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Upgrade posted:I asked this in the insurance thread, but maybe this is a better place: would love a good sense of what's an appropriate life insurance policy vs. income/mortage/etc. Here's my take: It depends. You have to look at your specific situation and figure out what works best or what options are available. For example: I'm 40 years old, married, with a 10 and 12 year old kid. If something happens to me, I need to replace my income for the next 10 years or so, so my wife can finish raising our kids without any sort of financial difficulty. She also works, so after the kids are raised, she'll need to survive on her income, and anything left over until retirement. I'll gross about 140K this year, so 100K a year worth of insurance (no taxes) would replace my income without issue (not even counting any gov benefits my kids would get). So I figure I need 1 Million dollars worth of life insurance. If I die after my youngest is 20, my assets should be at the point where I don't need life insurance anymore. My wife should have no issue if I die anytime after I'm 50. So a 10 year term life policy of 1 Million dollars is perfect for my needs. Now I'm making the decision to just replace my income until my kids are adults. Some people might want more life insurance to help pay for the kids college, or if their spouse doesn't work they'll need income replacement for a longer period of time. Then maybe a 20 year policy of 1.5 or 2 Million might be better. My wife has a good career though, and she'll be ok if I die early. She won't be living in luxury, but she should be able to maintain our current standard of living without any issues. We already have healthy retirement accounts, so she's set for retirement. I've given this a fair bit of thought, as my family has a history of dying early, and her family lives well into their 90's. My dad passed at 52, his dad at 57. It's morbid but I don't anticipate ever retiring, but I do want to make sure my kids and my wife are taken care of if something does happen. Now things like Elder Care costs, a Special Needs Trust, or Long Term Care insurance is another discussion. Not sure what context you are talking about regarding your family and who is responsible for their care.
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Jan 4, 2022 19:24
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Leperflesh posted:
The keyword/term you want is "intestate" for this situation. Laws vary by state, so here's a link to California's laws covering intestate succession. I had to learn about this when my younger brother died without a will. He didn't have any assets though, so I didn't have to deal with anything. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=PROB&division=6.&title=&part=2.&chapter=1.&article= A will or trust would be a good idea if you wanted certain things to happen in the event you both pass at the same time. Wills can be contested though, and money brings out the absolute worst in people.
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Jan 4, 2022 20:26
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