[chungdae]

Hate to burst the bubble, but my mom has asked me to shop around and purchase life insurance for she and my father. It's reality and my parents are getting older. I don't know the first thing about life insurance. She told me to get a term life insurance for 20 years. I'm asking for everyone's input and advice on the matter. Thanks in advance.

[Spec 1]

I'm a life insurance agent with an A++ rated company.

Your best bet is going to be talking directly with an agent to give details of the situation and tell what you're trying to accomplish. They can take that and provide you a couple options to best fit your need.

Without getting into it too deepy, Life insurance is split into two types, permanent and temporary. It's like buying or renting (similar to a house). "Term" is temporary, and means you purchase it for a select number of years before it runs out. Like a lease when you rent, once it's done, it's done. If you still need it after, you will have to reapply and pay a much higher rate (assuming you are still healthy and eligible).

The bonus to temporary coverage is that it's cheap. Permanent is usually 3-4x as expensive, but it lasts your entire life and usually stays the same price. The younger you buy, the better.

I'd love to help you on other questions. I'd even help you write it if I were licensed in your state.

[chungdae]

Originally Posted by Spec 1

I'm a life insurance agent with an A++ rated company.

Your best bet is going to be talking directly with an agent to give details of the situation and tell what you're trying to accomplish. They can take that and provide you a couple options to best fit your need.

Without getting into it too deepy, Life insurance is split into two types, permanent and temporary. It's like buying or renting (similar to a house). "Term" is temporary, and means you purchase it for a select number of years before it runs out. Like a lease when you rent, once it's done, it's done. If you still need it after, you will have to reapply and pay a much higher rate (assuming you are still healthy and eligible).

The bonus to temporary coverage is that it's cheap. Permanent is usually 3-4x as expensive, but it lasts your entire life and usually stays the same price. The younger you buy, the better.

I'd love to help you on other questions. I'd even help you write it if I were licensed in your state.

Thank you for your input. I'll be calling a few life insurance companies tomorrow to inquire more information.

[Spec 1]

State Farm and New York Life are strong companies who're easy to work with.

AMBest rates many Life insurers, here's a link to their page:
http://www3.ambest.com/ratings/default.asp

[chungdae]

Originally Posted by Spec 1

State Farm and New York Life are strong companies who're easy to work with.

AMBest rates many Life insurers, here's a link to their page:
http://www3.ambest.com/ratings/default.asp

Thank you for the link!

[DMan11389]

I sell group Life and Disability insurance, but only work with Term Life. I agree with everything Spec 1 said. Term is going to be way cheaper, and probably a better option depending on their age. A new permanent policy could cost some serious money for someone in their later years.

Keep in mind that their age and any health issues will play heavily into the price for their coverage. Find a good agent that you can trust, and they should be able to figure out some good options for you.

Northwestern Mutual could be another good option. Also, MetLife.

[chungdae]

Originally Posted by DMan11389

I sell group Life and Disability insurance, but only work with Term Life. I agree with everything Spec 1 said. Term is going to be way cheaper, and probably a better option depending on their age. A new permanent policy could cost some serious money for someone in their later years.

Keep in mind that their age and any health issues will play heavily into the price for their coverage. Find a good agent that you can trust, and they should be able to figure out some good options for you.

Northwestern Mutual could be another good option. Also, MetLife.

Thank you for the advice as well, I'll definitely be calling them tomorrow.

[aus]

OP, how old are your parents? May term life policy's stop when you hit 65 or 67 years old.

Originally Posted by Spec 1

I'm a life insurance agent with an A++ rated company.

Your best bet is going to be talking directly with an agent to give details of the situation and tell what you're trying to accomplish. They can take that and provide you a couple options to best fit your need.

Without getting into it too deepy, Life insurance is split into two types, permanent and temporary. It's like buying or renting (similar to a house). "Term" is temporary, and means you purchase it for a select number of years before it runs out. Like a lease when you rent, once it's done, it's done. If you still need it after, you will have to reapply and pay a much higher rate (assuming you are still healthy and eligible).

The bonus to temporary coverage is that it's cheap. Permanent is usually 3-4x as expensive, but it lasts your entire life and usually stays the same price. The younger you buy, the better.

I'd love to help you on other questions. I'd even help you write it if I were licensed in your state.

You forgot to mention the tax benefits of Whole Life insurance where you can borrow money against the policy later once it's built up some value. There's no tax on this money and you pay back through your premiums. Or you can stop making premium payments after a few years if you've built up enough money. You'll also need to choose how the money is "invested" and there's risk associated with that too. My life insurance policies did GREAT the last couple years- guaranteed returns, but the stocks are now catching up again.

