Life insurance best plan of action

[af1212]

My H and I have had term life insurance for 10+ years - a 30 year policy.

During COVID/virtual school/chaos of life I accidentally let our policy lapse. So I need to get it again - this time I would get a 20 year policy.

Unfortunately my husband has gained a lot of weight - he is prob 50-75# over where he would like to be and where he was when we originally got the policy.

Should I -
Option A - Get a policy ASAP knowing it will be way more $$ than it was before

Option B - wait until he has lost the weight (which he is in the process of doing) and then get a policy

If I did option A I of course could get a new policy after he has lost the weight but I’m worried that once it’s part of his medical record they will continue to hold it against him. Not sure how that works?

Thanks for any advice.

Follow up - years ago I used accu.quote or select.quote or one of those. Are they still best or is there something else?

[applecrispy]

My husband and I were in a similar situation and I asked the agent how much I needed to weigh and how much the premium would increase. It ended up being less than a $20 a month difference. I would suggest getting a policy now, you never know what's going to happen, if your husband will lose enough weight, etc. We had to drive 2 hours one way just to get the medical tests done during Covid because none of the usual traveling nurses were going it in our area anymore and they wouldn't let us go to our primary physicians office.

[af1212]

Mar 3, 2022 10:59:02 GMT -5 applecrispy said:

My husband and I were in a similar situation and I asked the agent how much I needed to weigh and how much the premium would increase. It ended up being less than a $20 a month difference. I would suggest getting a policy now, you never know what's going to happen, if your husband will lose enough weight, etc. We had to drive 2 hours one way just to get the medical tests done during Covid because none of the usual traveling nurses were going it in our area anymore and they wouldn't let us go to our primary physicians office.

Thanks I just added a follow up - any recs for where to search since it has been 10 years since I have looked.

[janegold]

We were happy with SelectQuote when we used them about 5 years ago.

Agree that it is worth asking at the outset. I will say that my H was about 50 lbs overweight with no chronic conditions other than asthma and we pay about $150 a month more for him than for me (though he's also 4 years older, but he was still under 40 when we got our plans).

[awkwardpenguin]

Get the policy ASAP. He'll be rated but it won't be bad if he's otherwise healthy.

I'd use select quote.

[awkwardpenguin]

I'd also consider 10 year policies based on the ages of your kids in your sig. They will be much cheaper and probably meet your needs.

[af1212]

Mar 3, 2022 11:44:04 GMT -5 awkwardpenguin said:

I'd also consider 10 year policies based on the ages of your kids in your sig. They will be much cheaper and probably meet your needs.

I can’t remember what’s in my signature and I can’t see it but I have kids ages 12, 9 and 6.

We want to be sure their guardians are prepared until they are early twenties adults - college and all.

[applecrispy]

Mar 3, 2022 11:08:25 GMT -5 af1212 said:

Mar 3, 2022 10:59:02 GMT -5 applecrispy said:

My husband and I were in a similar situation and I asked the agent how much I needed to weigh and how much the premium would increase. It ended up being less than a $20 a month difference. I would suggest getting a policy now, you never know what's going to happen, if your husband will lose enough weight, etc. We had to drive 2 hours one way just to get the medical tests done during Covid because none of the usual traveling nurses were going it in our area anymore and they wouldn't let us go to our primary physicians office.

Thanks I just added a follow up - any recs for where to search since it has been 10 years since I have looked.

We used Select Quote and were happy with them.

[awkwardpenguin]

Mar 3, 2022 11:45:53 GMT -5 af1212 said:

Mar 3, 2022 11:44:04 GMT -5 awkwardpenguin said:

I'd also consider 10 year policies based on the ages of your kids in your sig. They will be much cheaper and probably meet your needs.

I can’t remember what’s in my signature and I can’t see it but I have kids ages 12, 9 and 6.

We want to be sure their guardians are prepared until they are early twenties adults - college and all.

The six year old isn't in your sig, but what is your college funding plan?  If you're mostly planning to cash flow college, I'd choose a longer term for at least part of the policy value.  But if you'll have most of your college savings squared away, you might want to consider the shorter term.  Or do one 10 year policy and one 20 year policy.

[ellipses84]

Definitely get some sort of policy asap! Have you asked the old company if there’s anything you can do to reinstate it? Or do they require a medical exam in addition to paying for all of the lapse? Or did it expire? Check with your employers to see if they offer any insurance options (or if you have some automatically you aren’t aware of). Sometimes this is only during open enrollment and I only recommend using an employer plan for part of your total life insurance because you may lose it, have premiums increase or need an exam if you are laid off, which is the last thing you want to deal if that happens.

