This is going to be boring... I apologize for doing this to you...
But...
I posted in July about my friend, Robert's sudden and unexpected death... Robert was 47... married... two children (Daughter starting college in the Fall / Son is a high school senior)... Stay At Home wife... a mortgage on their house.
After the shock of Robert having died was starting to settle in, the conversation among us became on of whether or not Robert had life insurance. As employees of the university, we get a base amount of life insurance with the option to purchase additional amounts at our expense.
Robert had no life insurance. Nothing. Nada. Nil. Zip. He hadn't even bothered to go by HR and enroll in the basic life insurance program that is available to employees.
His wife didn't have a job, so her household income went from what Robert earned to nothing. In addition, since their health insurance was an employment benefit through the university, there went their health care.
His wife was able to find a job netting about $1,200 per month. From that you can deduct the mortgage of about $800 monthly... she was able to continue their health insurance from the university through COBRA... but at a cost of a bit over $600 monthly.. She is now $200 in a hole and hasn't even gone to the grocery store, paid utilities or anything.
I have been told that Robert's family is helping them... How sad.
___________
I was blog hopping a while back... many times when reading your writings, I check out who you are following and go read some of them... One of the links broke my heart... I wish I had remembered to follow her... one or more of you may know her... if so, email me the link to her blog, please...
She is in her early thirties... has two children and a third on the way... and some time back in November, her husband went deer hunting. Based on what I read of her blog, they seemed to truly love and care about each other...
Anyway, he didn't come home from the woods when he said he would be home... he didn't answer his cell phone... she contacted some of his friends... they knew where he hunted, and they went out to look for him... and they found him. This young fellow, also in his early 30's, had a heart attack in the woods... and died.
After recovering from the shock of the loss of her husband, her blog turned to how she was going to do everything she needed to do for her two children, and the little one yet to be born...
My thoughts turned to whether or not he had life insurance...
No, I'm not a life insurance agent, but I do teach financial planning courses...
Whatever grief and stress one experiences at the sudden loss of a loved one, I can't even begin to imagine the exponential levels it must accelerate to when there isn't enough / any money...
____________
O.K... it's this simple...
If you are single... with no responsibilities for the well being of others, you need no life insurance.
If you are single, own a home with a mortgage and you die, the house will simply be sold, the amount necessary to retire the mortgage will be paid, and the balance will go into the estate... no need for life insurance.
If you are single and are the caretaker for someone (child, parent, for example) then you do need life insurance...
If you are married, you have at least have the need for discussion with your spouse as to whether or not you need life insurance... if the two of you own a home, that need for the discussion becomes even more important... if you have a home and children, the conversation MUST take place...
Contrary to popular belief/misconception, life insurance is NOT expensive. Robert could have taken care of his family's financial future for the cost of a pizza or two a month... Talk about an opportunity cost...
I'm going to get off of my soap box now...
~shoes~
I'm so sorry for your loss :(
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you've written, life insurance is a great way to protect your loved ones from the financial burden of your passing; even if it does not ease the emotion burden.
I hope everything goes well for his family, again sorry to hear about his passing.
My father started paying for a life insurance policy for me when I was in my 20s. It costs about $10/mo. It is one bill I still keep up with... ironically, since my dad is back to paying all of my bills, he is once again paying it. That is very depressing and sad. I keep up with the policy because I have hope that I will not be alone for the rest of my life. I will find someone and get married. I WILL NOT DIE ALONE DAMN IT. My tirade is over. Therefore, I need life insurance and will continue to pay my $30/quarter premium.
ReplyDeleteSurely there were some type of death benefits for the spouse and children. If he had ever paid into Social Security, there would be benefits for the children until they reach age 18. I would think there would be something in the Mississippi employee retirement system addressing minor children of a deceased employee, even if the spouse were too young for survivor benefits.
ReplyDeleteLOVE IT! I can't get off of my soap box when it comes to life insurance. And - if it's possible - have more than one policy. Not only life insurance - but long-term and short-term disability. It's still affordable.
ReplyDeleteSingle mother - 1 child...
not only are there whatever costs/debt I have incurred - but there's his education - his wedding - his life...
if I can't be here physically I can still ease his way in some sort of way.
I am so sorry for Robert's wife. It's hard to loose someone that you loved - hard to all the sudden be a single-parent... ugh. Makes my heart hurt.
xoxo
robelyn
I don't make New Year's resolutions. But I told my husband that this is the year that we're getting life insurance. He's 42, I'm 37. Two kids. Morrgage. We need it.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I both have life insurance policies on each other. I have a BIGGER policy on him than he has on me because of course when or if I die it isn't going to cause him any hardship because he is the sole bread winner. But if he died I would have NO INCOME at all and 2 young kids to support. SO we have taken out a decent sized insurance policy and pay less than 70 dollars per month for it. The poilcy he has on me is only $500,000. and costs us just under 50 dollars per month. It may seem like an added expense NOW but when or if the time comes that you need that insurance you will be SO GLAD you had it. Same way with car or house insurance. It pays for itself when the time comes to use it.
