My husband and I want to get Life Insurance, help!?

Question

We have NO idea how this works. We have NO kids, we are in our mid 30's and relatively healthy. We prefer the NON hassle of no medical exam, etc. Can someone give us a hassle free/low cost, name of a company to use and explain how Life Insurance works? (I know the basics, that if one of us dies, we get benefits yada yada)

Answer 1

the maximum that i've found that you can get without a medical is 50k. or you can get one through your job they offer more without medical exam.  but when you leave your company  it might be difficult to take it with you.  so if you're looking for a decent amount (10x annual income) you'll need to get an exam.

being young in your 30's is a great time to get the insurance and exam out of your way.  your rate is lower and who knows, if you wait; you might not qualify later in life when you start having health problems.

you can google life insurance and you'll have all the website you'll need to get a quote.

Answer 2

The less you apply for the less underwriting that is needed.  If you apply for a small amount you may not need medical exams.  You will have to provide a detailed health history.  Be wary of company that dont underwrite on the front side of your policy they may have a lot of reasons to deny your benefit saying you didnt qualify.  Most companies if you get over 100,000 of coverage will have a nurse visit for a brief exam.  This will allow you to qualify for a better rating then just standard.  In fact will many times cost you less than the small standard policy.  As for how much coverage I like to use the chart below.

D- death coverage = final expense

I-  Income replacement = How much money does the survivor need for how long

M- Mortgage- Did you want the home paid off or rent paid for several years

E- Expenses- Any other debts, Credit Cards, Car loans etc.

S- Savings = 3-6 months of saving so survivor can not worry about going right back to work

Add all up, subtract what you have in place or in saving and this gives you a rough idea of what type of benefit you should be looking for.

Answer 3

Try HSBC they have some term insurance up to 500k.  It is non med.  They ask you a series of about 20 questions if you have a clean bill of health they will issue the policy via the net.  It will cost a bit more but no bodily fluids.

Hope this helped

Answer 4

Go to Yahoo Finance, click on "Personal Finance" and then "Life Insurance."  Life insurance is too important not to know the basic "yada yada's."

Answer 5

I'm a financial representative and providing life insurance is one of the things I do for clients. God forbids if the breadwinner dies, where would the family be without life insurance? Life insurance can't protect you against harm or death, but it can replace your income. The problem is that many families that own life insurance don't have adequate coverage, but they pay lots of premiums for it. That's because they own the wrong type of life insurance. Take a look at the facts and you decide which product is the best:

Whole life insurance

1) Its level term to around age 100 that builds cash value.

2) Since it builds cash value, premiums are higher than term insurance that doesn't build cash value.

3) There is no cash value growth in the first 2 years because premiums are used to pay for the insurance and commissions to the agent.

4) After first 2 years, you are guarantee a rate of anywhere between 1-4% (varies between companies)

5) If you wish to take money out from the cash value, you have to borrow it and pay loan interest of 6% to 8%.

6) If you die someday, the insurance company keeps your cash value, but pays the death benefit. Death benefit will be reduced by any loans you taken from the cash value.

Universal life insurance

1) Annual renewable term until around the age of 100 that builds cash value.

2) Flexible premiums as long as there's enough cash value to pay for the insurance.

3) While premiums may remain level in the beginning, the internal cost of the insurance goes up every year. That means less and less of your premiums goes into the cash value. Eventually, the premiums you pay will be insufficient in the future to pay for the cost. What would happen is that you would either have to pay more premiums or a portion of your cash value will be used to pay for it.

4) Same cash value features as whole life.

Term insurance

1) Various of level term products to choose from (from 1 year to 35 years).

2) It does not build cash value, so premiums are initially lower than whole life and universal life.

3) Most term insurance are guaranteed renewable to around the age of 95 to 100 without providing a proof of insurability. If your health was to decline because of old age, you can renew your policy without any hassle.

4) When you renew, premiums will be based on your current age. So premiums will go up after the initial level term.

Those are the facts.

Personally, I have sold term insurance 100% of the time. Why? Its because my clients can get lots of coverage for low amount of premiums. Since premiums are low, I help setup investment accounts for my clients so that they can build wealth. If you had lots of money saved right now, would you still need life insurance? Probably not. But you probably don't have lots of money saved right now and if something were to happen to you, would your family be financially ok? As you get older and continue to invest, you may or may not need life insurance when it is time to renew the term insurance. If you were to invest $200/month for the next 30 years and the average rate of return in your portfolio was 12%, you would have about $700k saved for retirement. That's probably not enough to live on, but at least its better than having money sitting in a life insurance policy. If you were to die during the term, your family gets the death benefit and all your savings and investments. If you die after the term, at least you will leave money behind to your family. With the cash value life insurance, in most policies, your beneficiary will only get the death benefit, but the insurance company keeps the cash value.

