Single Premium Life Insurance from 1957

[sengsational]

Apparently my Dad bought (and forgot about) some SP Life insurance he bought when his first kid was born. Believe it or not, they tracked-down my mom. She got a letter in the mail, but was spooked (thinking it was a scam since they asked for her SSN, etc). But on my advice, she looked up the company on the Internet, calling the number found there and cross-referencing with the BBB. Calling them, sure enough, there's a policy. They want the form filled out and the death certificate before they say how much they will pay.

Any guess as to how much this might be worth?

Obviously, we'll find out after a while, but I figured it would be fun to speculate. Maybe there were some folks on here that had experience with this kind of life insurance.

Anyone here buy one of these "pay one time and it's good forever" policies back when you were 30 years old? Maybe you didn't have much in the way of income, but wanted to do something to protect your new kid in case you weren't around. Maybe you dropped the equivalent of $100/month (in today's dollars) for one year, a pretty small amount. In 1957, that would be $12/mo. If the insurance company credited you with the long bond rate, you'd have nearly $5K.

It would seem that if the policy were really substantial, my dad would have had it documented better, so I'm not expecting much. But it's cool that they tracked-down my mom.

 

[RunningBum]

My unmarried aunt apparently bought such a policy. I am the beneficiary since I am her god child. I don't know why she even got one, but she showed it to me last time I was back visiting the family. I'm pretty sure the value is something like $100 or $500.

 

[JoeWras]

Parents bought one of those and it was in the $4k to $5k range. Payments on it stopped many years ago.

Had one other they were still paying ($50 per year) and it was in the $8k range.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I wouldnt know where to begin on this, Ill hazard a guess your father paid 50 dollars for it, and its death benefit is $1,000. Keep us posted on the details when you find out.

 

[meierlde]

On a related subject to life insurance it appears that many whole life insurance policies pay out at age 100. So it might be worth while to check state abandoned property sites under the names of ancestors to see if there is a forgotten policy. If they don't know who to pay then after a few years it goes to the state unclaimed property office.

 

[sengsational]

On a related subject to life insurance it appears that many whole life insurance policies pay out at age 100. So it might be worth while to check state abandoned property sites under the names of ancestors to see if there is a forgotten policy. If they don't know who to pay then after a few years it goes to the state unclaimed property office.

I did an unclaimed property search for several folks, including my dad. We have a very obscure last name, and he has a very common first name. When I found some money in the city he once lived in, name matching, including middle initial, I thought "that HAS to he him!" But with more digging resulted in finding another person of similar age that had the same name. So didn't get to cash-in on that one, but I think the life insurance thing will pay off. But as BCG suggests, it might be trivially small. I'm thinking my dad knew the guy selling it and just got a tiny policy to get him off his back...I know for a fact that my dad didn't believe in life insurance. He was a gambler and said:

Life Insurance: It's a side-bet against yourself.

 

[JoeWras]

Yeah, my parents were suckers for insurance salesmen pitches. I think they bought more substantial policies.

 

[RE2Boys]

My Dad bought a life insurance policy on me back in 1954, I was about 5 years old. Face value was $500. I think it was paid up (stopped making premium payments) back in the 1960s.

Current paid up death benefit is now about $4000, cash value $2200.

And when Prudential was converted from mutual to stock company (demutualization), received a check for about $400, but had to claim it through the state abandon property as they could not locate me.

Do make a practice every few years to check on potential unclaimed property for family members. Found two unclaimed utility deposits for niece and nephew this spring.

 

[bw5972]

My Dad bought a life insurance policy on me back in 1954, I was about 5 years old. Face value was $500. I think it was paid up (stopped making premium payments) back in the 1960s.

Current paid up death benefit is now about $4000, cash value $2200.

And when Prudential was converted from mutual to stock company (demutualization), received a check for about $400, but had to claim it through the state abandon property as they could not locate me.

Do make a practice every few years to check on potential unclaimed property for family members. Found two unclaimed utility deposits for niece and nephew this spring.

Any idea the total premium payments? Interested in running the numbers on current value if invested.

 

[RE2Boys]

Any idea the total premium payments? Interested in running the numbers on current value if invested.

I really have no idea. I do remember a man coming to the house once a month to collect premium payments and write it in a little payment book (how times have changed) but I didn't even know of the existence of the policy until I was 40 years old and my Mom handed it to me while going through papers following my Dad's death.

Those old records are not available on-line, twice I've had to formally request an update be sent to me, the second one just last year.

 

[sengsational]

Apparently my Dad bought (and forgot about) some SP Life insurance he bought when his first kid was born.

... dropped the equivalent of $100/month (in today's dollars) for one year, a pretty small amount. In 1957, that would be $12/mo. If the insurance company credited you with the long bond rate, you'd have nearly $5K.

It would seem that if the policy were really substantial, my dad would have had it documented better, so I'm not expecting much. But it's cool that they tracked-down my mom.

I know for a fact that my dad didn't believe in life insurance. He was a gambler and said:

Life Insurance: It's a side-bet against yourself.

My guess of $5K was pretty close. It turned out to be just shy of $4K. And since my dad passed a couple years ago, they added two years of interest at almost 3%.

 

[JoeWras]

Sorry for the loss of your Dad, but at least he provided one last nice surprise!

 

[sengsational]

Mom said: "Feels like he's still taking care of me." That brought a smile.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Mom said: "Feels like he's still taking care of me." That brought a smile.

Love that sentence. It put a smile on my face too. What did he originally pay? was it the $12 dollars?

 

[sengsational]

I'm not sure what he paid. The paperwork my mom got didn't say. I was curious too, but not curious enough to ask my mom to call 'em and have her ask....she'd make too big of a deal out of it when I just was passively wondering.