ReplyDeleteLife Insurance? Oh yeah. Used to have that as did my husband. But on someone's advice - sure as hell not mine - he cashed it all in and invested it and since it went down quite a bit as did everyone's - he pulls the money out and sets up accts. for his son. WTF! Oooo sorry, you just caught me at a bad time. Of course everyone needs life ins. Esp. if you have small kids or at least to take care of burial needs. ( I speak from experience, and no, not the guy I'm married to now.)
ReplyDeleteoh, so true. this little estate planning attorney thanks you for the PSA.
ReplyDeletei'll add one thing - if you're single and have non-dischargeable debt, get life insurance or your heirs will be stuck holding the bag in some cases. just enough to cover the debts, just in case. can't be too careful.
This is a necessary post, Shoesies !
ReplyDeleteI am sorry for your loss...........
I am single with no mortgage, no real responsibilities tying me down, so you guessed it...... no need for it !
I think I may have signed up for the free life insurance from my job and listed my brother as a beneficiary so he could get some extra cash from me.
Great post Shoes... you certainly got me thinking.
ReplyDeleteI am going to look into life insurance so my kids don't get saddled with anything when I die. I guess we never think it could happen to us.. but, that's sure not realistic.
Very valid point, Shoes. I don't know about any life insurance that the X has or hasn't but I believe I'll be looking into it now. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks for looking out for us Shoes :)
ReplyDeleteI am a BIG propoent of Life Insurance. I think EVERYONE needs life insurance, no matter what. When you die, SOMEONE has to pay for the funeral so why would you place that burden on someone else? I am single with no chidlren but you better believe I have plenty of insurance, life and long term. I would never want my brothers to have to come out of their pockets to pay for my funeral.
ReplyDeleteI know, you would think the subject would be a no-brainer, wouldn't you? I have a house with no mortgage, life insurance through my employer and also a separate policy I had taken out. Since I'm not married it will benefit my children if something happens to me. I also got my will redone when I purchased the house. If I do happen to get remarried I will have to revisit things.
ReplyDelete@ Zoe... Exactly... we owe it to our family members for whom we are responsible to make things as easy as possible. The monetary issue can be resolved... As you noted, the emotional issues can linger for a long, long time.
ReplyDelete@ Robin.. I SO love your message of HOPE!!! You WILL find someone... and you will NOT be alone...
*huggles* :o)
@ Catch Her... yes, there were some benefits through Social Security... the daughter was too old, and the son will receive a few benefits, but the dollar value wasn't very large.
@ Robelyn... Your devotion to your son is so heart warming... You seem to have done so much planning on his behalf. You must be a wonderful Mom! :o) Your son is SO fortunate!!
@ Tulpen... yes you DO!! Specifically, when you all start looking, please consider term life insurance... that is the best product for this purpose!! Thank you!!
@ Peggy Sue... you are SO right!!! We may regret that premium that we pay at any time, until "that" day comes along... then we are thankful... Thank you for your nice comments!!
@ Middle Child... Thank you for your comment. I am sorry your husband did that to you (cashed in the life insurance). That is financial betrayal... I trust things are better in your life now... :o)
@ Magnolia... Estate Planning Attorney? YAY!! You are right in that one just can't be too careful... I am amazed at how many people don't plan for this phase of their future.
@ Senorita... yes, your employer will normally make some amount of Life Insurance available... I hope all is well for you!!
@ Flying Solo... yeah, we don't want to over-burden our kids... It's all about our being responsible for ourselves.
@ Nitebyrd... if you guys have a need, it's one of the best things you can buy. It can help to smooth a bumpy road when those times come...
@ Wishing On A Star... Thank YOU!! :o)
@ Tee... it's all about our being responsible for ourselves...
@ Just Another Girl... Yes, if you remarry, it will be time to revisit things... I hope all is well for you!!
~shoes~
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy husband lost his job in December of 2009. Last month we considered cancelling the life insurance. We were in a cancelling mood. But how much worse would things look if one of us died and problems were now compounded? We kept it. This is not a lesson you want to learn in hind-sight. Good soap box :)
ReplyDeleteThis was NOT a boring post. An eye opening and heart breaking one, but very important! Thanks for posting this!
ReplyDeleteHey friend,
ReplyDeleteI work for an insurance agent and I have to say you did me proud. This was very well written and I think you get the message across concisely.
Note to readers: if you're struggling making your premium payments, ask if you can pay monthly rather than one scary lump sum every year.
Also you can reduce the coverage but remember you won't be able to return to the higher benefit amount without going to underwriting again.
I'm sorry for your friends but glad you were able to teach a lesson from their stories.
Nice post
ReplyDeleteNice post
ReplyDeleteI am sorry for your friend and I agree with your thoughts. I do also think that insurance is the best way to overcome from the financial worries. As all know that nothing can fill up the loss of the person but what we can do is just make arrangements to overcome the financial burden.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry for your friend and I agree with your thoughts. I do also think that insurance is the best way to overcome from the financial worries. As all know that nothing can fill up the loss of the person but what we can do is just make arrangements to overcome the financial burden.
ReplyDelete@ Commercial Insurance Quotes... thank you!
ReplyDelete~shoes~