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Life Insurance after Fire
Old 04-08-2017, 11:12 AM   #1
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Life Insurance after Fire

Haven't seen this topic come up. What do folks on this forum do for life insurance after you loose company sponsored plans? My first
Inclination was to not buy any additional but beginning to think
About a 10-15 yr term policy in case anything happens.
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Old 04-08-2017, 11:23 AM   #2
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I didn't. My case is a bit unusual since DH was 15 years older than I was, but even if he'd died first there would have been enough assets to support him. I'd tried, in fact, to opt out of the company-paid life insurance because I didn't need it but was paying incpome tax on part of the value of it as "imputed income". They told me I had to wait till the next Open Enrollment period, but I'd quit by then!
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Old 04-08-2017, 11:26 AM   #3
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I dropped the life insurance and took the cash value out when I retired. I figured that we were at a 95%+ success rate on every calculator, and the only purpose for the insurance was to give our sons a bigger inheritance (I ran the calculators with me outliving DW and vis versa and still had the high success rate).
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Old 04-08-2017, 11:51 AM   #4
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I always have life insurance that is not related to work.
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Old 04-08-2017, 11:56 AM   #5
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I have no dependents, so I have never paid for life insurance.
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Old 04-08-2017, 12:05 PM   #6
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I have a paid up whole life policy, because the young wife will not get a survivor benefit from social security (due to the effects of the GPO) and she is not eligible on her own. If she annuitizes the death benefit, it will most likely match the lost amount of my social security.
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Old 04-08-2017, 12:09 PM   #7
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The only significant insurance I ever had was through my employer. It went away when I retired and there was no financial imperative to replace it.
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Life Insurance after Fire
Old 04-08-2017, 12:24 PM   #8
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Life Insurance after Fire

Still have term insurance, but won't renew after it expires. FIRE'd, funeral plans paid, kids grown (even though, like everyone else, struggling at times), sufficient funds for either surviving spouse. Why not enjoy the premium money now while we're still among the living[emoji2][emoji4]
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Old 04-08-2017, 12:53 PM   #9
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I have a term life equal to my final year salary (low 6 figures) it is a conversion policy from group to individual. As having had cancer I would be uninsurable otherwise. It only cost about $15 a month and is valid until I'm 100 years old. The only reason I have it is if I predecease my DW it will give her a few more FU dollars to spend as she sees fit.
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Life Insurance after Fire
Old 04-08-2017, 02:25 PM   #10
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Life Insurance after Fire

I have a life insurance policy that was not thru my employer. They had limits on how much you could buy (salary x 5 I think?) and it was very pricey once you got old!

I'm single so it's a 15 year term policy the kid should be on her own by then no need for it after.
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Old 04-08-2017, 02:29 PM   #11
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DH had life insurance through his job and we had a small policy that we cancelled when he retired. We are now self insured, as we can be.
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Old 04-08-2017, 02:46 PM   #12
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What are you insuring for? Life insurance is generally bought to take care of dependents financially in the event of your death. If you're financially independent, then your dependents should be taken care of now and in the case of your death by your existing finances presumably, and no insurance would be necessary so I wouldn't buy any at all.

The obvious exception being any portion of your financial independence that would disappear in the event of your death. For that situation, I think you should maintain enough insurance to replace that source of income for as long as you feel is reasonable/needed and get it for a term that will cover the time period you think it will be needed for.
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Old 04-08-2017, 02:57 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by exnavynuke View Post
What are you insuring for? Life insurance is generally bought to take care of dependents financially in the event of your death. If you're financially independent, then your dependents should be taken care of now and in the case of your death by your existing finances presumably, and no insurance would be necessary so I wouldn't buy any at all.

.....
Agree. We dropped DW's life insurance several years before retirement (never had it on me, as she would have been financially ok without me).

Another exception is for people with large estates consisting largely of illiquid property that is intended to stay in the family (example--to cover the estate tax for the family's 800 square mile ranch or whatever). Also used in esoteric, high end estate planning that I know nothing about.

Exceptions are rare....
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Old 04-08-2017, 02:58 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by exnavynuke View Post
What are you insuring for? Life insurance is generally bought to take care of dependents financially in the event of your death. If you're financially independent, then your dependents should be taken care of now and in the case of your death by your existing finances presumably, and no insurance would be necessary so I wouldn't buy any at all.

The obvious exception being any portion of your financial independence that would disappear in the event of your death. For that situation, I think you should maintain enough insurance to replace that source of income for as long as you feel is reasonable/needed and get it for a term that will cover the time period you think it will be needed for.


Originally, this was my plan. What is changing my thinking is I have a trend up in PSA levels and possible prostate biopsy in my future, no diagnosis yet. With possible higher medical costs if there is a diagnosis, was looking at a 15 yr term policy as a safety net doe DW
Currently I'm 100% success for Firecalc in a year barring issues.
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Old 04-08-2017, 03:13 PM   #15
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Except for company provided life insurance, I stopped buying when I no longer needed it. Then when I retired, the company paid policy stopped.
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Old 04-08-2017, 03:23 PM   #16
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Many people do not need life insurance by the time they FIRE, but I did so I got a 15 yr term policy just big enough to meet my needs. In reality I should have replaced my group life policy many years ago. The term policy is much cheaper if you can pass the physical (e.g. No pre existing issues). My group life policy had a conversion benefit but the cost was higher than the underwritten policy.
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Old 04-08-2017, 03:56 PM   #17
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Retiring in our forties has been our dream since right after college, so we both have had life insurance to cover the loss of one income stream, so the surviving spouse wouldn't have to keep working until he or she was 65. Once we retire, we won't need it anymore, since neither one of us has a pension that would need to be replaced, and we don't have kids to provide for. Either one of us would be able to live just fine on what we have for both of us.
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Old 04-10-2017, 05:05 AM   #18
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Originally Posted by exnavynuke View Post
What are you insuring for? Life insurance is generally bought to take care of dependents financially in the event of your death. If you're financially independent, then your dependents should be taken care of now and in the case of your death by your existing finances presumably, and no insurance would be necessary so I wouldn't buy any at all.

The obvious exception being any portion of your financial independence that would disappear in the event of your death. For that situation, I think you should maintain enough insurance to replace that source of income for as long as you feel is reasonable/needed and get it for a term that will cover the time period you think it will be needed for.

While I agree with your premise, we are keeping our level term life insurance until it expires. We don't need it for each other and the children are financially independent....BUT.....toward the final years of a 20 or 30 year level term policy....the premium you are paying to insure at your current age is a HUGE bargain! The way I see it....if one spouse dies....the other will have that much more money to enjoy or leave as a legacy to children/grandchildren.
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Old 04-10-2017, 11:15 AM   #19
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I would keep insurance if I were a couple. The single person's social security benefit would drop would it not? Also tho long term care would still be needed theres also short term care and help that a spouse would provide for free that will no longer be available. Did the deceased do all the home repair? Yard work? Cooking? Financial management? Or any other services that the widow/widower might need to pay for? If it's affordable, a life ins policy is a good idea.
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Old 04-10-2017, 11:33 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fedup View Post
I always have life insurance that is not related to work.
+1 While my employers provided x times pay, but I had my own personal whole life and term policies. I phased out the term was we became financially independent since it was unnecessary. I kept the whole life because it has an attractive interest crediting rate so I think of it as a bond and any mortality coverage is gravy.

IMO unless you have estate tax issues, if you are FI you don't need life insurance... it is an unnecessary expense.
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