Life insurance - is it a necessity

amother

Jade

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 11:18 am

I understand that in case ch"v anything happens, it is important. But I think of it as a an extra. Especially as we're trying to save for a house.

We have some agents who are pressuring us. I don't have a good feeling about it. Can anyone help me out with more information?

allthingsblue

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 11:22 am

Yes. It's a necessity, for you and your husband.
Get a term policy, you don't need whole life insurance. Shouldn't cost more than $2-300/year per person for half a million dollars.

agreer

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 11:27 am

It's a necessity when you have young children and don't have much in savings, but you should get the most affordable plan - usually term if you really don't have a lot of money.

If you have a lot in savings, it's not a necessity, but it's always a good idea. In that case, I would get whole life insurance.

shoshanim999

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 11:37 am

So you say that you "understand that if anything cv's happens, it is necessary. It seems that you have a very clear understanding of what life insurance is all about. What exactly is your question?

amother

Lawngreen

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 11:39 am

Please please get life insurance!
We had a policy and let it lapse bec other expenses seemed more important.
Well dh was diagnosed w cancer right afterwards, then had a second bout and is not insurable.
I cannot work bec of my own poor health, and even if I did, I would never earn enough to pay mortgage, take care of our kids etc.

I worry every day , ch"v what will be.

amother

Royalblue

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 11:45 am

Yes, unless you and dh are ok with collecting tzedakah and be supported by the community if ch”v he goes.
- also, remarrying wth kids and no money is extremely difficult. I legit think having money would help a widow in shidduchim.

chocolatecake

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 1:20 pm

It is complete neccassity. Go through the papers or yeshivaworld and you will see countless ads to help orphans get married and help widows put bread on their table. Those ads wouldnt be there if they had life insurance. Term life insurance is not so expensive. Dh and I both have 500k policies and the two policies together cost around 800 a year.

amother

Cerulean

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 1:22 pm

I’m also looking into life insurance. I was just told I have a genetic disease that will manifest itself over the course of years-right now not showing symptoms. If I get term and have to get re-evaluated again then they might find symptoms so I’m thinking to just do full life. How does it work though? How much will it cost?

amother

Cerulean

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 1:23 pm

Also pardon my ignorance-if a spouse dies ch”v the spouse basically gets the $ to live and support the children? How much do they get? I’m a newbie at this

chocolatecake

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 1:29 pm

amother wrote:

Also pardon my ignorance-if a spouse dies ch”v the spouse basically gets the $ to live and support the children? How much do they get? I’m a newbie at this

When you sign up for insurance you pick how much you want to be covered for and who will get the money in case you pass on (usually your spouse). If someone had a plan for a million dollars and put their spouse as the benefeciary, if they pass away their spouse will get a check for a million dollars.

grace413

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 3:44 pm

Only if you want to keep eating and feeding your kids in case your DH dies, chas vechalila.

The younger you are when you buy the cheaper it is and the less likely you are to have pre-existing conditions which will either make premiums higher or insurance totally unobtainable.

That said, ignore the salespeople who are pressuring you. There are plenty of places/people to buy insurance from who will treat you with respect.

Mommyg8

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 3:46 pm

Term life insurance for young people is very cheap, and is a very worthwhile investment. I think that it also locks in your rate for the future, so it's definitely worth it to start when you're young.

Teomima

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 3:50 pm

Yes. Now here's our story:
When considering life insurance, we were told it's basically income insurance, not a reward. Meaning, if the person dies, and we are depending on their income, we treat the insurance money like long-term income, not money to splurge. Since only I was working at the time, we were advised that only I really needed life insurance, that dh's could wait till we relied on his income. Fortunately we didn't follow this advice and got life insurance for both of us. Why "fortunately"? Because two years later dh had (and survived) a heart attack (at age 27!) After that, that's no way anyone would ever be willing to give him life insurance but because we already had the policy in place, he continues to be covered. Now I'm a SAHM and we live off his income so him having life insurance is crucial.

I understand the pressures when trying to save, but this is NOT the place to cut corners.

amother

Natural

Sun, Mar 04 2018, 5:49 pm

It's a necessity. As well as a will, healthcare proxies and guardianship for ur kids. Both dh and I have a few policies totalling about 3 million each. We sat down with a broker and went thru all out finances and that's the numbers we came up with needing. I have combines policies, term, whole life, and refundable term.

Mg parents made me get a will and guardianship with my oldest was born. I am so grateful I knew to do it as it is very very important.

jd1212

Mon, Mar 05 2018, 2:51 pm

Super super important!! I'm an independent broker and have helped a couple imamothers on the site with navigating all the options. Feel free to PM me.

imasoftov

Tue, Mar 06 2018, 5:17 am

amother wrote:

We have some agents who are pressuring us.

While others have written about the importance of insurance, use different agents, and if these agents contact you again, let them know why you've decided to take your business elsewhere