Can you recommend companies for life insurance (prefer online quote)?
July 11, 2015 4:59 AM Subscribe
Looking to get life insurance. Was wondering which companies to consider? No health issues to take into consideration. Would you recommend term life / whole life? I was thinking of going term life and then converting to whole life later.
You can cancel term. It's unlikely you'll get a better deal when you're older if you do your homework now. I recommend SBLI; it's unlikely you can get much cheaper than them for term; however, I don't know what conversion options they have (I'm not a fan of whole.) They use an online quote system that will give you a list of competing quotes as well.
posted by michaelh at 5:33 AM on July 11, 2015
posted by michaelh at 5:33 AM on July 11, 2015
You might also want to ask your friends if they know a local, trusted, well established INDEPENDENT (one who sells a number of lines and is not tied to a single provider) insurance agent... Then let that agent do the homework to find a policy that matches your needs.
posted by HuronBob at 6:45 AM on July 11, 2015
posted by HuronBob at 6:45 AM on July 11, 2015
It might help if you'd tell us where in the world you are.
posted by Too-Ticky at 7:04 AM on July 11, 2015
posted by Too-Ticky at 7:04 AM on July 11, 2015
I got a great rate from Ohio National on a 20 year term policy a few years back. It doesn't really matter as long as the insurance company is financially stable enough that you are confident they'll be around to pay out if needed. Term life is a commodity.
posted by COD at 7:27 AM on July 11, 2015
posted by COD at 7:27 AM on July 11, 2015
Whole life is a ripoff. The purpose of life insurance is to create an instant estate for your survivors. Term insurance allows you to buy much more insurance for the same premium. The price goes up each year, but at some point, if all goes well, you will have accumulated your own estate and will no longer need life insurance.
Whole life vs. term life insurance
The Truth About Life Insurance
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:34 AM on July 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Whole life vs. term life insurance
The Truth About Life Insurance
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:34 AM on July 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
The primary reasons a premium in a couple of years might be lower as opposed to a competitive term policy you buy today is if you don't qualify for the most preferred underwriting class now and later you do.
You can cancel term with no penalty. Not to be morbid, but buying a new policy will restart the suicide clause (conversion to whole life won't do that).
posted by TORunner at 7:34 AM on July 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
You can cancel term with no penalty. Not to be morbid, but buying a new policy will restart the suicide clause (conversion to whole life won't do that).
posted by TORunner at 7:34 AM on July 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
We have our life insurance through USAA and they made it very easy. They have an online calculator you can fiddle with to see various price points based on your age/health and once you pick a plan they send someone to your house for the health assessment. If you had a family member in any branch of the military or if you served you can use USAA.
posted by julie_of_the_jungle at 11:11 AM on July 11, 2015
posted by julie_of_the_jungle at 11:11 AM on July 11, 2015
My SO has a "Universal Life" policy from Farmer's. Basically it's an investment account that buys term life insurance for you at a guaranteed rate. The nice thing about it is that once it has built up some value, the investment returns are enough to pay the premiums on the policy, so you can just not pay them for a while if you need the financial breathing room.
I won't say it's a great deal, but it definitely was nice not having to pay while she was unemployed.
Also, check with your employer. Some have guaranteed issue policies up to a certain amount. My SO's employer offers coverage for 3x the employee's salary at no cost to the employee, and higher for a small upcharge. The basic amount requires no underwriting at all no matter when you opt in, but if you want to pay for a larger policy after the initial offer they do require a health check.
At one point my bank gave me a $10k policy for free as well. They took that benefit away a couple of years ago, though.
posted by wierdo at 4:19 PM on July 11, 2015
I won't say it's a great deal, but it definitely was nice not having to pay while she was unemployed.
Also, check with your employer. Some have guaranteed issue policies up to a certain amount. My SO's employer offers coverage for 3x the employee's salary at no cost to the employee, and higher for a small upcharge. The basic amount requires no underwriting at all no matter when you opt in, but if you want to pay for a larger policy after the initial offer they do require a health check.
At one point my bank gave me a $10k policy for free as well. They took that benefit away a couple of years ago, though.
posted by wierdo at 4:19 PM on July 11, 2015
Whole life is a way for insurance companies to steal your money without you noticing. It's set up the way it is to make it impossible to compare against a standard investment account and term insurance.
Essentially the only downside to term is that it lapses entirely if you stop paying. This is also a benefit because you can switch policies with no hassle by not paying if you get a better deal somewhere else. Whole life has some situations where you can stop paying and still get some coverage.
But for almost everyone term is way cheaper. A younger person can get a huge policy for a few hundred dollars a year. Shop around, pick a company with a good rating.
posted by wnissen at 5:22 PM on July 11, 2015
Essentially the only downside to term is that it lapses entirely if you stop paying. This is also a benefit because you can switch policies with no hassle by not paying if you get a better deal somewhere else. Whole life has some situations where you can stop paying and still get some coverage.
But for almost everyone term is way cheaper. A younger person can get a huge policy for a few hundred dollars a year. Shop around, pick a company with a good rating.
posted by wnissen at 5:22 PM on July 11, 2015
Just want to make the point, since it isn't clear in your question, that life insurance is meant to insure (provide income) for someone else. I.e. you are buying it to be able to pay off a mortgage for your spouse/family, to insure income to your family if you are no longer a breadwinner, etc.
If you are single or have a partner that can carry mortgage, etc without your income, than you don't need life insurance yet.
If that doesn't apply, carry on!
posted by qwip at 5:41 PM on July 11, 2015
If you are single or have a partner that can carry mortgage, etc without your income, than you don't need life insurance yet.
If that doesn't apply, carry on!
posted by qwip at 5:41 PM on July 11, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks everyone for you responses! I found this site http://www.lifequotes.com/. It seems to pull rates from multiple companies. Has anybody used this or are you aware of any other sites like this one? Thanks!
posted by r2d2 at 5:22 PM on July 18, 2015
posted by r2d2 at 5:22 PM on July 18, 2015
I actually know the founder of Lifequotes. It's a legitimate site. Quotesmith is another one that I'm familiar with.
posted by COD at 7:13 PM on July 20, 2015
posted by COD at 7:13 PM on July 20, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by r2d2 at 5:09 AM on July 11, 2015