For how long should I get my term life insurance?

Question

My husband and I are 30 and looking at term life insurance.

He's healthy as a horse with no illness in his family history and is the only source of income.

I on the other hand have Crohn's disease. My dad died at 49 of pancreatic cancer. My mom had breast cancer at 38 and now at 55 has secondary bone cancer and diabetes

.

So I'm going to cost a fortune to insure.

Since he's the only financial provider so his will be much higher than mine. Should I maybe make his 10yr and my smaller one 20?

Also what is a good company to go through?

Answer 1

Ten years?  Why doesn't he need coverage when he's 40?  The biggest mistake I see is young people buying a 10 year term policy.  And 10 year term policy is great in business if you have a 10 year loan or if you're 55 and want to get to 65/retirement age.

Although there isn't enough information there to say definitively I'd say 10 years would do you no good.  You should be considering 20-30 years and while you're at it consider a return of premium policy.  If he's the only source of income then you need coverage on him until retirment (more than likely).

YOU are going to want to work with an insurance broker who knows which companies don't consider family history as part of the underwriting process.  A decline with one company is an approval with another.

Look at the tool on my site for quotes.  It quotes ~150 different companies which is about 140 more than any of the national advertisers.  It requires no personal information to use....

http://insurancepickle.com/life-insuranc...

Answer 2

My first question would be:

Why are you buying the insurance in the first place?  If he is the sole income earner, what is the need for? (not saying it's a bad idea to buy insurance on yourself, but just take a look at why you're buying it to help decide the type and amount).

Everyone has different needs and wants for insurance, so it really depends on that.  Why are you set on term?

Here's a quick and easy response:

If the need is less than 20 years (IE: covering debts like a mortgage, putting a kid through school, etc), go with a term that will cover than time period (IE: 15 years left on your mortgage, buy 15 year....20 years until your kid is old enough to be out of college...by 20 year term....want to to provide income for your spouse for 10 years since the family is acustom to that income level...go with 10 year).

If the need is more than 20 years that will not go away whether you die at age 35 or 95 (IE: funeral expenses, final taxes, charity donation/legacy fund, etc), go with whole life of some kind.

Best bet is to find a broker in your area (that sells both term and whole life) that can help assess your situation and do a needs analysis to make sure you are getting the right kind, and the right amount (don't want to pay for too much and don't want to leave your family with too little).

Answer 3

you're going to be hard to get, but not impossible. Your husband, as source of income, should look into a 30 year guaranteed premium (which means the premiums wont' go up in ten years or so). A lot of agents will try to sneak that in. You can also get a "return of premium" policy. You pay a little bit more, but the benefit is this: if your husband has a, say 30 year return of premium. If he doesn't die in that 30 year period, then all of the premium you have paid into the policy is returned back to you. Kind of like a forced placed savings. It's an excellent idea. Or you can get a 'regular' term policy, but he should have nothing less than a 30 yr period. Think of it this way, if he waits and tries to get coverage when he's 35, he's going to pay more just by virtue of being 5 years older.  If you have any questions, let me know.  

Answer 4

if husband earns more and has longer life expectancy - you should make his higher amount and longer term - trey and get level term - rates start out a little higher, but don't increase for the term of the contract (10,20 yrs)

Answer 5

My advice is to go with a reputable company and get the most term you could afford.  Maybe you could consult select-quote?  

If you have any insurance now (like your car insurance, Allstate, State Farm etc...) ask your agent if s/he is someone you know and trust.

Answer 6

Probably a 30 year term policy for him.  That should be enough time for him to build up your retirement savings so that you can essentially be self insured in the 30 years.  Depending on how debilitating your disease is and how much specialized care you will need he should probably have 15-20 times his income in death benefit to take care of you.  

Since your husband is really healthy I suggest you find you a good online term quote site and just choose the lowest rate from a company with A or better ratings.  For your coverage you should probably find a really smart independent agent that can research multiple companies and find out who will give you the best rates given your disease.