#LifeInsurance #GettingMarried #FinancialPlanning
Understanding the Importance of Life Insurance
Getting married is a significant life event that often prompts individuals to reassess their financial priorities. One important consideration that arises is whether to invest in life insurance to protect your loved ones in the event of your passing.
Evaluating Your Current Financial Situation
Before making a decision about life insurance, it’s essential to take stock of your current financial situation. Consider your income, savings, investments, and any existing life insurance policies you may have through your employer.
Assessing Your Coverage Needs
When determining the amount of life insurance you need, it’s crucial to consider factors such as your income, debts, mortgage, and future expenses. For example, if you have a partner who relies on your income or you have children, you may want to ensure they are financially secure if something were to happen to you.
Exploring Your Options
There are a variety of life insurance options available, including employer-sponsored policies, individual policies, and supplemental coverage. It’s important to compare rates, coverage amounts, and terms to find the best fit for your needs.
Making an Informed Decision
Ultimately, the decision to invest in life insurance should be based on your individual circumstances and comfort level. While it may seem daunting to consider, having a solid financial plan in place can provide peace of mind knowing that your loved ones will be taken care of.
In conclusion, considering life insurance as you enter this new chapter of married life is a responsible and proactive step towards securing your financial future. By assessing your coverage needs, exploring your options, and making an informed decision, you can take the necessary steps to protect your spouse and loved ones.
Yes you certainly can. A 1MM term life policy shouldn’t cost you too much. If you can get a discounted policy through your work, that can be good just remember though if you leave, get fired, or get sick and they shit-can you, that policy is gone. For that reason I have my own policy. 1MM term life, 25 years. I pay like $30 a month.
Yes. Now is a good time to look at term life insurance. Good easy role of thumb is to get a policy that is legal to write in NY.
She should probably get a policy too so you aren’t in financial trouble if something were to happen to her.
Do you plan on having children? If so, definitely get life insurance. If not, it’s more of a judgment call.
Your wife makes enough money that she will be fine if you pass. Life insurance is not cheap and you can use that money towards other investments that can grow much faster.
If you have kids however, then you will probably want life insurance since her income is not really enough to raise kids with
Also, you’re not even married yet so statisticalIy, I wouldn’t jump into something that long term financially yet
Depends on children/dependents and your debt. My wife and I are 40 with no children, no mortgage, no debt, healthy savings, and both make good income, so we do not purchase life insurance (both employers give us each ~$50k in coverage).
Most jobs offer a minimum life insurance that costs nothing. Always take that at minimum. At your age, you should be able to qualify for term
Life insurance for cheap which isn’t tied to your employment, which is beneficial IMHO.
Life insurance is about maintaining the same standard of living for your partner in the event that something happens to you. Evaluate if you need it and how much based on this.
If you do get life insurance just make sure you only get term life insurance. You can get quotes from [SelectQuote.com](http://SelectQuote.com) and it doesn’t cost anything more to use their service than if you contacted the insurance companies directly (the commission is built into the premiums you pay regardless of how you buy it). At 30 years old, assuming you are healthy and don’t smoke, you could probably buy 1M, 30 year term policy for something like $30-40/month.
**DO NOT** allow yourself to be sold whole, universal or variable life insurance. Those are very expensive, horrible products that make the salesperson selling them a big commission and make you (if you realize what you did) sad and poorer.
The insurance is to replace your income should the ultimate outcome occurs. Yes, you need insurance.
Yes you both should get outside term policies for about 30yrs as a baseline. Then if you decide to have kids then an additional policy on top.
She doesn’t need to be “set for life”, you dying isn’t something that people should get a payday that sets them for life for.
You die 6 months from now she won’t be any worse off than she is today.
Insurance is not an investment, it is something that is an expense and your best outcome is it never pays off. Buying insurance you don’t need is a waste of money.
If your future wife will be dependent on your income, then you will need life insurance.
If not, then you don’t need it.
