Do you still have life insurance? What age did you stop?

I had a friend once who got very sick. He told his wife if he dies at home she was to drive his body to the office and drop him off there. His insurance paid off triple if he died at work. o_O
I wondered about a car crash of a guy at w*rk. He died on company travel. I think his company insurance paid 3X (maybe more.) Struggles at home, etc. made me wonder. It was "ruled" an accident so I'm probably wrong, but I could see how a depressed person might go for the big payoff for his family. I hope not.

I had two air-line close calls on business and wondered about how my family would spend the money. Funny what you think about when you're anticipating death. :(
 
I wondered about a car crash of a guy at w*rk. He died on company travel. I think his company insurance paid 3X (maybe more.) Struggles at home, etc. made me wonder. It was "ruled" an accident so I'm probably wrong, but I could see how a depressed person might go for the big payoff for his family. I hope not.

I had two air-line close calls on business and wondered about how my family would spend the money. Funny what you think about when you're anticipating death. :(
I had a friend at work who used to joke (?) that he had instructions to his wife that if he died at home to put a cell phone and a company catalog in his hands (he was a salesman).

I too had a couple of close calls. My company provided 5x life and I bought 5x life on top. They also had kidnap insurance on me since I sometimes went to high kidnap zones. I think I was worth much more dead than alive.

At some point in my 40s when we reached a point where I didn't need insurance I dropped my 5x
 
I had a friend at work who used to joke (?) that he had instructions to his wife that if he died at home to put a cell phone and a company catalog in his hands (he was a salesman).

I too had a couple of close calls. My company provided 5x life and I bought 5x life on top. They also had kidnap insurance on me since I sometimes went to high kidnap zones. I think I was worth much more dead than alive.

At some point in my 40s when we reached a point where I didn't need insurance I dropped my 5x
I bought the extra 3X term when we got the kids. I also bought what I thought was a lot of extra group permanent life insurance. $50K!! I really thought that was a LOT in the late 1980's. This policy can also be used for nursing home payments though that's now only a little less then 5 months! Can you spell "inflation?"
 
At 65, I still have a modestly sized 10 year level term policy (about a year's household income) that runs until 2027. I took it out at the time because we still had college tuition to pay, and my wife would have needed the income to bridge to Social Security age.

Nearing the end of this term, its current pricing is probably no higher than my risk of death over the next two years. I recognize that that alone doesn't justify keeping it.
 
I wondered about a car crash of a guy at w*rk. He died on company travel. I think his company insurance paid 3X (maybe more.) Struggles at home, etc. made me wonder.
:(
This certainly happens. My first wife's father died in a car crash that was regarded in the family as a suicide. I don't know what the official ruling was.
 
I have always viewed insurance as a way to alleviate with risk. I had 7X when my children were small, plus disability, plus a term life policy to cover our mortage. Never had any whole life insurance.

As the children grew and left, and our equity increased the risk declined significantly to the point where at my final years (58/59) I only had the standard company provided 2X salary .

Our decision point on all insurances has always been based on our perception of personal financial risk, not age.
 
At one time, insurance was thought to be important to those leaving significant estates - especially those that were not in cash or readily convertible securities/MFs, etc. Estate tax might require one to sell property/business upon death.

So a "big" farmer would worry about how to pass his farm to the next generation when his estate would hit with staggering estate taxes. So, he might buy insurance to help the next generation pay those costs.

For the "average" person now (with the much higher estate tax limits) that seems like an ancient practice - but not totally forgotten. YMMV
 
I'm keeping mine; I will be Worth More Dead Than Alive.

I maybe the richest in the graveyard. Lol
 
Never carried life insurance. With three kids and a stay-at-home wife guess I should have.

But now kids are grown and off on their careers. And when I retired in 2020 I took the option that will continue paying her if I die first.
 
I guess I'm not the only one with a term policy though I grant it's rare at our age and NW. In my case it's a retiree benefit but I do pay tax on the premium paid by my former employer. The premium goes up gradually of course and now I'm 75 and pay a bit over $300 for the $50k policy. I suppose I should cancel it but I can pay so I do. I also have a combo LTC/LI policy that I paid for outright in about 2015 so no more payments are needed and I've kept that.
 
We cashed in our private life insurance several years ago when we were in our late 60's as it was no longer needed due to our net worth. We still have very small policies provided by our retirement systems.
 
I have a very modest policy that Megacorp funds throughout retirement.
 
I got a whole life policy when I retired from the Air Force. It has paid for itself for many years and goes up in value more than the yearly payment. It will be a nice sum when I check out and will not be taxed. All those warnings many years ago about not buying whole life seem silly now.
I'm doing the same thing. The policies are ones my DM bought for me 65 - 75 years ago when I was a little guy and some bag-dragging insurance salesman rang the bell. Metropolitan Life. Of course they were a poor value vs. term for many years. But now, with the dividends paying the premiums and buying some additional paid-up insurance each year, I just let them ride.

Term policies I had while the family was young are gone.
 
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We have term life insurance in place. The reason is that DW and I are DINKs as such our Social Security payments will be similar. We both plan to defer SS to age 70 to maximize the lifetime benefits.

