Not that I necessarily agree with getting another or continuing the policy you have now should you leave or be fired at this stage in your life, but there definitely is value in the certainty of purchasing life insurance when you know you can still pass the medical exam.
I thought all employers had to give you the option to either continue your policy and/or convert the group term to a whole life policy when you leave. Not positive about that though, it may have just been an option most of the companies I've seen have.
Exactly. Life insurance is the last love letter that you can leave to your family. One of the things I tell my clients is, "I want you to write down a list of people that will do the following things when you die: pay for your funeral, pay your mortgage payment, pay your car payment, pay your credit card debts, pay your hospital bills, the bills of your significant other, buy your children cars, and put them through college." How many people can afford to do all of that for anyone? That is what a life insurance policy is for. An agent can sit down with you and do a needs analysis. They can come up with a policy, that suits your needs and can afford. Also, the main bread winner should also not be the only one with a life insurance policy. Alot of clients automatically disregard the person that does not contribute as much financially or at all. For example: a stay at home mom. Well, if mommy passes away who is going to take care of the kids? Either way money is going to be spent on babysitters, a nanny, or day care. It would be a smart move to put a policy on mommy too. Shegirl makes an awesome point. Get a policy while you are young. I have a friend that is 22 years old, that just got diagnosed with MS. She will never be able to get a life policy now. I know Gerber does great kid plans. Alot of companies offer something called a GIO endorsement. It means no matter how crappy your health is they will offer you more coverage. Some companies offer great whole life policies for kids, that build cash value. Look into it, it is worth it! Also, I apologize to the grammar and punctuation nazis. Grammar was never my strong point.
Most do but if I ventured a guess I'd say in upwards of 95% of the employees that leave, don't. Most probably do so without even thinking about it.
Probably, but now add in cook, chauffeur, personal assistant, maid, and hostess. It is getting a little bit pricier.
No health insurance here. Nobody in my immediate family has had serious medical problems, and none have had insurance. Instead of paying 1k+ per month to somebody else, money has consistently gone into a health savings fund, which at this point could cover anything except the most catastrophic of circumstances. Maybe I'll be kicking myself when I develop colon cancer at age 30, but to me insurance just seems like a poor value. I totaled my car at 17, but replacing it cost less than 3yrs of collision insurance. I've spent ~800 dollars in dentist/doctor visits in the last 8 years, but would have spent thousands on insurance. I'd probably think differently if I had a family to support, but right now I see no point in paying somebody for a service I should be able to provide for myself.
The hooker would be cheaper. It boils down to this, mainly in regard to life and health, insurance is a very personal and personalized product. The decisions the consumer makes on coverage, levels of it and price v. worth are just that, theirs to make however, it is the agents job to give the clients the tools and information needed to make an informed decision. Beyond that if you opt out then so be it. I know I've done my job.
A huge tornado hit my parents farm back in 2007. The only insurance my parents DIDN'T have on the farm was, you guessed it.. tornado insurance! We saw lots of our farm destroyed that day. Particularly the barn and what was surrounding it. Thankfully it didn't do much to the house.. just knocked off a few shingles, downed trees and powerlines. My dad's the kind of person who's always "we won't ever need that", but on that day, he sure as hell wished he got tornado insurance for the farm.
I have accident insurance because I'm involved in a few extreme sports—my step-dad just had a life-threatening climbing accident a couple months ago and had $30K+ in bills, much of which was covered by his insurance. My insurance is like $80/year and covers ER visits and overnight time in the hospital. That covers pretty much everything I need (I also have limited health insurance for minor doctor's visits). The entirety of my valuables are worth less than $10K, it makes no sense to have that insured. What I kind of have an issue with is these blanket statements that everyone should have a certain insurance or sets of insurance. It only makes sense based on one's circumstances.
The above was posted in the Pirate Bedroom thread and instead of going way off focus over there, I thought I'd comment here. While I understand that liability insurance on things like tree houses has become a necessity, it's also hindered a lot of great things that kids love to play with. Trampolines, for example. I know several familes, mine included, who were looking into buying one and opted not to because of the sharp increase in homeowners insurance premiums. When my parents put in our in-ground pool, my sister and I really wanted a slide. But upon looking at the increase to our homeowners insurance (which was already increased from adding a pool anyway) my dad said it was a no go. I'm not saying that the insurance is a bad thing--because it's entirely feasable that some kid will break their neck or something else falling off the trampoline or the top of the slide, and their parent would want to sue--but it just sucks that there's so much red tape in the way of kids being able to enjoy the things that make being a kid great.
I carry renter's (required), auto (required), health & life. I'm not too happy with the renter's insurance, but it's not a huge drop in the bucket. Auto is cheap due to discounts and my family being with the company for 25+ years. Health insurance is pretty cheap through my company, and especially because they contribute free money to my HSA. I plan on getting lasik done, so that will help lower my OOP costs. I bought a life insurance policy when I first started my career, and I think it's about time to increase the value on it. I sure hope I live long enough to enjoy the benefits of that.
I have not come across anyone trying to insure a house that house a treehouse. However, I have had experience with pools, trampolines, and animals. I know my company will not insure a pool unless it has a fence. The pool cannot have a diving board or a slide. Trampolines are also a huge no. The biggest issue I have come across though is different breeds/kinds of animals. Do you know how hard it is to tell someone, "I'm sorry, I am not going to be able to insure your house, because your dog Fido is a pitbull"? Even though their dog is great with kids, and doesn't have a mean bone in their body, I couldn't do it. The same thing goes for chows. Yes, I understand Fido has been in your family for 10 years, and has his own place at your table; but my underwriter doesn't understand that. My underwriter only sees all the claims that have been paid out, because of pitbull attacks. Guidelines state that I also can't insure a property that has exotic animals. However, they don't define what exactly an exotic animal is so there is a loophole. Now if you have a venom spitting cobra there is no fucking way in hell I am writing it though. If you use your horses for business purposes, I also can't do that. When it comes to insurance, one bad apple ALWAYS spoils it for the entire bunch. Is it fair? Hell no. Insurance also has to think of all the "What If's?". Insurance companies like to play it safe. That is what happens when you live in a sue happy, money greedy, society.
My work covers 100% health insurance, dental, vision, etc. Pretty awesome and rare to come by. My renters insurance is about $100 a year, mainly to cover theft and our bikes. My motor scooter insurance is $150 a year. So $250 a year to cover my self and all my shit. Good deal, thanks allstate and job.