Life Insurance

[400A]

Unless someone else depends on you for financial support, as a single guy, you really don't need life insurance. In other words, who (besides you) loses out financially in the event of your demise?

It's the same reason financial advisors recommend against life insurance for children (unless they are wealthy or famous as children). There is simply no loss of income.

UMMMMM... Funeral expenses, Final medical bills????????????

 

[Chad_K]

400A, you could be wasting money, too.

If I’m single and die without life insurance, the hospital where I spent my last days can bill me all they want, I’m not paying (and neither are any of my relatives unless they were dumb enough to co-sign a line of credit or loan). If the estate I leave behind is so miniscule that they can’t get the funds together to throw a funeral, maybe relatives and friends will do so. If not, I’m sure they’ll do something with me.


Check this out:


http://moneycentral.msn.com/quickref/quickref.asp?Cat=10&SelCat=2&RefType=0&QAMode=2&Topic=6&Sub=0


As a single person, do I really need life insurance to pay funeral expenses and take care of my debts?
If you’re single, you may find that life insurance solves a number of issues. However, the sales pitch that you need insurance to pay for your funeral costs and retire your debts if you die prematurely is not among them. Your parents, siblings, or friends will probably pitch in to pay for your funeral if necessary. And unless you co-signed a loan with parents, partners, or friends, no one else is responsible for your debts. Your assets will be sold to pay your creditors. If your debts outweigh your assets, your creditors will take the loss.

 

[Swass]

Look here .........

If a child gets some sort of cancer (God forbid) or other long term illness and lives through the ordeal with circumstances that would not allow him/her to otherwise obtain insurance in their later years they have the original policy purchased when they were healthy (whatever amount it was) that they can fall back on. Once you buy life insurance you own it. If the original policy was term most (not all) life insurance (term) policies can be converted to whole life or universal life (check your policy)without a new set of underwriting and thusly they would stay with the insured as long as the premiums were paid. This is what is known as gauranteed insurability. That is why people buy life for children.

 

[TOGA]

If you have equity in a home, buy an Equity Indexed Universal Life. Life insurance, tax shelter & retirement fund all in one. PM me if you'd like more info . . . I'm not going to hound you, I promise.

 

[Swass]

If you're not in the business (insurance) then you know very little about what it can do for you.

I am in the business, although life is not my specialty (except group life), and you would be surprised about what laymen (writers for financial rags which don't specialize in insurance products) will bring to the table. Once again, Grg Sabala is the person to contact as he knows more about individual life than anyone i can think of, even the ones who wrote the links you provided.

 

[Swass]

Sorry, Swass, but it is you that is wrong.

You are wasting your money on life insurance for a child, unless they provide income or they are predisposed to some type of illness. Here’s what people smarter than me say:

http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/ask/archive/2003/q0212.htm

http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/05/pf/expert/ask_expert/index.htm

http://money.cnn.com/1999/06/04/smbusiness/mosbacher_col/

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/sns-yourmoney-0925spending,1,1460654.story?coll=chi-news-col&ctrack=1&cset=true

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/AvoidRipoffs/10kindsOfInsuranceYouProbablyDontNeed.aspx

http://www.bankrate.com/fox/news/insurance/kids-life1.asp

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=google&guid=%7B66026DC6-80CC-47D3-9FD0-F938274F13D7%7D&keyword=

Re-read my post above yours Chad

 

[AZ Typed]

TOGA: Why would you use an insurance product for retirement? Or, vice versa, why would you use a retirement product for insurance? It makes no sense. It's like using a 757 to make 30 minute hops - totally the wrong equipment for the job, unless you're filthy rich. EIL is no different. Like a 757 used for long-haul, EIL is a great retirement tool, when used appropriately, which it rarely ever is. Most of the time it seems that people selling Equity Indexed products are doing so because they were too lazy to get a securities license.

Swass: Many people in the business have no clue either. It's too bad that many people in the business simply have an insurance license and are suddenly experts. It's also too bad that 95% of insurance salespeople are out soley for the commission.