Answer 6

What exactly do you want the policy to DO for you?  You really need to DEFINE THE JOB, very specifically, before you start shopping around.

If you're looking for a no medical exam policy, that means, very low benefit - maximum of $10,000.  If you want more than that, you're going to have to have that medical exam, sorry.  When you say "no medical exam", that's usually a flag for "I'm a recreational drug user" or "I have something really wrong with me like Diabetes" or "I'm too overweight to qualify for a regular policy" or "I'm a smoker but don't want to disclose it" or something like that.  Just a word of warning.  That "relatively" healthy is crucial.  Whatever it is that's not perfectly healthy, could be a big dealbreaker.

In any case, you really need a LOCAL agent, who can take a half hour more to explain about the different kinds of policies.  Or, you can search all about life insurance at a bunch of websites - I like www.daveramsey.com myself.

Answer 7

There are many companies out there that will offer insurance without a medical exam. Most only for $50,000. Try a company that uses a paramedical exam. The paramedic comes to your home and does a basic exam, draws blood and you are done in an hour or less. Check Thrivent.com for an agent. They do the paramedicals.

Answer 8

A Google search for "life insurance without a physical" or "no exam life insurance" would provide you with a long list of companies selling life insurance that doesn't require a medical exam.  

HSBC, RBC, and Garden State Life are reputable companies with good ratings that offer affordable simplified issue term products that you can buy online. I work for Garden State Life as a disclaimer.

You will pay a little more for the convenience of not taking the physical exam than you would for a medically underwritten product.

Answer 9

Ok First step, figure out how much you need.  I reccommend talking to an insurance agent with at least 5 years experience.  You probably should take an exam, its going to be only blood and urin for the most part.  This will save you money and increase your coverage.  

Just buy 20 year term, from a AAA company.  You want them to be around in 10-15 years right?  Lousy companies end up not paying up, you dont want you or your spouse to be in that situation if needed.

Answer 10

Life Insurance is not for you, it is for those that survive you.  If you 2 are dependent on each others income to pay bills, make sure you have enough to cover them.  Either pay them off or provide replacement income long enough to pay them off or sell the assets.

For standard rates, Primerica offers up to 200k with just a saliva kit. (HIV Testing).  That being said, getting a medical exam can in many cases LOWER your payments.

The fact that you don't want a medical exam suggests you are hiding a medical condition though.  If that is the case and it is documented, the insurance company will find out.

Answer 11

The idea behind life insurance is to help dependents cope with the sudden loss of income if you die prematurely. Since you don’t have children, the question is whether or not your spouse is dependent on your income—to make the mortgage, for example. If not, you might not need life insurance at this time. If so, you want a death benefit large enough to replace the needed income for a decent amount of time—five to ten years. For example, if your spouse contributes $50,000 a year, you would need a death benefit between $250,000 and $500,000 a year. According to the latest survey by Insure.com, at age 35, you can get a 10-year term life insurance policy with a death benefit of $250,000 for $108 a year. A 20-year term life policy worth $250,000 would cost $153 a year, and a 30-year policy would cost $250 a year. The lowest annual prices for a policy with a $500,000 death benefit are $155 for a 10-year policy, $245 for a 20-year policy, and  $375 for a 30-year policy. The prices for your husband would be the same for the $250,000 policy and $155, $245, and $440 a year for the 10-, 20-, and 30-year policies, respectively. To qualify for the lowest rates, you have to be in excellent health yourself, have an excellent family history of health, and not participate in any dangerous sports or hobbies. Even a 30-year policy will insure you “only” until age 70. If you think you might need insurance beyond that point—again because your spouse will be dependent on a death benefit to maintain a lifestyle—then you should consider getting a form of permanent life insurance, such as whole life or universal life.

You might figure that you can get another term policy when the first one expires, but insurability is not guaranteed. If you gain weight or develop a serious illness, you might not be able to afford the higher premiums, or you might not be insurable at all. Even in ideal health, you will pay much more for term life over the age of 50 than you would earlier, erasing some or all of the savings realized during the term of the first policy. Permanent life insurance—such as whole life or universal life—will not expire and the payments will not go up based on the health, weight, or age of the insured. Permanent life insurance costs more initially, but it is a practical solution for consumers who worry about coverage and insurability later in life. In addition, whole life builds cash value over time, and the accumulated cash can be used to pay the premiums once you have retired or can serve as collateral as a loan. Permanent life insurance costs much, though.

I recommend speaking with an insurance broker. A broker works with several companies and can get you the best price. To find one in your area, log on to a website like http://www.lifeinsurancewiz.com and fill out a form requesting a quote. Good luck!