I'm similar to LuluHB. We have both taken out life insurance since I became pregnant - enough to pay off the mortgage and enough left over to generate about half of one of our salaries if it was invested since even if one of us was working full time as a single parent a huge share of our salary would then have to go on childcare. I think you have to take into account your own circumstances - if you had family nearby to help with childcare etc then you would not need as much. Also, look into different types of policies and premiums - the policies through super let you pay from untaxed dollars but they're not always the best value and remember that over 10+ years the fees will also have an impact on the value of your super. We chose to buy independent policies so we had more choice and control and went with stepped premiums (much cheaper in the short term) as we expect we will be reducing the amount of the policies in future as our own savings and investments grow.
Both have it here. DH via his super (which we need to lock in the payout amount before he turns 40, it drops drastically after that). I have mine seperate, as I was not working when we took it out.
Both policies pay out enough to pay out all debt and leave some left over. DH has some income protection via his super and I have accident/trauma coverage. That at least means if I have a stoke, get cancer (so long as it is not breast), then we get $100k to help cover my expenses and loss of income.
I know I have said this heaps before on this forum. My sisters last peice of advice before she died of breast cancer was to have life insurance over health. If you are sick enough, you get treated (something which we personally experienced when DH almost died). It is so important that the family left behind is not sent broke by the loss of a parent.
We both have life insurance and TPD insurance through our super. Mine is only minimal - (given my income is extremely low, and I am a SAHM) It would be enough for DH to pay for childcare and before and after school care for about 3-5yrs. DH insurance is quite significant (him pretty much being the sole breadwinner); it would pay off all our debts, our childrens educations right through to uni and provide enough income for us to live on for at least the first year or two (while I figured out getting myself back into the workforce).
If something happened to DH and we didn't have life insurance, I would loose everything (house, car, everything) and be relying on charity from others to feed my kids and put a roof over our heads. I cann't risk that, so life and TPD insurance is an absolute necesscity.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks