People Have Too Much Life Insurance?

[xrac]

What a raft of b.s. The Wall Street Journal has descended into a strident, factually feckless, ideological megaphone like all of Murdock's media outlets.

I like the verbiage. Welcome to the forum.

 

[axeman462]

Your kid doesnt need life insurance---not true. I dont know about the rest of yall, but if my kid died, I would not be mentally/emotionally able to go back to work for a long time. Getting 10 or 20k in life insurance money would most certainly help my lost income from not working...

 

[rocky top buzz]

Great post. You need to submit that to the magazine.

I actually traded several emails with Mr. Goldstein. He was very polite and seems like an overall nice guy, just biased towards his industry which is expected. He agreed that several of my points were accurate

- He had not fully considered the aspect that with IUL, those policy holders didn't lose 38% of their account value in 2008.

- He agreed "toothless" regulators was a poor choice, but that was the editors. He did not address the fact that Bernie Madoff and Ken Lay were under the much heavier scrutiny of the federal regulators

- He had no evidence that Identity theft was the cause of all the fraud costs to insurers. His stats came from the IMI so he recommended I research their data.

- The biggest sticking point was kids. He still does not see the value in life insurance for kids. He said FMLA provides grieving time (irrelevant for those who are commission-based) and the money could be better invested elsewhere. I responded that FMLA is just time off, what if you just can't go back to "that" job? And as far as investing, a 20 year $100k term plan was $9 a month so the cost pure protection was no more than the cost of 3 galons of gas.

I offered myself as a source for any future articles, and I think he may now better understand the tax benefits of life insurance. IMO, these market guys only see assets under management. Any money sent anywhere other than the market is a waste in their mind. We have to educate our clients on the diversity of investments beyond stocks and/or bonds. There is a middle ground!

 

[xrac]

Your kid doesnt need life insurance---not true. I dont know about the rest of yall, but if my kid died, I would not be mentally/emotionally able to go back to work for a long time. Getting 10 or 20k in life insurance money would most certainly help my lost income from not working...

Your kid does not need life insurance. You need life insurance on your kid as a buffer to help your survive through the grief, depression, guilt, and financial burden that can result. When a 17 year old boy was killed I saw two parents who were so grieved they were literally out of their minds. They had no business going back to work immediately but I know they had to.

 

[surendra1998]

Great post. Outstanding.

 

[xrac]

Your kid doesnt need life insurance---not true. I dont know about the rest of yall, but if my kid died, I would not be mentally/emotionally able to go back to work for a long time. Getting 10 or 20k in life insurance money would most certainly help my lost income from not working...

I know a optometrist whose son graduated from college with an engineering degree. He was the only son and dad co-signed for everything: a late model Ford pickup, a mortgage on a $200K plus house, and the student loans. The son graduated during the height of the recession and it took about 9 months for him to find a job. However, he was hired by a firm and was scheduled to go to work on Monday morning. On Monday morning the son was found dead from a brain aneurysm. The doc and his wife in their 60's had to sell everything owned off and then only a loan from his brother prevented them from filing bankruptcy. The son had no life insurance.

 

[Gooner]

I know a optometrist whose son graduated from college with an engineering degree. He was the only son and dad co-signed for everything: a late model Ford pickup, a mortgage on a $200K plus house, and the student loans. The son graduated during the height of the recession and it took about 9 months for him to find a job. However, he was hired by a firm and was scheduled to go to work on Monday morning. On Monday morning the son was found dead from a brain aneurysm. The doc and his wife in their 60's had to sell everything owned off and then only a loan from his brother prevented them from filing bankruptcy. The son had no life insurance.

Without rereading the entire thread...I don't think that's the same thing as having a minor child? loans that are cosigned definitely need insurance, don't think you'll have anyone argue that point.

 

[xrac]

What a stupid think for a writer in the WSJ to write. Life insurance coverage is less now than ever.

Life Insurance Coverage Gap Widens Again

 

[scagnt83]

Without rereading the entire thread...I don't think that's the same thing as having a minor child? loans that are cosigned definitely need insurance, don't think you'll have anyone argue that point.

The press just made a big deal out of this last week I believe. A couple in Kali co-signed their daughters private college loans, she died, now they "cant believe" that they are still on the hook for the loans.... they want to declare bankruptcy but private college loans are not discharged in bankruptcy. They claim it is "unfair".

But what they are not thinking about is that money had to come from somewhere... and money isnt free... for a 20yo female a $200k 20y term policy would be around $20/m.

The ultimate problem is that americans are just plain stupid when it comes to finances. Most of us do not understand basic financial concepts.

 

[DHK]

I have an article on this to put in my presentation/reference binder.

Federal student loans are discharged upon the student's death.

Private loans are not... and they can and will go after co-signers (that's the definition of a co-signer, right?) and the deceased person's estate.