Life insurance might make sense for someone with major expenses (a big mortgage, expensive school tuition, etc.) that their spouse’s salary + liquid accounts can’t cover, but it doesn’t sound like you are in that situation. You can always reassess in a few years if your circumstances change. Term life insurance might be cheap, but why pay for something you don’t need (yet)?
Yes and up it to $1million. Now. While the rate is cheap. You can lock it in at like $30/month when you’re young and healthy. Do term. Don’t listen to people who say to get whole life.
My wife and I opened a life insurance policy when we started a family and assumed a mortgage. Now if either of us croaks the survivor has a place to live. If we both go tits up, then my boy comes with assets which means he shouldn’t be a burden on his uncle when he shows up, suitcase in hand.
Happy thoughts, but plans is plans.
I think you each should get a term policy. Even though you make roughly the same salary and could support yourselves on your own, after marriage, you will build a lifestyle based on both incomes. That life style will include your residence, cars, retirement savings, etc. If one of you passes away, you want to make sure that the other will be able to maintain the standard of living – remain in the house, retire as planned, and so on. Also, consider that if one of you dies, the other may need to take time off from work. Having life insurance allows for that flexibility.
Buying life insurance at your age will be relatively inexpensive.
You won’t immediately need life insurance but may over time. Life insurance is to replace the hole your income leaves in the family budget if you are no longer there. If the two of you buy a big house together (I don’t advise it) that neither of you can afford alone, then you need insurance to cover that. You don’t need insurance to pay for your car because if you die you can get rid of it. Insurance is not to make your spouse “set for life” as you said. They will presumably be able to keep living their life without you after some mourning and so will produce their income as they always did. By term insurance for the amount you need. Adjust it periodically as life situations change. And she should have life insurance also because you are both in the same situation. If she dies, you need to replace the hole in the budget that she leaves.
Our approach before having children was a policy large enough that we each took enough insurance that the other spouse could keep the house. Once we had kids, it was the house plus fully paid college.
Calculate how much money she would need to continue living in the way that the two of you live, and you should each get policies that would enable the other person to carry on in your absence.
Yes, you both need it. Ask anyone who has lost a spouse during prime earning years. It is a huge financial hit to a person. For whomever said, she would be no worse off. Um, yes. She will be missing years/decades of retirement contribution, etc. the surviving spouse can no longer get all the tax benefits of filing jointly, joint contribution limits, etc. A death of a spouse is a devastating loss, which includes a financial one. Again, like anything else, be sure to take advice from people who know what they’re talking about. Not people who think they know.
Get something outside work. I couldn’t get my husband to do it and around 35 he became uninsurable. He can do plans through work, but he got laid off (tech) and so has no coverage now.
Getting it now will also give you lower premiums, the younger you are the lower they are, as you age the premium goes up when you start.
You really don’t need life insurance til you have a mortgage and kids.
Yes. You could get a 20 or 30 year term which wouldn’t need to be tied to your job, for less than $40/mo. Then get what you can through work.
Will your soon to be wife need your income to maintain a lifestyle you want for her? By this I mean a lifestyle based upon your joint income of $200K versus just her own income of $95L. If yes then consider term insurance.
Do you plan to have children in the near term? If yes then consider term insurance. You may not want to wait until you have children as things happen and you may become uninsurable or be in a much higher rate category 5 years down the road.
You may also want term life insurance if you are buying a house and putting a big mortgage on it (never buy the life insurance the mortgage company will try to sell to you – it is way too expensive).
Life insurance through your employer is great but don’t bank on just that policy. You may get laid off, change jobs or become disabled and have to quit and then you lose that life insurance. Think of group term life insurance through your employer as bonus insurance. (Note that some group term policies are now portable meaning you can take the insurance with you if you leave your job and just pay for it yourself – that is a great thing to have and may change decisions about buying other term insurance.)
Edit to add: given you age and just getting married, 30 year level term is probably what you want to look at. As others have suggested, use someone like Select Quote to research prices.
