Companies to get life insurance through?

[firstbaby]

DH and I need to start getting quotes on additional life insurance. Which companies are good and what is the process like? TIA!

[DebbieJ]

We got ours through SelectQuote. DH and I are both with different companies, based on cost.

Just make sure that the companies they refer you to have a good rating. You can find that out somewhere online, but I forgot where.

Also, do some homework first to figure out how much coverage you need or would like. Then you can compare apples to apples.

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
2 year check up: 25 lbs with clothes on and 35 inches!
BFARed for 20 months and 6 days
(Breastfeeding After Reduction is possible! www.bfar.org)

http://www.bfar.org/members/fora/sty...onths-bfar.jpg

[janeybwild]

Rates really vary, so get a couple of quotes comparing the same terms. We went with TIAA-CREF. As for the process, it was relatively simple. Filled out the forms, they called and send a tech out to get blood samples from DH and me and answered a medical questionnaire. That was it, took less than a month. Good luck!

[BillK]

Depends what type of life insurance you need. Term? Universal Life? Whole Life?

If it's Term - look into Banner Life and West Coast Life - they currently have some pretty amazingly low rates. My understanding is that West Coast's underwriting is a bit easier than Banner's and the approvals are faster with West Coast.

I'm afraid I'm not much help if it's UL or Whole your looking for as I really only bother with Term at my office.

[caheinz]

If you decide on whole (or term as well), it's worth talking to Northwestern Mutual Life. They're one of the best companies (based on what I was told when I was looking -- and not from NML employees, but employees of other insurance companies).

Term life is more or less short-term. It's insurance the way you probably think of it: You pay, if you die while it's in force, your beneficiaries get paid. If not, nothing is paid. (Medical is much the same -- you don't get anything if you don't get sick while covered...)

Whole life is more of an investment. You pay in, earn dividends, and can cash in the policy at any time without dying. (Of course, only for the current value, not the face value!)

Whole is more expensive, but you get something that you don't get from term. But if what you want is money to send the kids to college if something happens to you or DH, then term is more likely to be what you want -- once they're in college, or enough is saved, you can drop the term coverage. This one is much more expensive as you get older (if you add coverage at an older age), or if you're over a given age (ours was 30) and have documented medical problems. (They'll also likely dock you for smoking, if you do.)

We went with NML and have been happy. Most agents are financial planners as well, and we were happy enough with ours that we kept him, even though we now live halfway across the country from his office.

For full disclosure, my dad and his wife were in the life insurance biz for years (since retired), and I've asked a lot of questions, especially when we were looking for ours.

Also keep in mind that you will find people who will tell you that either term or whole life is junk -- opinions vary. (This is especially true among people who actually sell one or the other.) Keep in mind that they really have different functions, and neither is one-size-fits-all!

[cmdunn1972]

If you qualify as a USAA member, you might want to compare them to whatever else you find. Usually, their rates are competitive.

[Momof3Labs]

Honestly, get some quotes from your agent and then ask here about the specific companies. There are way too many life insurance companies out there to list all the good ones.

[HannaAddict]

I would stick with term insurance - you can get it for 20, 25 years and it will affordably serve its purpose of providing for your kids while they are still minors and/or still in school. You can do soooo much better with other investments than buying whole life. Insurance agents make big $$ on whole life through commissions and every financial magazine, book, article will generally recommend term insurance.

Northwestern Mutual has term insurance and USAA is very competitive if you are eligible. There are a ton of companies out there, so I would check their ratings and look in Money magazine or Consumer Reports for ratings, etc. The process is pretty simple, they will want a release for your medical records and send someone out to draw blood, take a urine sample, and weigh you. For women, both USAA and NW Mutual said you could be re-weighed anytime and qualify for a lower premium. For men, if they lost weight they had to wait a year or something.

Don't forget disability insurance too. People are more likely to become disabled than die, so you and your spouse may want to increase your disability coverage through your employer (if they allow it) or get your own disability policy. Northwestern Mutual and USAA both offer that too, though USAA uses a third party and they weren't nearly as competitive or professional when dealing with them for disability insurance as they were for term life insurance.

HTH,
Kimberly