Sorry to bring a downer of a question to the forum, but I value your collective opinions. I want to make sure the missus (and it's just the missus as we have no dependents) will have more than enough cash to live a good life once I'm gone. About 1/3rd of our estate is in the property, but I don't want her to have to sell it unless she wants to. Both Non smokers, Male 49, female 41 (looks 30):Angelic: West London Joint policy on the first life. Pays :Greedy: £250,000 :Greedy: on death :Walkingdead: or terminal illness.octor::Grumpy: Level term cover for £68 a month for the next 30 years....does this seem reasonable. Given that I'll be nearly 80 it seems a pretty poor bet for an insurer.... £24,480 income for a bet that I'm going to live beyond 79 with the penalty of £250,000. It seems most unlike an insurance company to offer such a good deal. Am I missing something? :Watching: :Bookworm: Does this seem like the right sort of premium?
Doesn't seem like a good deal for the Ins Co.Average life expectancy for males is increasing up to about the 80 year mark. I find it quite a sobering thought-that this year I will be the age that my dear father died at.
Like I said, sorry to bring up such a downer of a subject. Just wonder what other people have done....I can't spend it all on Ducatis can I?
No I don't think it is a downer.it is something important that does need thought.Much like making wills and sorting out any special requests.When our children were growing up we made sure that plenty of insurance was in place for both of us.You could spend a load on Ducatis,and MV's and all sorts of things though. However,you both need to live long and happy lives.
Look at it another way, if one of you dies, what do you need to live on, will the mortgage be paid off? That sort of thing, losing a wage and maintaining your life style, what would it cost? So you can look at what interest you would earn off of an insurance payout? What would you trim down or downsize? I think that is what should dictate any insurance payout, also is it a no die no pay sort of policy? We had rather large policies in the days when the kids were dependants so we could afford to give up a job and live off the interest, mortgage paid on another policy. Now in our 50's we have modest insurance, just enough to cover funeral and a bit as we have no Mortgage.
Plain vanilla level term life insurance is less expensive than most people think. As to how much cover you need, and the length of term, as Mark F says, you need to think about what Mrs AirCon would need to live on if you weren't around, and whether you have a mortgage or other debts that would need to be paid off. Gut feeling is that £68 per month sounds a bit on the high if it's a headline figure (e.g. off a quote site) for £250k 30 year joint life 1st death, and doesn't take into account underwriters' decisions having seen any health issues, but maybe not so bad if it takes account of your own medical histories. If you haven't obtained comparison quotes, do so - like any insurance, it's worth shopping around. Some mainstream comparison sites can do life insurance, or there are specialist brokers e.g. Life Search If you have a financial adviser they will have acess to comparison tools. Bear in mind that any headline figures you get off quote engines will not take account of your own medical history, and if you are underwriten, that can increase premiums (especially bearing in mind your medical history, AirCon). Although you've said your priority is providing for Mrs AirCon when you're gone, you might want to also think about (if budget permits) critical illness cover which would pay out if you suffer one of a number of specified critical illnesses e.g. heart attack, stroke or cancer. Different insurers have slightly different definitions of when they'd pay out - worth reading the small print (or getting a financial adviser to do so). Cheapest isn't necessarily the best. Combined life & critical illness cover is common, and it is the critical illness component which is the more expensive bit (seeing as we're more likely to have a cricial illness in the term than to die). Ideally more of us should have income protection cover, which would pay out a regular income in the event that you're unable to work due to long term illness or disability (state Employment Support Allowance being less than generous).
