Do you have life or disability insurance? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

sfloriII · #1 01-23-2008, 05:23 PM

My wife and I have been going through the teidous task of updating our finances, insurance policies, etc.

WOW!! There's a mountain of stuff to consider and, of course, PAY for.

I'm just curious how many of you guys/gals have life or disability insurance.

I think disability insurance is a necessity. Without it, a long term sickness or similar incident could cause you to lose everthing you own.

I'm now looking at a disability policy through Met-Life that'll run me a little over $200 a month. Ugh. The cost of keeping one's stuff is pretty high these days!! A $500,000 term life insurance policy will run me about $55 a month for the next 20 years. Ugh.

What are your thoughts about insurance in general??

iwrock · #2 01-23-2008, 05:26 PM

I am 20, and have life insurance.

Its a cash building VUL. Its cheap, and the face amount is 250k.

sfloriII · #3 01-23-2008, 05:32 PM

One thing I've learned in my research: don't buy life insurance as a way to invest money. Buy it for what it is and nothing more: insurance.

If you take the money you're sending the insurance company that they're then "investing" in a low interest bearing account and instead invest it in mutual funds, you'll have a LOT more in twenty years. Right now the cost of your policy is probalby pretty low. But after you get older, the cost of the policy will be a lot more and the amount of money you're "investing" will be much less per month.

Something to consider....

dynalow · #4 01-23-2008, 05:38 PM

A wiser man than me once said:

"A man who dies without insurance doesn't die. He absconds!"

You got a wife, kids, mortgage? Got any risky hobbies? Get insurance. Term is dirt cheap for a young guy. Also, you may be a slip on the ice away from becoming uninsurable!.

Doesn't your employer provide group life or disability, assuming you are not self employed?

Most disability policies are of limited duration I believe. Three months or so. After that, it's into the Long Term Care pool, which most young people choose to ignore.

iwrock · #5 01-23-2008, 05:39 PM

AFAIK it does go into mutual funds..

TMAllison · #6 01-23-2008, 05:42 PM

Buy term and invest the rest young fellow.

Only buy term if you need ins (ie: have wife or kids you need to support in your absense).

sfloriII · #7 01-23-2008, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dynalow

Doesn't your employer provide group life or disability, assuming you are not self employed?

Most disability policies are of limited duration I believe. Three months or so. After that, it's into the Long Term Care pool, which most young people choose to ignore.

I'm self-emplyed, which makes getting anything a tedious task of proving myself as insurable. Just to set up the disability policy, I've had to show them tax records for the last 8 years. Why? Because I'm self-employed and as a contractor, they think of me as some day-worker standing on the street corner hoping someone will drive by and hire me for the day.

So I sent them 8 years of proof that I have a steady income. That's still not enough: they declassified me to a lower status, which means the same policy proposed to me last week (that'll cover me until I'm 65) will cost me $28 more a month. This stinks!!

suginami · #8 01-23-2008, 08:36 PM

My wife and I did the same type of estate planning earlier in our marriage.

I have $1.25 million 30 year term life policy on myself, and $250,000 on her (she is a stay-at-home mom).

I have a disability policy for myself that covers about 2/3 of my income until I'm 65 years old. It's an expensive policy, but it means we'll be able to survive where we are until Social Security hits. There won't be any saving for retirement or college for our kids in this scenario. It just means we won't lose our house. We'll be able to pay the bills and eat. Nothing more.

I pay all three policies once / year, but it's about $300 / month.

It's amazing that I have minimized all that risk for my family to survive in the event of my death or disability for only about $300 / month, which is less than most people's car payment.

MTI · #9 01-23-2008, 08:39 PM

I too, go to bed at night, secure in the thoughts that my spouse also knows that I'm worth more dead, than alive . . . which may be the reason I've stopped having the mushroom gravy . . .

suginami · #10 01-23-2008, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MTI

I too, go to bed at night, secure in the thoughts that my spouse also knows that I'm worth more dead, than alive . . . which may be the reason I've stopped having the mushroom gravy . . .

You know, come to think of it, she's been making me Jimmy Dean sausage and fried eggs an awful lot ever since we signed the contracts....

t walgamuth · #11 01-23-2008, 10:31 PM

I have 300k term, 100k modified full life, and a very old 15k full life policy. I think having some of each is a good idea. The full life and modified life have offered money at times when i needed some cash to do a deal or pay some bills.

The term is cheap but the premium increases as you age.

Experts say don't buy full life, buy term and invest the difference. that is good advice as long as you actually invest the difference.

Tom W

SwampYankee · #12 01-24-2008, 07:54 AM

I've got $1.5MM term for myself plus disability and $250K for my wife (currently a SAHM, that may change when all the kids are in school) through NW Mutual. I bought the policy when I turned 35 and it costs me a tick under $200/mo. I got the disability insurance because at the time I was delivering papers and needed that income to make ends meet, now that I'm done with that I'm debating whether or not to drop it. I may re-evaluate the amount of my policy since I haven't run the numbers again since I had another kid. And if the Mrs. wants to start teaching in a few years we'd take that into consideration. I have another $250K key person policy on myself for work that the company pays for but that's intended to help with my replacement.

Of course my agent keeps pestering me to convert some to full. So far I've successfully rebuffed his efforts.

Jordan G · #13 01-24-2008, 08:22 AM

Yeah - I just got additional life insurance (above what my company offers) about 2 years ago.

It's dirt cheap through a professional membership (ASCE) that I'm affiliated with......I'm only paying about $10 per month for an amount about 5x my salary (a figure I've heard somewhere - maybe it was a range from 5-10x your salary/wages?).

Anyway - yeah, I'm 28 and have 3 kids, so I thought it was pretty important - especially since my wife stays at home.

Where is Skid Row Joe when you need him? Hasn't he pissed on all forms of insurance - and called all those having it weak and powerless?

t walgamuth · #14 01-24-2008, 09:01 AM

He has taken his portfolio and made himself scarce lately.

Tom W

Jordan G · #15 01-24-2008, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

He has taken his portfolio and made himself scarce lately.

Tom W

That's too bad. I've also noticed MattSD300 hasn't been around lately either.

Either way - it's good you have life insurance with your powerful magnetism for bad drivers on the road

.

Back on point though - well, sort of......how many of you also have wills? I bought some willmaker software last year and haven't used it yet. I really need to.....I don't want the family fighting over my few precious pennies

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