Stupid life insurance question

[zelda25]

First--thanks to iheartcosmos for providing the link to this site!

Anway, I was reading an earlier post about buying life insurance, which made me wonder if I'm going about this all wrong and don't realize it. H and I both have life insurance policies through our employers; mine is $500K or $750K--just under the amount that requires a physical. My premiums are pretty low, and the policy would be more than enough for H to pay off the mortgage and any other debts if I die. I see a lot of people here buy policies separate from their employers, and wonder if mine is inadequate.

So, what am I doing wrong here? School me, please.

[Deleted]

May 10, 2012 14:34:08 GMT -5 zelda25 said:

First--thanks to iheartcosmos for providing the link to this site!

Anway, I was reading an earlier post about buying life insurance, which made me wonder if I'm going about this all wrong and don't realize it. H and I both have life insurance policies through our employers; mine is $500K or $750K--just under the amount that requires a physical. My premiums are pretty low, and the policy would be more than enough for H to pay off the mortgage and any other debts if I die. I see a lot of people here buy policies separate from their employers, and wonder if mine is inadequate.

So, what am I doing wrong here? School me, please.

Thats a really high amount from an employer-- when I had it through my first employer, it was only 15K. I think most people want to shy away from employer policies 1) because they are generally lower than you need and 2) what happens when you are no longer at that job? then you need to get a new policy at higher rates bc you will be older. I think those are the main concerns.

[zelda25]

I get that I can't take the policy with me if I leave the company; the premiums are so low that I don't particularly care. I was primarily worried that there might be some bizarre restrictions that I wasn't aware of, like they don't pay out except in extremely narrow circumstances that no one meets or something like that.

thanks!

[80sjunkie]

Are you sure they are really low compared to what you could pay for term life insurance? For comparative purposes, I believe I pay $55 a month for 1.25 million in coverage.

[friskypanda]

If you leave your employer, you may have the option to convert it to a personal policy but the rates will be based on smoke rates. You also aren't building a cash value. This may not be important to you, but thought I'd mention it.