The idea of insurning a child to hedge against the risk of uninsurability is smart, only after other higher priority issues are addressed. Of course, this is situationally dependent. The majority of professional opinions out there would recommend this approach. The majority of sales people who don't eat if they don't make a sale, would try to sell a life insurance policy on a child. Perhaps a child rider would make more sense, but even that is usally a rip-off cost wise.

AZT

 

[festus89]

What's the problem with whole life ???

nothing, other than its a rip-off

 

[TOGA]

AZ Typed -

I'll grant you that EIUL is not for everybody. It's not sexy or aggressive, and it requires self-discipline. There are no other investment vehicles that provide so many advantages. Freeing up your home equity to purchase an EIUL instead of buying any other insurance product or depositing in any other investment with your after-tax dollars affords you the jump-start advantage of a "deposit" (single-pay premium) that comes to you income tax-free. That's because you're buying the policy with loan proceeds, not income. This also increases your mortgage interest tax deduction. Then, the money grows tax free, is withdrawn tax free, and transfers to heirs tax free. The growth is indexed to the S&P 500, which has averaged 7.3% annual growth over its 73 year history. Meanwhile, fees are extremely low . . . usually 0.5 - 1.0 % of the annual growth. Finally, the heirs get the death benefit (also tax free). All the while, you've freed up your home equity as an emergency fund, instead of leaving it trapped in your home.

 

[Swass]

A person is infinitely more likely to become disabled than pass away. If you are in a business situation (sole prorietorship, partnership, small corp., etc) you should look into disability insurance. That's a whole 'nother beast that makes life insurance look like simple arithmatic compared to quantum theory......... but that's another thread. If there's any interest.....

 

[Swass]

Sorry for the typo's. Kinda late

 

[Swass]

Swass: Many people in the business have no clue either. It's too bad that many people in the business simply have an insurance license and are suddenly experts. It's also too bad that 95% of insurance salespeople are out soley for the commission.AZT

The problem with most captive agents, i.e. State Farm, American Family, Shelter etc., is that they are given x number of sales they have to produce each month to make their bosses happy with only a minimum amount of knowledge in the area of life insurance (or any number of products in this realm). They make sweeping judgements with no real clue as to what they are doing or the ramifications of their actions, a simple beneficiary change can hold up monies for the insured's intended audience if not submitted correctly. If I want car insurance or homeowners, they are great and serve their purpose in this fashion. If I am interested in alternative types of insurance or have special needs then I will refer to professionals who are in a higher tax bracket (due to knowledge and skill) that specialize in said products. People who step outside their knowledge base in insurance are the people who give insurance in general a bad rap. Same as used car swindlers.

 

[400A]

400A, you could be wasting money, too.

If I’m single and die without life insurance, the hospital where I spent my last days can bill me all they want, I’m not paying (and neither are any of my relatives unless they were dumb enough to co-sign a line of credit or loan). If the estate I leave behind is so miniscule that they can’t get the funds together to throw a funeral, maybe relatives and friends will do so. If not, I’m sure they’ll do something with me.


Check this out:


http://moneycentral.msn.com/quickref/quickref.asp?Cat=10&SelCat=2&RefType=0&QAMode=2&Topic=6&Sub=0


As a single person, do I really need life insurance to pay funeral expenses and take care of my debts?
If you’re single, you may find that life insurance solves a number of issues. However, the sales pitch that you need insurance to pay for your funeral costs and retire your debts if you die prematurely is not among them. Your parents, siblings, or friends will probably pitch in to pay for your funeral if necessary. And unless you co-signed a loan with parents, partners, or friends, no one else is responsible for your debts. Your assets will be sold to pay your creditors. If your debts outweigh your assets, your creditors will take the loss.

Not me, I have a wife and 3 kids. I will keep my insurance.

I still would not do that even if I were single. Someone would still have to clean up my estate, and there may be things in it I would want family members to have.

In my opinion, the let the doctors & hospitals eat it plan is one of the reasons health care is so expensive.

 

[AZ Typed]

http://www.insurancenewsnet.com/article.asp?n=1&id=68485

Food For Thought. Enjoy -

AZT

 

[h25b]

What's the problem with whole life ???

nothing, other than its a rip-off

So you don't have anything to really add to the discussion.. Thanks...