Originally Posted by Spec 1

State Farm and New York Life are strong companies who're easy to work with.

AMBest rates many Life insurers, here's a link to their page:
http://www3.ambest.com/ratings/default.asp

Spec, who do you work for? I have NY Life and have been happy so far. I mainly got them because of their rating.

[chungdae]

My parents are 58 (father) and 53 (mother).

[Hawkeye]

I would probably not get the term unless you are actually just strapped for cash or they have X amount of debt but will be able to pay it off within the term period.

I have just enough life insurance at this point to pay off all of my debt so it does not fall onto my family. Then again I am only 26 and life insurance is CHEAP for me since I work for a large life insurance company

Are your parents wanting it to cover costs or to leave some money behind for something else? There are many different kinds you can get. i.e. a policy on both of your parents that will pay only after both of them die, or only pay after the first one dies and stops when the second one dies (to cover income usually), etc. You can get a policy to fit just about any scenario you can think of.

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by Spec 1

State Farm and New York Life are strong companies who're easy to work with.

AMBest rates many Life insurers, here's a link to their page:
http://www3.ambest.com/ratings/default.asp

Just for a note... AM Best does credit ratings not satisfaction ratings. Those will just tell you the probability that the company will be in business for the length of your insurance.

You may want to also look at customer satisfaction ratings somewhere (I am not sure where though, sorry)

[chungdae]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

I would probably not get the term unless you are actually just strapped for cash or they have X amount of debt but will be able to pay it off within the term period.

I have just enough life insurance at this point to pay off all of my debt so it does not fall onto my family. Then again I am only 26 and life insurance is CHEAP for me since I work for a large life insurance company

Are your parents wanting it to cover costs or to leave some money behind for something else? There are many different kinds you can get. i.e. a policy on both of your parents that will pay only after both of them die, or only pay after the first one dies and stops when the second one dies (to cover income usually), etc. You can get a policy to fit just about any scenario you can think of.

My parents have paid off all their houses and their credit card bills. The only debt they probably have is the two new cars they purchased last year. They just want me and my brother to be taken care of when either of them pass away. I don't have much experience with these types of insurance so thank you very much. If you have any other tips and/or advice I would appreciate it more!

[aus]

At their ages, it's going to cost $$$ to insure them.
More important would be to set up a trust for all their property to make the trasition when they pass painless. That'll be WAY more important than some life insurance.

[Spec 1]

Originally Posted by aus

You forgot to mention the tax benefits of Whole Life insurance where you can borrow money against the policy later once it's built up some value. There's no tax on this money and you pay back through your premiums. Or you can stop making premium payments after a few years if you've built up enough money. You'll also need to choose how the money is "invested" and there's risk associated with that too. My life insurance policies did GREAT the last couple years- guaranteed returns, but the stocks are now catching up again.



Spec, who do you work for? I have NY Life and have been happy so far. I mainly got them because of their rating.

I didn't 'forget' to mention that, perse. Was trying to keep things as brief as possible without knowing his parent's situation. Whole/Permanent is a GREAT solution (I own some myself) because money grows tax-free in that account. I did reference it to being similar to purchasing a home, and the money that grows in that policy can be compared to equity.

Have been working with State Farm the last 5-6 years. I'm fully licensed in Life, Disability, Property, Casualty, & Banking, and they are one of the few companies that have quality rating across the board.

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

Just for a note... AM Best does credit ratings not satisfaction ratings. Those will just tell you the probability that the company will be in business for the length of your insurance.

You may want to also look at customer satisfaction ratings somewhere (I am not sure where though, sorry)

True, but with Life insurance the amount of time they'll be in business is (I feel) one of the most important factors. There's not generally much maintenance once everything is set up, but I certainly want to know with 99.9% certainty that my company will be in business when I die 37 years from now (or whatev, ha).

Originally Posted by chungdae

My parents have paid off all their houses and their credit card bills. The only debt they probably have is the two new cars they purchased last year. They just want me and my brother to be taken care of when either of them pass away. I don't have much experience with these types of insurance so thank you very much. If you have any other tips and/or advice I would appreciate it more!

If they want something for the kids you may want to consider a permanent policy like Whole or Universal Life Insurance. It will last them their entire lives and won't run out at age 75 (many term policies do this). They can get $25-50k or something small for not that much $$ if they are healthy.

[chungdae]

I'm taking notes down and I'll be calling them tomorrow to ask all the questions.