Discussions

Looking at getting life insurance. Do you have life insurance? If so, Who do you have and why did u choose them?

Don’t make yourself insurance poor. Easily can be convinced to get more than you need. At least think of making sure you have your funeral covered taking in increased costs in the future.  
 
You can have more than one beneficiary. If under 18 you will have to name trustee for them.  
 
Look carefully what policy you get.  
 
Get one that you pay the premiums so for 20 years and then payments end. The life insurance is in place until you are 100. Then if you haven’t kicked the bucket you get the cheque fir the amount of the life insurance.  
 
There are pretty good ones out there.  
 
NEVER EVER have a life insurance go to your estate. Big taxation occurs. If goes to a person no taxation.  
 
Take your time and research.

Have one through my previous employment where premium remains the same but benefits decline every 5 yrs. as you get older. Not worth it, wish I'd looked into it before retirement.

We have insurance. Both my husband and I are insured, with both term policies and whole life (the whole life policies we have were purchased for us by our parents).  
 
Our whole life policies are primarily reserved for final expenses etc. We also have policies on our children for that purpose on a 20-pay-life (we only pay into it for 20 years, but is a whole life term), which is very inexpensive and pays more than what saving the equivalent amount would be. Those are for our children as they age to take into adulthood with them.  
 
We have dependent children, a disabled daughter, my husband is the sole breadwinner and a mortgage. It was important for us to have enough insurance to cover our expenses so that the mortgage was paid and we had enough for me to live on for awhile if something happened to my husband, pay for kids' school etc. We actually purchased additional insurance about 10 years after we bought our original term policies as we realized that our costs had increased and had more kids than we originally anticipated. I am also insured even though I don't work, although I don't have income that requires replacing there's the "home" value of having to hire caregivers etc that may be required if I were to go. If we both go, the guardians of our children will have the means to provide for our large family with wise investing of the proceeds.  
 
Sit down with a broker. We've dealt with a couple of them over the years, and found them to be really good and helped us get a good grasp on what our needs are. I initially thought we had over-bought insurance when we bought our first term insurance years ago, but now with all the stuff that has happened I'm sure glad I have the security of those policies.  
 
Make sure you also have a will, and if you haven't already talk to a loved one about your final wishes. It's never too early to do those things.

Exhausted said "Don’t make yourself insurance poor. Easily can be convinced to get more than you need. At least think of making sure you have your funeral covered taking in increased costs in the future.     You can have more than one beneficiary. If under 18 you will have to name trustee for them.     Look carefully what policy you get.     Get one that you pay the premiums so for 20 years and then payments end. The life insurance is in place until you are 100. Then if you haven’t kicked the bucket you get the cheque fir the amount of the life insurance.     There are pretty good ones out there.     NEVER EVER have a life insurance go to your estate. Big taxation occurs. If goes to a person no taxation.     Take your time and research. "

I have this type of policy too. I pay the same amount every month for twenty years. Like the above poster said, if the insured is still alive at 100 the insurance gets paid out. Otherwise it gets paid out to the beneficiary in the event of their death.

Had the 20 year plan and after paying for 20 years were told that it doesn’t exist and they have to continue to pay. Has anyone one actually been allowed to stop paying and can still receive the benefits?

flanamy said "Had the 20 year plan and after paying for 20 years were told that it doesn’t exist and they have to continue to pay. Has anyone one actually been allowed to stop paying and can still receive the benefits? "

Are you sure they had a whole life plan? A 20-pay-life product is pretty common, most major insurers carry them. But 20 years is also a common length for a term (i.e. temporary insurance) when you initially take it out.  
 
Is it possible they only had term insurance for 20 years? When you get to the end of a term, you have nothing - if you want to continue having insurance you have to keep paying on either a policy extension (if you policy allows it), or take out a new policy.

With freedom 55, she is very knowledgeable about the products that She can offer, and is not pushy about getting you more insurance than you need. She will assess your situation individually, and make sure you are getting the right insurance for you.

