Life Insurance - Bay City,MI

J.R.

Our insurance is USAA - my husband served in the USAF - they cover our home, cars and life. i think they are branching out to health care as well.

MetLife is the other company that houses my life insurance. It was a small policy that was started when i was 10 years old and is now paying for itself.

When you search online for Life Insurance - do NOT go with a company that has not been rated or you don't recognize the name. Make sure you get the appropriate level of coverage for your family.

for example - I am a SAHM - while I don't make a salary - if I died tomorrow - my husband would have to consider child care expenses for 4 more years as well as tutoring expenses for the next 10 years (as I get one on one with my boys and their education). He would also have to consider cleaning services as he won't have time after working full time and then picking up the boys. It's those little details that get you!!

Make sure you have a living will - up to date and ready. Should you get in a tragic car accident - do you want to be kept alive? Do you want to be cremated, buried or body donated to science? what about organ donation? Even at your young age - these things MUST be considered and talked about.

best to you!!

Cheryl

We purchased ours through our financial consultant, who is the person who manages our retirement funds. She was able to refer us to their life insurance rep and they worked in conjunction to help us "plan" what made sense. We did NOT go through our employers, but did go through our money manager.

Call around and schedule appointments to get quotes. You most likely are looking for "term" life insurance. We use MetLife and have been generally happy with their service- once you have an actual rep and their direct extension.

Just purchased a 20 yr term-life plan through Zander Insurance. Great deal & saved a lot of time by comparing many agencies to get us the best deal.

I think you need to look at level term insurance.
Dave Ramsay always (at least used to) recommend Zander Insurance. You can check them out online and get a quote.

10 times your yearly income is the amount always suggested. The idea is that (God forbid) a death occurs, you can invest that entire amount and replace the lost annual income.

New York Life and Globe Life are both well respected. You can also go online and get a multi-quote. It runs your info through and gives you the rates for several companies. The monthly rate and length of the term are most important if you are looking at term. The cheaper the better and the longer you lock that rate in the better.
The interest rate is the most important if you are looking at whole life insurance. That determines how much cash value you will grow over time.

never purchase it through your employer, that money is better spent towards your 401k, if you lose your job you lose all that money you invested in their life insurance program.
Most of the major companies have good live insurance plans.
I had Prudential for years, but let it lapse unfortunately, but I was happy with their plan.

The best company is Zander insurance. They will shop for the best rate. I have a 500,000.00 policy for 190.00 per year! You need 20 year level term life insurance. Stay away from whole life insurance.

Lisa

Not sure if they sell life ins in MI but check out SBLI. We got quotes from a few but went w/ SBLI- 30 yr term. Good Luck!

Northwestern Mutual is a great company.

Whatever you decide to go with, don't just go online and do the cheapest you can find. Work with a financial planner to get the coverage you want for what you can afford. If you don't understand the difference between term and whole, make them explain it to you.

I hope you don't think that I'm talking to you like an idiot. It's just that my 40-year-old husband is a financial planner and was also just diagnosed with cancer. He should be fine, but we're both super glad that we have the coverage that we do and that we understand how it works.

Mass Mutual is also good. If you look for online quotes, you want to find a company that's at least AA or AAA rated - you want them to be around for a LONG time :) If you have any question about insurance planning, click my name - I used to work in the field before I had my son. I don't sell, but I understand how the insurance tools work and can give you a quick overview.

It all depends on your personal circumstances, what you are trying to accomplish and your overall estate planning needs:
1. The group term life available through your employer will be the cheapest coverage. I don't necessarily think it's something you should avoid, as it can play a part in your overall estate planning. It can provide you with additional coverage during the years when your children are young, which is when the surviving parent would most need financial assistance and when mortgages and other obligations are highest. The thing to keep in mind is it ends when employment ends, it's not something that is going to be there to cover burial expenses as you're not likely to die while working and cash in on it. If employment is tenuous it could also delay you from getting proper term coverage until you reach an age when it's not as cheap. But if your type of work and work history would suggest that you can reasonably keep term life available, it's cheap and can supplement other coverage during the heavy obligation years.
2. Another thing to consider is your objectives with insurance. If you are trying to cover burial expenses, if you are trying to protect the family during the early years, if you are trying to shift wealth (leave an inheritance) for your survivors. Different types of insurance, term, whole life, universal life or some combination of the three. Term insurance is cheapest, does not accumulate a cash value, and is usually for specified "term" so it may end before you really need it or can be part of a strategy to provide additional coverage during a specified period of time. Level premium whole life is permanent coverage, much more expensive but if you take it now when you are young at an affordable level premium, it is appropriate for funeral expenses. Universal or variable premium coverage is tricky because the mortality charges go up as you age so if the market doesn't do well it can become unaffordable once you retire, again when you most need it.
3. If you are looking to provide an inheritance or even family protection during the family years, you might want to consider an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust which could let the benefits of your policy be exempt from estate taxes meaning more $ available to your family. ILET's have specific legal requirements and would usually be funded by permanent whole or semi permanent variable coverage although it's not impossible to have term coverage inside of an ILET. It would probably just be longer term, more expensive coverage.
4. Whatever you choose, look for a carrier with an A+, A or A- Best rating. You want to make sure the carrier is financially strong and will be around to pay the death benefit. Work through an agent, preferably one that is also licensed as a financial counselor and get a number of quotes.

Good luck!

There are tons of insurance companies you can purchase life insurance through. A little research on the internet can give you basic prices for different amounts of coverage.

Be aware that someone will probably come to your home/office to get some basic medical and family medical history as well as height, weight, blood pressure and a blood and urine sample.

I know several companies offer decent life insurance for around $30 bucks a month (give or take) for $250,000 (give or take) worth of life insurance. How much you'll need depends on your level of debt as well as your own income levels.