Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

We had Prudential over last night to discuss life insurance. There are just so many different options, its overwhelming. Term, Term Return, Whole Life, 20 year, 15 year etc.
It is for my husband right now, since he is the primary money maker, and when we have children the SOLE bread winner. He is 33, non smoker and in A+ health *knock on wood*. They "recommended" a 20 year, term RETURN and it was $220 a month!
We just got married and purchased a home and are planning to have children soon, but still is this not outrageous?!
I'd like to know what you have. Why does term make more sense? If after 20 years, you have no $ and no insurance when that is the time i will most likely need it most? Not sure what to do!??!?!

Re: Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

Term is typically cheaper, but that sounds really high to me. I guess it depends on how much you want/need though.

Re: Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

we have a very large policy for DH, it's term (never heard of term return to be honest) and we pay i think $400 or $500 a YEAR.

he is 31, non smoker, preferred plus rating.

i would suggest going to a agency that deals with MULTIPLE insurance companies, they can get several quotes for you at once.

let me know if you want a referral.

Re: Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

I was just talking to a friend about ins the other day. To me it sounded like trem was the way to go for now. She said her ins (don't know with who) will call when the term life is almost up and ask if you want to switch to whole life. I think she said she was paying only $50 a month for her DH's policy. IMO if I couldn't afford the whole life, I would get the term life, then switch.

Re: Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

I would highly recommend going to NYLife and have someone there speak with you about it--they are very straightforward with how they describe everything.

I'm not familiar with Term Return - i have to assume it has something to do with returning your premium in some way? Term Life is always cheap--it runs for usually 15-20 years and then after that the rate sky rockets. Which is why my agent told me that term is great at first but almost 92% of all term policies do not pay out in the end--since the policyholder usually cancels before they have to renew cause they don't want to pay the $$$ new rate when it changes nearly 20 years later and you get nothing back from the premiums you've been paying for years.

we have a large term policy but we also have some whole life for DH -- its more expensive for whole life, but you build equity into the policy. like i said, the NY Life people can explain it better.

Re: Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

do you have your auto and homeowners with the same company, if so then i would call then and ask then about life insurance sometimes they give you an extra discount

Re: Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

that sounds like a lot of money, but i don't know what term return is, either

Re: Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

Basically they return your premium to you after the length of the policy *tax free* you can also borrow against it after a certain period of time. Obviously it is more $$ than regular term. Some say this is NOT a good way to build equity and/or use this as a savings account, others feel differently, just trying to get a general idea. ( I am not sure if there are fees associated with borrowing against )

Re: Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

Return of premium term life insurance generally costs 50 to 150 percent more than a comparable traditional policy.

You are paying a lot more upfront and will not receive it back for 20 years (or whatever the length of the policy is). You need to decide if the additional cost could be better saved, invested somewhere else.

A whole life policy will cost you more, but you build up cash value and the insurance doesn't expire.

I agree with some of the other posters you may want to also meet with someone who represents multiple companies, I believe a prudential agent will only sell prudential policies, which may or may not be cheaper than some other reputable companies.

Re: Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

We got our life insurance through Select Quote and got a good deal.

We both have term policies (mine is 30 years, DHs is 20 years).

We had an agent from Allstate come over to our house but, the rates from SelectQuote were a lot more reasonable - and the policies are through a similarly rated company.

Re: Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

Re: Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

So did you guys/girls just call up a few places to get quotes?

I definitely would like to do this because god forbid something happens to my DH, i would never be able to afford the house on my own.

What kinds of information do you have to give them?

Re: Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

The way it was explained to me was that Term Life was the way to go for us, because if something happened to one of us, the insurance would at least cover the mortgage plus a bit extra if we lost the second income. We also have a 15 year mortgage, so a 20 year policy would ensure that one of us could pay off the house right away if we chose to do that. My understanding is that the other policies, while they will eventually give you a return are often not the best way to invest your money.

Re: Talk to me like i am 3 about LIFE INSURANCE

I'm really glad that you posted this- we have just started looking into this as well.

One of our friends is selling term insurance through PrimeAmerica- I think it was about $100/month and that was for coverage for both of us- if I die DH gets $400,000 and if he died, I would get $600,000 - it was based on our income.

I didnt want to get term- I would rather get whole life I think just because in 20 years when we send our kids to college, we will need that money if something happens to one of us