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03-01-2016, 01:15 PM
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#1
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 745
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FIRE and Life Insurance
My DW and I are both retired. As a benefit of my recent retirement I have the ability to continue the life insurance paid for by my company while w*rking. It would cost about $200/month for $300K coverage and would not require a health assessment of insurability.
Do most of you retirees have life insurance and if so, why? I have always been of the belief that life insurance protects income...since we have no significant income in retirement why buy life insurance?
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03-01-2016, 01:24 PM
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#2
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Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,708
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I stopped paying for life insurance once I gained financial independence, because it was no longer needed.
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03-01-2016, 01:27 PM
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#3
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Twin Cities
Posts: 523
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The only life insurance I have is a whole life policy my parents bought for me when I was a child. My DW will get like $18k if/when I kick the bucket unless I cash it in.
We really haven't had life insurance for quite a while. All my calculations said either one of us would have enough income to pay expenses should one of us die. Then kids moved out and we got to FIRE so even less need.
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03-01-2016, 01:28 PM
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#4
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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I stopped some time when my children made it to the mid-teen years, and I figured I had enough for them to survive on until the young adult age if I suddenly croaked.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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03-01-2016, 01:29 PM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: South Texas~29N/98W Just West of Woman Hollering Creek
Posts: 6,674
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Hey Trooper.
The main question that you should answer is ~Do I really have a need for LI? Once you figure that out, you can arrive on an amount of coverage that your family needs to replace your income if you die too soon.
I canceled all of my LI a few years prior to retiring @ age 58 because we had enough invested to meet all future needs if I died early. Not dead yet.
__________________
Part-Owner of Texas
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. Groucho Marx
In dire need of: faster horses, younger woman, older whiskey, more money.
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03-01-2016, 01:30 PM
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#6
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Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,349
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 Quote:
Originally Posted by Trooper
I have always been of the belief that life insurance protects income...since we have no significant income in retirement why buy life insurance?
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I think you just answered your own question. If you're FI, as MichaelB points out, you have no need to insure your income stream.
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03-01-2016, 01:34 PM
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#7
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Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,708
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Besides, you always want to make sure you're worth more alive than not alive. No need to give any unnecessary motivation . 
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03-01-2016, 01:37 PM
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#8
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Gone but not forgotten
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Peru
Posts: 6,335
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Once I felt our finances were sufficient to support DW, dropped insurance. Figured if I died, I wouldn't need it.
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03-01-2016, 01:41 PM
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#9
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SE Washington
Posts: 54
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$200/ month for $300k of insurance seems like a pretty high premium. Is that whole life? I currently have a $250k term life policy that runs me $60/month at age 58. Premium slowly increases each year.
I plan to cancel it shortly after I retire.
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03-01-2016, 01:44 PM
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#10
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Williston, FL
Posts: 3,925
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+1. I have not had life insurance since I was in my 20s. Other than the employer paid, 1x salary policy.
__________________
FIRE no later than 7/5/2016 at 56 (done), securing '16 401K match (done), getting '15 401K match (done), LTI Bonus (done), Perf bonus (done), maxing out 401K (done), picking up 1,000 hours to get another year of pension (done), July 1st benefits (vacation day, healthcare) (done), July 4th holiday. 0 days left. (done) OFFICIALLY RETIRED 7/5/2016!!
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03-01-2016, 04:13 PM
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#11
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Laurel, MD
Posts: 8,327
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I decided to maintain coverage until the mortgage is paid off. I had the option to continue employer's group life coverage but I switched to a level term policy which is much much cheaper but requires a physical. I wish I had switched off of my employer's group life policy many years ago.
__________________
...with no reasonable expectation for ER, I'm just here auditing the AP class.Retired 8/1/15.
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03-01-2016, 04:47 PM
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#12
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 459
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dand76
$200/ month for $300k of insurance seems like a pretty high premium.
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+1. OP - You're paying too much for so little coverage. I bought term life when I was 35 for 30 years fixed premium of 1500/year for a 1M coverage. I'm planning to retire at age 55 in 2020 but I'll let that policy expire on its own in 2030.
__________________
Retired at age 52 on 12/1/2016
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03-01-2016, 04:51 PM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2013
Location: ATL --> Flyover Country
Posts: 6,649
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I considered dumping my term life when I retired but it's $19 a month for $400k and won't adjust for another 8 years. It's cheap and if I kick off early...I guess my DW will get a 'bonus' of sorts. 
Sent via mobile device. Please excuse any grammatical errors.
__________________
FIRE'd in 2014 @ 40 Years Old
Professional Retiree
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03-01-2016, 04:54 PM
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#14
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,340
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I have some residual from my former employer that was part of the normal package. When I retired it was equal to (I think) one year's pay and it steadily declines to nothing at age 70. I could have bought more at the time but it wasn't necessary.
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
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03-01-2016, 04:57 PM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Spending the Kids Inheritance and living in Chicago
Posts: 17,093
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If you have sufficient retirement savings for your spouse to live if you died, then there is no need for life insurance.
I didn't renew mine once the children were done college as they were independent, and our savings would support DW in retirement.
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03-01-2016, 05:08 PM
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#16
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 745
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03-01-2016, 05:11 PM
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#17
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Chandler, AZ
Posts: 745
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Quote:
Originally Posted by retire2020
+1. OP - You're paying too much for so little coverage. I bought term life when I was 35 for 30 years fixed premium of 1500/year for a 1M coverage. I'm planning to retire at age 55 in 2020 but I'll let that policy expire on its own in 2030.
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Thanks. I think I am going to decline the coverage based on the fact that I don't need it, rather than it is too expensive. Even though it IS too expensive.
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03-01-2016, 05:21 PM
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#18
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,340
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Reminds me of an old work joke. The spousal benefits for a line-of-duty death were fairly good. If it was within the jurisdiction the spouse got 10 times your annual salary. If it was work-related, within jurisdiction and on public transportation (like a bus or subway) it was 20 times your annual pay. (I have no idea why.) If it was outside the jurisdiction, work-related, and on public transportation (like an airliner) it was 30 times your annual pay.
So if the trip was work-related, out of jurisdiction, and involved public transport, you made doggone sure to pack your own bag. 
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
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03-01-2016, 06:42 PM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,363
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I dropped term coverage long ago after we were FI and no longer needed the coverage.
I still have a whole life policy that I bought when I graduated from college but more as a bond substitute. It is currently earning ~4%.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
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03-01-2016, 06:54 PM
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#20
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gone traveling
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,135
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FIRE and Life Insurance
Quote:
Originally Posted by imoldernu
Once I felt our finances were sufficient to support DW, dropped insurance. Figured if I died, I wouldn't need it.
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+1...and welcome back !
I've thought of a scenario when one of us required extensive care and hospitalization but ending in death resulting in depleting significant assets much faster than plan. And thinking ..life insurance might be nice to replenish the surviving spouses pot of gold.... But it's only been a fleeting thought / mind scenario.
The "unplug me" directive that I signed hopefully avoids the above scenario for my family ...
For us, we cancelled life insurance when we FIREd... We have 2 teen aged kids.
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