Life Insurance | Imamother

ange

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 11:00 am

I am very into couples with kids having an adequate life insurance policy should chas v'shalom the need arise, and am often surprised by how many people tell me that they don't have yet.

Just curious if you think in the frum community most people are insured...and if not, why (finances, don't believe anything will happen to them, hashkafa, etc.)

Thanks!

NotInNJMommy

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 11:23 am

It's not a small investment. Most people do not get these benefits through their jobs...or any benefits for that matter. Even term life which can be much more affordable than conventional life insurance is still money hard to spare for many families.

The only reason we can afford it now is bc my job offers term life at very reasonable prices...(ie. pennies a week) and it's worth it bc I'm the main breadwinner. It's like anything else....families prioritize and I think most families prioritize other things above it....most of the time things that maybe really are necessary...ie. tuition, food, medical bills...

amother

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 11:46 am

Many ppl don't think life insurance is important. life insurance can cost you about 3-4 hundred dollars a year for term insurance. if you pay monthly it's a real joke. there is also whole life, that is a real investment. after several years you can earn cash back that pays for the rest of your life.
my dh feels that ch"v if a mother leaves this world with children and you need to hire extra help....than life insurance is a necessity. so even if I'm a full time mom, and don't work out of the house, I am insured. (my premium is not more than four hundred a year)
personally I think every husband that doesn't have life insurance is selfish!
unfortantly when a tragedy strikes you know exactly which person had insurance. you get all these tzedakeh letters..... if only they had life insurance this would not happen![/b]

justanothermother

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 11:54 am

amother, I agree 100%. Both DH and myself are covered. He really felt the need, as his father died when he was a child and his mother had three children 6 and under to raise without much family to help and with no security blanket or job skills.

I'm not sure what the type if policy is called, but after we retire, we will be able to draw funds out of the policy to live on, so it is a very sound investment. It was not cheap, but we felt very strongly, so we cut out in other areas.

amother

Thu, Jan 03 2008, 1:45 pm

I think that life insurance comes before the cleaning lady :D
Seriously, how many times do you read about a frum family in an accident, with the wife/children left destitute, even having to raise fund for the levaya?
A mom should be insured to, because if CV"C something happens, Dad is going to want THE BEST replacement money can buy.

We pay under $700/year for a mil $ on my husband and $260K on Mom. 45 years old and we've been with the program (regular life ins. for over 10 years).

ange

Fri, Jan 04 2008, 7:05 am

Good point amother, about even non-working mothers having ins. Just adding up all the money a family would have to come up with if the mother is c'v niftar comes to a decent amount: babysitting until the father comes home from work, household help to take over the cooking, cleaning, etc.

Obviously, if there's no money for food, it's hard for people to shell out $ for ins (something they see no benefit from day to day), but after that, I would say it is one of the next most important things to spend on.

I am going to call the financial office at my kid's school to see if they participate in the Life Insurance program that helps to ensure that all rebbeim and teachers have ins.

Because: As far as tzeddakah goes, I think it's a smarter investment to give my money to help a family get some sort of coverage (which may cost a few hundred $ a yr for a term policy) rather than they should later need to come up with hundreds of thousands of dollars for an orphaned family year after year.