anybody else super conservative?

[Koolau]

Of course, I did not say it was theft. However:

1. If they wanted life insurance they could have received a multiple of the insurance they purchased for the same money.

2. If they wanted an investment they could have received a multiple of the return they purchased for the same money.

The fact that they cashed it tells me that they bought the wrong product since there was no need for "whole life" protection.

Anyway, just opened my eyes to compound interest and how much consistently investing thousands of dollars can be worth.

Yeah, in hindsight, whole life is probably a bad idea. We went with one of the hybrids (Universal something or other IIRC.) Whole life does has some flexibility that term does not have and also has the advantage of the premiums not going up over time. It's possible that some want a "known" cost over time more than the most efficient product. Let's say after 10 years the insured is a much greater risk. With a whole life product, his premium stays the same but his premium for any other insurance product purchased (like universal or term) might sky rocket.

Again, I agree that whole life is probably NOT the best insurance vehicle. The current problem with the two policies I hold (some kind of universal) is that the premiums will increase to keep them in force. In my case, that's a bet I'm willing to take for the sake of DW (as my health has turned to, well, cwap!) I'm just trying to make the best of a less than ideal situation. YMMV

 

[FI_RElater]

Youngster. LOL. Just turned 65. Buried mom at 89 and dad at 86 so gotta plan to at least 90 or 25 more years.

Can't really use family history too strongly...

for example, both of my parents were gone early (52 and 62) and most of their sides made it to roughly 82-84, with one more remote aunt making it to 99.

As I'm 67 (and thus have slready outlived either), I have life expectancy in the range of 84-86, but use 92 for planning since: a) its about two std dev above the mean expected, b) more educated and higher net worth cohorts have a slightly higher LE, c) spouse is a few years younger and need to consider not joint life but rather last to pass. (With our assets, pension, and both SS we will not have any difficulties.)

 

[FI_RElater]

I have a feeling for many reasons: lag effect of interest rate hikes, overdue recession, fixed income looking really attractive, demographic shifts - boomers retiring, etc, that we could be in for at least a mid range length of time where stocks underperform. Doesn’t mean you should ignore them, just don’t expect historic returns for awhile.
The question we all must ask is do we have awhile to wait? For some that’s an easy yes, for others it’s a no.

from the numbers posted previously for expected market returns, the "equity risk premium" isn't high enough currently to push me towards higher equity (previous was 45/50/5 and have lowered with some TLH) and with some of my CD's and treasuries in the 5.4-5.6 range there really isn't a high need, given that we've been well under 2% wr and, as this is my first year of SS (FRA +), we are finding that we aren't yet spending all our current income (and will be getting more when the higher PIA SS is claimed) ... much less actually pulling from our savings yet.

perhaps it's almost time to visit the "blow that dough" thread... but we do want to see what longer term inflation is before going down that road. That the 20 yr treasury is at 5.2% isn't exactly comforting...

 

[GravitySucks]

Can't really use family history too strongly...



for example, both of my parents were gone early (52 and 62) and most of their sides made it to roughly 82-84, with one more remote aunt making it to 99.



As I'm 67 (and thus have slready outlived either), I have life expectancy in the range of 84-86, but use 92 for planning since: a) its about two std dev above the mean expected, b) more educated and higher net worth cohorts have a slightly higher LE, c) spouse is a few years younger and need to consider not joint life but rather last to pass. (With our assets, pension, and both SS we will not have any difficulties.)

Agree.
I use 92 as that’s what the Fido planner defaulted to plus assume final 2 years in a nursing home.

 

[Koolau]

Agree.
I use 92 as that’s what the Fido planner defaulted to plus assume final 2 years in a nursing home.

I'm using 99 and that includes DW as well. No particular reason other than it's over 99% likely to include MY particular longevity as well as DW's (and then some!) If my plan w*rks to 99, it aught to be golden for my needs.



I don't really try to put a number on how long I'll live. I have heard that you should take mom plus dad ages/2 + 5. That puts me at 90. With my health, I'm not so sure... YMMV