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term life insurance
gingerjack
Posts: 1,917 Forum Member
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I am aged 55 and my term insurance has expired,
I could am looking to take out move cover, I am in good health , but can't decide wether to go for a 10 or 20 year policy,
The premiums for 20 years are 10 pounds more, per month , and therefore over 20 years that's quite a lot,
However if I need more cover in another 10 years it would cost me even more.and I don't know what my health will be like then.
However I may not need cover in 10 years as my adult children may have left home my then and my finances may be OK anyway
Anyone any advice or been in this situation
I could am looking to take out move cover, I am in good health , but can't decide wether to go for a 10 or 20 year policy,
The premiums for 20 years are 10 pounds more, per month , and therefore over 20 years that's quite a lot,
However if I need more cover in another 10 years it would cost me even more.and I don't know what my health will be like then.
However I may not need cover in 10 years as my adult children may have left home my then and my finances may be OK anyway
Anyone any advice or been in this situation
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Term insurance should not be sold, IMO. How much money have you already paid?
Nothing as yet, this time , but I have had it before for 15 years, it was cheap , gave high cover and gave me peace of mind that my family would be OK should anything happen to me
What's your opinion on it ?
Is an element of it to cover the mortgage then? DTA (Decreasing Term Assurance) may be a better / cheaper option for you as the cover goes down over time and you could go for a longer term.
You can set the cover greater than your mortgage amount of course, to provide for other eventualities
Really why? I know the odd person gets confused thinking it's some kind of investment and expecting a payout even though they didn't die, but beyond that confusion I can't see the problem
It wasn't cheap. How much have you paid in from the age of 40 to provide you with nothing?
Just under 4,000 but I still think it was worth it f or the peace of mind ,knowing my family would not have left my young family in a financial mess had I died
Also glad they didn't have to claim, as I am still here, its a straight bet, and both sides win ,they get my money, and I get to live
What do you mean 'to provide you with nothing' ?
Insurance is there in case something does happen, if nothing happens then you don't get anything out of it.
The important factors are whether the mortgage (if there is one) will be paid off within the next ten years, and whether the widow (if there is one) will have any financial problems.
Life insurance is totally about money; once you're in a position when your death wouldn't impose any financial problems on anyone, then you don't need insurance.
How does it differ from, say, car insurance ?
Some good points, thanks, my mortgage will be paid in 6 years, but I don't have a private pension, so my wife and I are am never going to be flush when I retire.
The death of either of us after i retire , would put us in a worst position I would suggest
I have a large house which I could sell, as it costs quite a bit to run at present
My problem is I don't have a crystal ball to see the future, but have to decide now whilst in good heath, as in ten years who knows I may be a bad risk.
who would insure a 65 year old with health problems, but they will now for 20 years which takes me to 75 !
Car insurance is a legal requirement and provides the other party, if you have an accident that is your fault, with something to claim against.
Term life insurance is a dreadful policy because there are far better ways of providing money to your spouse should you die, particularly if you are a healthy 40 yo when you take it out . If you don't die within the term, it is wasted money.
So if you don't have a car accident is that wasted ? Or dont have any incident on holiday with holiday insurance ?
you pay in the hope you don't claim, but you get peace of mind that should anything happen, in car,house,holiday of life insurance , its all about what if
I'm a healthy 40 something year old. I'm all ears.
Personally, I've had no life insurance for nearly 20 years now. Once the mortgage was paid off, the cover provided by the endowment policy ceased, and I didn't take out a new policy.
Me too. I bought a business aged 31 with a very large loan over 10 years and took term life insurance for that period because if I'd died my wife would have been left with mortgage, 2 kids and a business she couldn't run with a debt secured on our house.
IIRC it was a condition of the loan that insurance was in place and was worth it for the peace of mind. I don't have life insurance any more as we don't have debts.
The worse products we bought were endowment policies.
Spoken to a independent insurance advisor, he reckons I am lucky to be healthy and have a insurance company offer me insurance for 20 years ,until I was 75,
Also should anything happen to either myself or wife, even if we are in a good position money wise, ,you can never have enough money.
Think I am going to bite the bullet and go for 20 years
A life policy that includes some sort of savings (e.g., life assurance) would be far better, IMO. Term insurance leaves you with nothing if you don't die within the term, life assurance normally provides you with something.
Life assurance gets a bad name because it was sold in the 80s as part of 'endowment mortgages' - basically an interest-only mortgage with life assurance.
I've never had an endowment mortgage or life assurance/insurance, because I don't need to insure my life. For those that do, I would consider a savings policy that also provides life cover.
I was going to say that I hoped you'd made the right choice. Then I realised that was equivalent to saying I hope you die soon.
So I hope it turns out to be the wrong choice. ;-)
How much commission is your advisor getting for the policy that you are buying? It should be stated on the policy document and agreed before you take out the life insurance.
The advisor is not getting anything , he was independant so had no motivation other than to help make the best choice
The policy is being bought has no connection to him
Yes good point, I hope that after 20 years , I have wasted my money !
If you intend to save and have money to invest, then yes there may be a discount to have on the assurance element by taking a policy that provides both. In much the same way as you can save money with virgin by getting your mobile, broadband and TV from them. If however all you want is a mobile - no point paying virgin for broadband.
It really depends on how the company calculates the admin expenses as to if or how much cheaper it works out and to be honest there's so much variety between L&P companies; the sales channels and what they offer price wise on assurance I think it's far more important to look at how you choose your policy .