exhausted- there are both types on insurance contracts term for temporary needs eg. mortgage and limited pay for funeral. you do not have to have only one type. You can actually have 10 types for different purposes.  
abbysmum-your parents purchased the insurance (and sacrificed to do so)because they thought it was important. The term works for your budget and it is great to hear you too are making a sacrifice to protect your spouse and children so no one needs to start a go fund me page. good job you can add children on to your contract for about $2.50 per month that guarantees they will be able to buy 250k as an adult regardless if they get sick and cannot buy insurance as an adult. Talk to your advisor about this. Sometimes it makes sense to have an insurance contract pay to the estate. that requires a much longer explanation and I don't want to overly hijack the discussion  
blueyedbabe- great planning! and it is a good contract. if you are under 40 and bought this in the last 5 yrs you stole the contract as they have doubled in price.  
Flanamy- there is more to that story. There are many companies that gave a cash payment around 1999 and if you did not put the money back into the contract you are correct it will not be paid up in 20 yrs. Find out what happened when they demutualized. There will be the reason why it is not paid up in 20 years. It was not guaranteed and yes, it may have been represented as paid up when purchased. You need to explore what happened as to why it is not paid up. Many people did better because of the demutualization.  
abbysmum- there are term 20 policies where the premium goes up in 20 years and limited pay also called 20 pay policies where the premiums stop after 20 years but the insurance continues for life. you can also get both in 5,10,15,20 year contracts in both. If you deal with a broker they can show you all contracts and pricing for all companies.  
wild roses- freedom 55 is London life and the rep from London life is captive meaning they can represent the power corp only. the power corp is London life, great west life and Canada life. They are going through significant changes now but London life will not give you a wide variety of pricing. Good company just limited in what they can show you. If you like the agent.. know that and stick with them.  
 
Every person needs to meet with a broker and they will have you sign a disclosure paper saying what companies they represent. Take care of your own finances and get insurance, and don't make your family have to go through the embarrassment of setting up a go fund me page. Don't rely on social assistance either. They have strict rules to follow and you may not qualify or it may not meet your needs. I know the social allowances act extremely well, better to just plan on another venue for taking care of your own finances.  
 
google Cbc marketplace in denial to ensue you know what you are buying...before your buy

eph2-8 said "exhausted- there are both types on insurance contracts term for temporary needs eg. mortgage and limited pay for funeral. you do not have to have only one type. You can actually have 10 types for different purposes.   abbysmum-your parents purchased the insurance (and sacrificed to do so)because they thought it was important. The term works for your budget and it is great to hear you too are making a sacrifice to protect your spouse and children so no one needs to start a go fund me page. good job you can add children on to your contract for about $2.50 per month that guarantees they will be able to buy 250k as an adult regardless if they get sick and cannot buy insurance as an adult. Talk to your advisor about this. Sometimes it makes sense to have an insurance contract pay to the estate. that requires a much longer explanation and I don't want to overly hijack the discussion   blueyedbabe- great planning! and it is a good contract. if you are under 40 and bought this in the last 5 yrs you stole the contract as they have doubled in price.   Flanamy- there is more to that story. There are many companies that gave a cash payment around 1999 and if you did not put the money back into the contract you are correct it will not be paid up in 20 yrs. Find out what happened when they demutualized. There will be the reason why it is not paid up in 20 years. It was not guaranteed and yes, it may have been represented as paid up when purchased. You need to explore what happened as to why it is not paid up. Many people did better because of the demutualization.   abbysmum- there are term 20 policies where the premium goes up in 20 years and limited pay also called 20 pay policies where the premiums stop after 20 years but the insurance continues for life. you can also get both in 5,10,15,20 year contracts in both. If you deal with a broker they can show you all contracts and pricing for all companies.   wild roses- freedom 55 is London life and the rep from London life is captive meaning they can represent the power corp only. the power corp is London life, great west life and Canada life. They are going through significant changes now but London life will not give you a wide variety of pricing. Good company just limited in what they can show you. If you like the agent.. know that and stick with them.     Every person needs to meet with a broker and they will have you sign a disclosure paper saying what companies they represent. Take care of your own finances and get insurance, and don't make your family have to go through the embarrassment of setting up a go fund me page. Don't rely on social assistance either. They have strict rules to follow and you may not qualify or it may not meet your needs. I know the social allowances act extremely well, better to just plan on another venue for taking care of your own finances.     google Cbc marketplace in denial to ensue you know what you are buying...before your buy "

About the sick thing. We didn't buy insurance initially for our oldest, who ended up being very ill as an infant. Once we realized she would likely never qualify for insurance due to her epilepsy, we made sure we found a small, affordable policy for her that can be expanded when she's an adult (we ultimately had a take a small whole-life policy for my husband and attach her as a rider for this purpose), so her final expenses would be paid instead of burdening her siblings with it. We pay significantly more for hers than our other children, but it was a lesson learned. We made sure we got a basic whole-life plan for our other children soon after they're born, before any health problems developed (they are at increased risk of also having epilepsy, but none have developed it).

If you buy a good permanent policy when kids are 15 days old add them to your contract as a rider!!!  
Epilepsy, juvinille diabeties, cancer have all hit my family so planning has always been important. Add west nile now to risk. Add kids on ar 15 days!!!!

Call your insurance guy and get them to send you Manulife's 5 medical questions for kids. Rhis is just to add the child on as a rider. I havent looked at the questions for awhile but i think even with epilepsy thwy may qualify. For 2.50 a month guarantees they can buy 250k as an adult. Oh ya. If they have a bad driving record they too cant buy insurance as an adult. With rider they can