You should get life insurance that is sufficient to cover financial obligations that your dependents/partner currently rely on you to pay for. If you have a mortgage, or kids, you should probably get significant life insurance. Otherwise, you’re probably fine with a smaller amount of insurance, just enough to ease your partner into being a single earner household again.
You should be looking at insurance for both of you, especially if you plan to have children. The amount depends on your goals – if no kids, then maybe enough to pay off the house, for example. If you have kids, you’ll want enough to cover the house as well as expenses for kids – daycare, college, possibly a nanny or other after school care since your wife will likely continue working.
Yes, absolutely. I have a 1M/30yr term policy, my wife has a $0.5M/20yr term policy. Her costs $200 per year, mine is $1000/yr. I have significantly worse genetic medical history, so mine is justifiably more expensive given my background and the policy details.
Two things to note: Have absolutely nothing in your blood stream that shouldn’t be there. Nicotine takes 3-4 weeks to completely get out of your bloodstream. If you have even trace amounts of nicotine in your system, they will flag you and your rates will quadruple. I made the mistake of having a cigar a couple weeks before and it completely shot my application. I had to go to a completely different company and restart the application process.
Also, you never know what medical issues may be on the horizon for you. I got my policy in place at 24yo. At 25yo I was officially diagnosed with AFib/AFlutter. Had I not had my policy in place before that diagnosis or even mentioning it to the doctor, I’d likely be uninsurable. Moral of the story, if you have any interest in having life insurance, be careful what you tell a doctor. If you suspect something is wrong, get the policy in place first, THEN go to the doctor.
For you or for her?
Pay a small bit extra if available for a 40 or 50 year term and buy two $1m policies since it doesn’t adjust for inflation. Getting two policies gives you flexibility later to drop one of your financial situation allowed for it more easily.
It’s a good idea to have some level of life insurance so at a minimum, she can afford a funeral/celebration of life for you. But the amount above funeral costs will depend on how you handle the expenses in your life together. If you manage your finances as if you make her salary as the total income, then she’ll be fine. If she would have a major lifestyle downgrade by losing your income, then you’ll want some additional coverage.
Term is your friend…the whole point should be to provide whatever income your family would be missing in the event of your death during your working years. People get caught up wanting their family to be set when they die or legacy money…if that’s the case either get whole life and pay out the ass or invest your money.
Term is inexpensive if you’re healthy. I just wrote a 2mil 30 year term for a 35 y/o male with preferred plus health; their premium is $153/month.
I got married in 2020 when I was 31. I got a 30 year term for $500k. It’s like $33 a month and didn’t need a medical check up or anything. I would definitely get it now so you can lock in the lower price. The longer you wait the more expensive it gets. Wish I had gotten it when I was in my 20s then I would have an even cheaper price to pay.
Your life insurance shouldn’t be tied to your employment. If you get sick and leave your job before dying *poof*. If she is reliant on your income you’ll want a term policy around $1.25-2.5M so she can withdraw ~$50-100k/year. If that’s the case then you’re also reliant on her income and she should have a policy ~$1-2M so that you’re okay as well.
I didn’t worry about it until the kiddos came and we decided to go with one income. Otherwise we decided the other would always work if something happened before.
I never carried life insurance beyond my company’s policy until we had kids. Take your combined investments and subtract $50k or so for “what-if/funeral, etc.” then see how much time that would buy her to make sense of everything should the worst happen.
The math changes substantially when you have other people who wouldn’t be able to provide for themselves depending on you. Kids being the most common example. Once we had our first, I went out and grabbed a 20 year term life policy that would pay out enough to pay off the mortgage, handle any expenses, and in addition to my investments, etc, buy her a year or two to figure out life without having to worry about money. For me, that worked out to a $750k policy.
If you’re gonna have kids, maybe get a long term life policy.
I pay $750/year for a 20 year policy. 34M. I bought a 20 year term for my wife which costs $500/year.