My husband and i are over 55 and needing advice about "whole life insurance" who would be the person to ask?

Question

Our Insurance co. we feel is giving us the run around and it's hard to trust just anyone anymore. We think we need to move the whole life insurance to something more profitable. We have been paying into it for over 20 years.

Answer 1

If you still want or need the coverage, you should probably keep the policy. Cost will be much higher after 20 years. If you are wanting to use the cash value and don't want the coverage any longer, then cash it in. Keep in mind that any money above what you have paid in the policy is taxable.

You would probably be better off by seeing a fee-based financial consultant. Too many commission-based agents would be tempted to talk you into cashing in the policy and buying a new one. I can assure you that if I looked at your policy, I could prove to you that you need to drop that policy and buy a new one. I don't do that, but believe me that it can be done by any intelligent, unscrupulous salesperson.

Answer 2

whole insurance is a waste of money - "profitable?" - Life Ins is supposed to help the survivor survive financially - go with like a 10 yr level term policy - for the same monthly premium you're paying now, you'll get a lot more coverage, by age 65 - all you should hopefully need is enough coverage to pay for funeral and final expenses

Answer 3

Your best bet would be to talk to a liscensed insurance broker that offers whole life, universal life, and term life.  They would be able to access your situation and advise you on what your best option would be.  If you go for a fee based advisor, it won't make a difference to them if they sell you anything or not, so you make get a more unbias answer from them.

On a side note, if you've been paying into your policy for 20 years, it might not be worthwhile to cancel it (depends on what kind of policy you have).  It might be better to minimum fund it to continue receiving dividends, etc if you recieve them and set up a policy on the side that is a better suit for your needs.

Answer 4

Try StateFarm.  we have them for just renters insurance, used to have them for car.  but they are always trying to get us to get life insurance but its offered through me work so ofcourse i dont want it.  Call them!

Answer 5

Talk to an independent insurance agent rather then an agent for a specific company (i.e. Nationwide, State Farm, etc).  Independent agents deal with more then one company and are able to find whats best for.  They usually don't get alot of commission on life insurance policies so they're not out to make a huge profit from you.

Answer 6

Talk to a few different independent insurance brokers to get multiple perspectives.  Take an "inforce illustration" with you that you can get from your company's customer service.  You generally should not be looking for something more "profitable" because there are many other ways to make a buck besides paying for life insurance.  

A fee-only financial planner will generally have fewer conflicts of interest in their advice, but their recent experience with a wide variety of life insurance contracts may be limited.  They also won't have access to quoting software outside of a few companies.  You can pick your poison or work with both a fee-only planner and an insurance broker.

Answer 7

I would talk to another insurance company if I were you