We had a similar situation and decided to do a combo of employer insurance and smaller private plans that didn’t require exams mainly because it is way cheaper monthly. I often get offers to increase my premium by a couple bucks for an addition $5k of insurance, so I could gradually raise it without medical exams. It’s less total insurance than we had before but I feel like it’s enough to to get by for each single parent or combined for the kids. Factor in dependents and what you’d really need for the next 10 or 20 years. IMO the closer you are to retirement (if you have saved a lot), and mortgage payoff and the older your kids are, the less insurance money you need. When we had an infant and owned a house, I considered how we’d need to pay off the mortgage, pay off other debt, pay for college and have a couple of years of income in savings. Now that we have less debt and more savings, with older kids, I feel more comfortable having less insurance.

[ellipses84]

Also, when I originally got life insurance I factored in paying off my $$$ student loans but I believe (federal at least) discharge upon death so your spouse wouldn’t be responsible. That’s something to double check if you or your spouse have a lot of students loans.

[dr.girlfriend]

I wouldn't wait. We were waiting until my husband was 5-years smoke-free, and then he got diagnosed with diabetes and his rate shot up to the point where it wasn't even worth it. My sister was dragging her heels, and then her husband got diagnosed with precancerous moles that made his rate ridiculous. In the end he developed thymic carcinoma and died at 50. Fortunately we are both very financially stable regardless but definitely two anecdotal stories about why not to wait. I would also look into what's available through your work. I know for a couple of dollars a year I get $10k or $20k coverage for my husband with no health screenings.

I also agree with using selectquote -- they were able to look at the height/weight charts for various insurance companies and let me know not only that Prudential was more "generous" but also exactly what weight I would have to hit to get the preferred rate with them.

[af1212]

To answer some questions -

We have no student loans

I hope to have more $$ saved for my kids college once I go back to work but at this time we do not have a ton

My H has minimal life insurance (automatic) through his work but it is not nearly enough and we are not comfortable relying on that

Our insurance that lapsed we can reinstate it but it’s basically like applying all over again - have to go through exam and everything

If both my H and I were to pass away I would want to make things as easy and smooth as possible for my kids and their guardians

[af1212]

Thanks I’ll put select quote on my list

[bee20]

At least for the time that your children are minors, remember that you will also have social security for them. It's not super generous but it will help. Might lower your needs with the combination of employer coverage, social security, and existing savings.

I just helped a close friend with this and she was pleasantly surprised. Just using the Quick Estimator and an income of $100k for the deceased, the surviving spouse would get $2k/month through age 16 of the youngest child, and then the child would get $2k/month through age 18.  The family cap is $4600/mo, so less helpful with 3 children than with 1 or 2, but if you're looking at expensive coverage keep it in mind.

[ohgillian]

I think I remember that zaneyzoo is one of our life insurance experts.

[zaneyzoo]

I absolutely wouldn’t wait. You never know what’s tomorrow holds. Yes, rates may be higher, but a lot of companies will allow you to go through underworking again to see if a rating can be adjusted or dropped after x amount of time.

I personally wouldnt feel comfortable letting my spouse go without.

And you may be surprised at the parameters for height/weight.

Good luck!

[kitchenreno]

Absolutely don't wait. My husband died at age 46.

We would occasionally talk about increasing our existing life insurance plans but he always wanted to lose weight first. He had a heart attack -- so of course I wish we prioritized the weight loss for a million different reasons (b/c any way you look it at it, it IS still important), but that is secondary to your question. Just get the insurance and give yourself peace of mind!

ETA a couple things after reading other comments:
Social security benefits are definitely helpful.  It's based on what the parent paid into SS, so the higher the salary (and # of years paid in), the more the surviving children will get.  That benefit lasts until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever comes later.  You can actually create an account on the SS website to see the amounts your kids would likely get - I definitely recommend looking at this!  I was completely unaware of survivor benefits until my husband died.  

Depressing to think about, but since you mentioned it - if both parents die, consider that your children will likely have  significantly reduced college tuition.  I believe they qualify as independents/orphans and would get lots of aid.  I know you still want to plan for it (especially b/c this is NOT the case if just one parent dies) but just wanted to point that out.