Overwhelmed with life insurance options

September 9, 2009 2:35 PM

Help me jump these remaining life insurance hurdles!

Last week I announced that my wife and I are expecting our first child. Yayyy! Now onto more serious (related) business . . .

I'm trying to get term life insurance for myself and am wondering how the following things will affect my coverage:

- Several years ago, I was prescribed depression/anxiety medication by my family doctor which I took over the period of about a year. I stopped taking it about three years ago. Don't have anything depression-related since then.

- I regularly use an inhaler. My allergy doctor says that, while I don't have really bad asthma, regular use of an inhaler does improve my lung performance by about 10%. (I think asthma is classified as 12% improvement)

- Other than those two things, I'm in pretty good health. Young, exercise, close-to-normal BMI, non-smoker for 3+ years, etc.

I just ask because, every policy estimator online asks "Do you have a history of depression? Do you have asthma?" and when I check those, I'm classified as a "Standard" risk category and my estimates double. Is it really that black/white? I'm in my mid-twenties and am considering getting $500,000 for a 20-year term policy and $250,000 for a 30-year policy. Does this sound sufficient?

I have read through these two previous questions, but I still can't decide on the best way to proceed. Should I use InsWeb still or is there an easy way to find a local broker that would represent me well? (I'm in Portland, OR, if that helps)

It's just a lot to research and decide on all of a sudden, so your input will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all!

posted by siclik to education (4 comments total)

In terms of the amount, what matters here is what expenses you'll expect the insurance to cover. If you have a million dollar mortgage and are the sole earner in the family, you need more insurance than if your spouse makes 10 times what you do and your house is paid off. Rule of thumb is ten years of expenses.

Also, you should get insurance for your spouse as well. Even if she's a stay-at-home parent, you'll need money to pay someone to replace her childcare skills if something happens to her.
posted by decathecting at 3:16 PM on September 9

You seem to be on the right track -- two term life insurance policies with 20 and 30 year terms. That way you can reduce your coverage as your kids get older, mortgage gets paid off, need for coverage decline.

With your medical conditions, you might be best to go through an independent broker. They know the ins and outs of a lot of potential insurers and can give you advice on which might give you your best shot.
posted by JackFlash at 4:44 PM on September 9

How does one go about finding a good independent broker?
posted by siclik at 9:02 PM on September 9

I hope that this isn't considered spam, since I work for New York Life, but here's an agent near you (or, in Portland, anyway) who may or may not be able to get you a better premium.

http://www.jillafrica.nylagents.com/

Note: NYL Agents don't give quotes over the phone. You'll have to have a visit with her (when/where it's convenient) to get pricing.
posted by Citrus at 10:56 AM on September 10