Life Insurance after Fire

[wmc1000]

Not needed true but we kept ours in effect and we put them in paid up status so no payments due. The cash value increases at slightly over 2% per year which isn't great and the death benefit is still over 7 times the cash value which will pass to our kids.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

bought a ton

i took my max pension, that means for me when i drop dead my bride gets zero pension, zero health care, they had options &, choices, on how i could take less of a pension and they would pay her for the rest of her life, it was expensive. so i took out 2.5 million ,30 year term, cost 5100 a year i pay once a year. i came up with this magical number as that is what the actuary at the pension office told me what my pension was worth, whether he was right or not i will never know but thats why i got that amount, the bride was a house wife, it was my job to provide and i am 100 % positive im going to go wayyy before her(at least i hope), i dont want her wanting for anything after i leave, all that being said, we have triple what i started with when i retired in 2008, the reason as you might guess is the market was at near low when i left in october 2008, and we spend less than my pension pays out, looks like it was a waste of money to get it, but it was my job to protect the bride, and that was my reasoning. we discussed this when i got the insurance, and we discussed it a few months ago when the 5100 was due, we agreed to keep it in place, she will give it as she sees fit to any grand kids if we ever get any, and she said she will have nice flowers sent to my grave at least once a year hahah

 

[Walt34]

...and she said she will have nice flowers sent to my grave at least once a year hahah

Did you extract a promise that she has to wear black for a year before beginning partying with the pool boy?

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

i was hoping for at least 3 years, but id be happy if she wore it till the burial

 

[CRLLS]

I think it all depends on how one calculates the death possibilities and expected expenses for just one surviving member. If, starting tomorrow, one can live nicely on one SS check and your investments, then you are golden IMO. No "need" for life insurance. When calculating, don't forget to consider that expenses will go down. 1 health insurance cost. Possible downsizing of domicile, etc. In our case, our Term life policy will expire at the time our SS begins. I know it is different for others. This is just one point of reference.

 

[joeea]

looks like it was a waste of money to get it, but it was my job to protect the bride, and that was my reasoning. we discussed this when i got the insurance, and we discussed it a few months ago when the 5100 was due, we agreed to keep it in place

So it evolved from "a way to protect the surviving spouse" into "a way to create a better legacy"?

How old were you when you took out the policy?

 

[traineeinvestor]

I cancelled it as soon as we achieved FI. By definition, if there is enough money to support our current standard of living while I am alive there is more than enough to support DW, DD1 and DD2 after I am gone. FI turns life insurance into an unnecessary expense that serves no useful purpose.

It helps that there is no estate duty + we are not reliant on any income streams that depend on me being alive to receive them.

Put differently, cancelling the life insurance pays for an additional holiday each year.

 

[Newventurer]

I carry it as a tax efficient way to leave assets to children from a prior marriage.

 

[Freedom56]

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.

I terminated my employer sponsored term insurance after I retired. We are 100% debt free and have sufficient income streams to cover us both. The question to ask is what are you insuring when you retire? For us the expense was not worth it given our cash and investment reserves.

 

[imoldernu]

Looked at a policy for my age. $2500/yr. for $25,000 policy.
Then I looked up the word "actuary".

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

i was 46 years old when i took it, and i guess if the stock market tanks she will still be protected and if the stock market continues to boom it will be a legacy

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I terminated my employer sponsored term insurance after I retired. We are 100% debt free and have sufficient income streams to cover us both. The question to ask is what are you insuring when you retire? For us the expense was not worth it given our cash and investment reserves.

my pension dies with me, so im insuring she continues to be able to do what she wants to do after i croak

 

[Out of Steam]

I have both term insurance through work, and a level term policy with the period ending in 2018.

Thinking I may need to keep a smaller term policy for about five years after that to supplement my wife's income until she can take Social Security.

 

[street]

We will keep ours but ours are paid up policy's. I had LIP when I was working but also had a policy on me and my wife we paid for.

I intend to keep them and it will tax free money for someone when we die.

 

[Souschef]

I had term insurance when my late wife was alive, but saw no purpose in that afterwards.
I have remarried, and there are enough assets to protect her without insurance.

 

[RetireAge50]

I'm about to retire and will choose single life instead of joint on my pension. Keeping my term life policy to replace pension income.

 

[Fedup]

I'm the wife, so you bet I get life insurance just in case. It's a nice size amount for very little premium. It might go up when I'm 60. We get the insurance cheap because I'm much younger than my husband. If it had been the other way it would be much more expensive. He is the spouse in this case.

 

[Shanky]

if you are FI and therefore have all the funds you will ever need, I don't know what purpose Life insurance would serve. Exception as pointed out by previous posters would be a pension that is only for one person, and the loss of that pension upon death would mean the survivor is no longer FI.

 

[Fedup]

Perhaps bigger tax free legacy?

 

[FlaGator]

if you are FI and therefore have all the funds you will ever need, I don't know what purpose Life insurance would serve. Exception as pointed out by previous posters would be a pension that is only for one person, and the loss of that pension upon death would mean the survivor is no longer FI.

I'm a single parent of minor children and am maintaining a policy to provide liquidity while all the financial legalities of my demise are sorted out. Don't want their designated guardian to be on the hook for too long.

 

[BeachOrCity]

I dont think it has to be all or nothing. One can still keep a term policy say for one years expenses so the surviving spouse has a cushion while they adjust even if they are really FI

 

[HillCountry]

We each bought 500k term life in 2003 when my first child was born. The 20 year term is extremely cheap for 200/300 per year. No way we will drop them, even though we don't even need it now.