The intent of the life insurance is to cover the loss of the 2nd SS income stream when the first one of us passes. I would also expect the costs for the surviving spouse to increase upon the death of the first souse due to the need to outsource many of the household tasks performed by the deceased spouse.

I know that this may be unconventional.

-gauss
 
We have term life insurance in place. The reason is that DW and I are DINKs as such our Social Security payments will be similar. We both plan to defer SS to age 70 to maximize the lifetime benefits.

The intent of the life insurance is to cover the loss of the 2nd SS income stream when the first one of us passes. I would also expect the costs for the surviving spouse to increase upon the death of the first souse due to the need to outsource many of the household tasks performed by the deceased spouse.

I know that this may be unconventional.

-gauss
This sounds very reasonable to me - especially if you haven't "over saved" for retirement.
 
I am 43 and have a $1m term policy. DW has some coverage through her employer and also spousal and child coverage.

I do not have dismemberment. But I do have a decent set of downs via SSI disability if it came to that.

I feel like my risk of dieing was greater in my younger years, but less liability, and now with 3 kids, the risk of loss is much greater. I just started the policy last year for the first time ever and DW always had hers.

I feel a lot better now that I have that. The AAA Agent said I would be covered for literally any type of death. I asked if I died falling from a tree 70 feet up in the air would they payout and they assured me they would.

I said if I get ejected from a vehicle and they said yes.

SO I guess what else could go wrong? I sleep better at night for $475 annual $1m premium.
 
I am 43 and have a $1m term policy. DW has some coverage through her employer and also spousal and child coverage.

I do not have dismemberment. But I do have a decent set of downs via SSI disability if it came to that.

I feel like my risk of dieing was greater in my younger years, but less liability, and now with 3 kids, the risk of loss is much greater. I just started the policy last year for the first time ever and DW always had hers.

I feel a lot better now that I have that. The AAA Agent said I would be covered for literally any type of death. I asked if I died falling from a tree 70 feet up in the air would they payout and they assured me they would.

I said if I get ejected from a vehicle and they said yes.

SO I guess what else could go wrong? I sleep better at night for $475 annual $1m premium.
I had term through an add-on policy (third party group policy) at Megacorp. Premiums were much higher than what you are paying. We got our kids late in life so I felt I had to have insurance when it was more expensive. That premium sounds good to me, but YMMV.
 
When I was working for Mega Corp, my death insurance if I was on company travel was about $3M. When I left I did not continue with it. I also had a term life policy on my first home that I bought in my 20s, with the amount being enough for my young son to pay off the mortgage - It's a million dollar condo. When I sold the condo, I also terminated the term life policy.

I don't see a need to buy life insurance when you have $6.5M investment savings. You have plenty spending on your and your spouse, and still leave a substantial amount for your children.
 
Hi, I'm 58 and my term life insurance expires in three years when my youngest child graduates college.

I have no debt and have a networth of $6.5M (IRA and non-IRA) plus my primary house.

I've thought about just cancelling my term insurance now but it is only $90 a month figure not worth it for only 3 years left.

A friend is advising I should get new life insurance so I can leave money to my kids and be more free to spend the nest egg that i have for myself/wife versus being worried I leave enough for my kids.

Do you still have life insurance? If so what type? If not what age or net worth did you elect to stop having it?
Don't get a new policy. $90/mo is chump change next to your NW. If you want to cancel, all you have to do is stop paying the premium. Your investments are your life insurance policy now.

When you get a new life insurance policy, I'm guessing the premiums will be much higher than you've been paying-you'll be 10 years older than when you took out the original policy. I'm not sure you should be paying life insurance premiums so your kids can be spendthrifts. Life insurance is meant to keep survivors solvent, not buy Ferraris. With that NW you'll need to be a spendthrift for them not to inherit. Make sure you have a will/trust in place and keep it updated.
 
Don't get a new policy. $90/mo is chump change next to your NW. If you want to cancel, all you have to do is stop paying the premium. Your investments are your life insurance policy now.

When you get a new life insurance policy, I'm guessing the premiums will be much higher than you've been paying-you'll be 10 years older than when you took out the original policy. I'm not sure you should be paying life insurance premiums so your kids can be spendthrifts. Life insurance is meant to keep survivors solvent, not buy Ferraris. With that NW you'll need to be a spendthrift for them not to inherit. Make sure you have a will/trust in place and keep it updated.
Good advice IMO. I don't see why you would need the insurance.
 
I did, very briefly, have a whole life policy that an insurance salesman sold to me when I was in my early 20's and single, when there was no good reason for me to buy any life insurance product. (I had more than enough to bury me for free at work.) I'd gone in there to renew my car insurance. Then a nice Lt. at work, who I'd told about that, recommended a book titled "The Mortality Merchants" about the life insurance industry.

As a direct result, I not only canceled the life insurance policy, but spent a half hour or an hour (I forget which) on the phone shopping car insurance, found out I was paying about 50% more than I needed to and canceled that Nationwide product too. And told the agent what a jerk he was.

So now that I'm 74, I still don't need to buy any life insurance. I still have a remnant $35k policy at work for free which is still more than enough to bury me (at least in West Virginia) and while DW will not be taking any round-the-world cruises at my demise, there is zero chance she'll be living in a van down by the river either.
 
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