount of time. This is what my husband and I have (we are 38 and 37 respectively). The insurance is protection for educational costs, mortgage and income protection. Usually 30 year term is preferable as it take you out the furthest, but the longer you go out, the more expensive (10 year and 20 year will be cheaper). Your health plays a big part as to what risk class you are in. Super Preferred is the absolute best so if there are no health issues, no medications, and height and weight are fine, this class should be easy to attain. I know a lot of people are mentioning SBLI which is advertised all the time. In my experience, they are not always the cheapest, in fact many times are not. I would be more than happy to point you in the right direction if you would like to email me at ____@____.com. I know how confusing this could be and if I can help, I would be happy to.
Thanks,
C.

I work for an insurance company (on the IT side of product development), and would echo the advice on Term insurance. For most people looking to protect their families in case of loss of breadwinner or caregiver or both, this is really the best product. Investment or wealth management are separate goals for which other insurance products are available. One thing I did not see mentioned is that you should look first to any employer-sponsored plan. Typically you will get a discounted rate for this group term life insurance that will be better than any you can buy over the counter.

I use First Investors and I have whole life. Unless you only want to cover yourself and family for a certain TERM, you don't want that! Most life insurance, I think are best for your entire life until you die. Unless...you die within that certain TERM you take it out for. Hope this helps.

Hi, My husband and I agonized over the life insurance company/type and amount of time also. We landed on 20 years term with SBLI- they gave us the best rates, given our circumstances- my husband has borderline cholesterol, and his father died at a young age(54 of heart disease); I take antianxiety medications(have for over 10years). We also received quotes from Amica and Met Life but both were much higher than SBLI for less coverage. Hope this helps! Good luck!
P.S. We have a 10.5 month old son.

Hello Laura,

I don't know where you live, however, if you are in the greater Nashua area, I would suggest you call George Pessotti. He is the most honest and ethical individual and will guide you along various insurance paths and the consultation is free. He also holds seminars. Call him at
###-###-####. He is an Independant Broker and will acquaint you with various insurance companies and their policies explaining the benefits of each. This will save you the time of reseaching each of them on your own. We have known George for more than 10 years. We have purchased all our insurance through him. He also arranged for our wills and trusts. You will be very impressed by his professionalism.

S.

Hi Laura,

We have two kids and just, finally, put things in order (life insurance, estate plan, etc.). We each got a 30 year policy - to cover the time when the kids will be in college and just a bit beyond that. My husband did a lot of research and we went with AGI (American General Insurance).

My husband was in the military, so we have USAA for everything.(insurance, banking, mortgage, IRA, loans).

Anyway, I would highly suggest everyone reading this to make sure your will is in order as well. Having children is a BIG responsibility and if you and your husband happen to die at the same time...WHERE DO THE CHILDREN END UP? You do not want the court/state to decide....this should be in the will.

It usually is under 200.00 to get your affairs in order with a lawyer. There are wills on line, but not sure how legit they are.