Life Insurance ?

[mrspickle]

H and I have basic life insurance policies through our employers, but I want to get additional term insurance.  We are mid-30s, 2 kids, 20 year mortgage. Are any companies better than others? Any thing specific I should be looking at with the policy or company? I know roughly how much coverage we want and term length.

[carmenere]

My H and I both went through Zander Insurance. They walked through all the different options and gave me quotes, and then just did a quick google search on the company with the lowest quote.

[froggy76]

I would just go through a broker like Zander or Selectquote.com and they will help you find the best price.

[froggy76]

To answer more of your original questions (I'm a life insurance actuary), you should look for a stable, well-rated company, but for the most part this shouldn't be too much of a concern. Term insurance is pretty simple, no special features generally, so it's really just about price. One of the companies mentioned above will be able to tell you based on your characteristics (weight, age, medical history, smoker status, etc.) what underwriting class you'd probably fall into and where you might get the best rate. Then you can just compare companies and decide which one to move forward with. You might decide to pay a couple extra bucks per month to go with a higher-rated company over the cheapest, but there's really not much else to it.

You should get a fully-underwritten policy, which means the insurance company will have to send a paramed to your house to ask you questions and get blood and urine samples. That will get you the best rate vs more limited underwriting (assuming you're in decent health.)

ETA: Also keep in mind that you could buy multiple policies- maybe you want a certain amount of coverage for 20 years, but still want some lesser amount of coverage up to 30 years. You can combine a 20-year and 30-year policy to achieve this.

[kitchenreno]

I don't have an answer to your question, but I'm chiming in as a youngish (early 40s) widow to say more is better. The last thing a grieving spouse wants to worry about is $. Hopefully you never will, and it's great that you're thinking about it!

[sadlebred]

You should only look at companies that have an A++ rating.

clark.com/insurance/life-insurance/best-life-insurance-companies/

[dr.girlfriend]

I used selectquote.com and found them very helpful, especially since at the time my weight was on the borderline of what would get me a preferred rate. They told me Prudential had both a more "generous" height-weight chart and even what weight I needed to be at for the preferred rate, so I dressed light on the day the nurse came to do my check!