Do you or your partner have life insurance?

[Beatrix]

There is a reason I am asking this...

I am on another forum, where unfortunately recently a member has lost her husband. I know to that there have been members of this forum that have suffered the same or similar loss.
Unfortunately for this other lady she not only is suffering extreme amounts of grief but she is also stressed beyond belief about their financial situation as her husband did not have any type of life insurance apart from his super, which isnt a great deal.

It got DH and I talking, I have had life insurance since my eldest was born, its not a huge amount only $200,000 but its enough that the guardian of the children will not have to be financially put out if they were taking care of my kids. (well to a extent)
DH didnt have any, as he had never really had to think about it, but we recently took out a policy for him for slightly larger amount, so i wouldn't have to stress about money in the event of anything happening.

The policy IMO arnt a large cost for $250,000 for 32yr old non smoker and social drinker, no history of medical problems is $17.75 per month which = .57c a day. LOL and no im not a insurance seller.


So do you have life insurance?

[Arcadia]

Yes, since we had kids we have life insurance.

Poor woman and her family. I can't imagine the shock of loosing dh.

[M D]

Yes! I have mine within my super as for the moment it is not only the cheapest option but this way we don't have to find the money for premiums as they come out of my super money. Yes that means that some of my super goes to paying for the cover and it will mean less money in my retirement fund, but once we have some money to 'spare' I will contribute to the fund to cover these premiums.

If anyone doesn't have it I woul suggest calling you super fund first to see how much (you generally have an automatic amount included) you have and then fund out what you need to do to increase the cover.

We have $550,000 each which will pay off the mortage and leave about $200K which if someone gave us now would be a great deal of money. BUT if one of us gets that because the other has passed away then it isn't a lot of money considering the remaining parent would be unlikely to work full time if at all.

I know it isn't a nice subject to discuss but it is much better to have the conversation now rather than when it is too late.

[glenny_c]

We got DH covered when we had DD as he is the breadwinner at the moment. We really need to get me covered as well so he would be able to take time off work or go part time. We have enough so that the mortgage will be paid off and I would have a significant amount in the bank. Also, if something should happen to the both of us, my mum could stop working to have the kids.

[Novella]

yes we both do, $350 000 each plus DH has a small super life insurance policy and a $90 000 policy too. I have another $180 000 with my super.

We will cut right back when the kids are more independent but for now we will have the mortgage covered and be able to leave work if needed if there was a family tragedy.

We have a family member with a young family and a terminal illness, she had limited life insurance and had drawn down on her super and insurance to pay for a family holiday and a new pool they can enjoy together before her illness makes it too hard to do.

If something happened to both of us the girls would be well looked after financially. Our will says who the guardians would be as I'm slightly concerned that the amount of money the guardian would have access to may cause a tug of war

[lilima]

We too both have cover. Enough topay mortgage etc.

[Jellybean29]

Yes DH and I got it when DS was born. About 350k each, enough to cover the mortgage and debts and give some wriggle room. At least I know my family will have a roof over their heads for life if something happens. It's really not expensive, I don't even notice the direct debits monthly and ours includes $10,000 funeral cover that pays out within 48hrs. Ours is with Suncorp as all our other stuff is. DH and I have hardly any super so we knew super wouldn't do anything much if something was to happen and we needed a backup plan


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[Enchanted]

DH & I both have life insurance. Its not a big amount but enough to pay off the mortgage, cover all funeral expenses & have some money left over. We also have cover for DH if he becomes incapacitated or has a terminal illness. We would financially be in a lot of trouble if one of us passed away, it's just too risky to not have it. For how little it costs each month, it's a must for us!

I really feel for that lady, how devastating losing your husband but to then have the financial burden too. Horrible

[*EJ*]

We both have life cover now but up until late last year it was only DH. We also have income protection for if DH is unable to work..

[Trillian]

It is vitally important to have it! We wouldn't be without it. Dh's is significantly higher than mine, but that is to allow to pay out the remainder of our small mortgage as well as give me a stable income for a few years so I didn't have to leave the kids to go to work.

[loulabelle]

DH does and we are in the process of getting some for me. I think its so important. probably the most important type of insurance.

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[Traveller]

We both have it, enough to clear the mortgage and a to take a few years off work to support the kids through their grief. If both of us died it would be enough for my sister to be able to provide for an extra 4 kids on top of her own 3 plus some left over as a nest egg for our kids once they reach adulthood.

[LuluHB]

We both do ($1.3m for each of us), and DH also has income protection insurance. Obviously with that kind of cover we pay pretty hefty premiums, but we wanted enough to pay off the mortgage and then have enough so that if it was DH who passed away, I wouldn't have to even consider going back to work, and if it was me then DH would either be able to stop work to look after the girls, or hire good professional help so he could continue working. If both of us pass away, then my parents will take the girls. They are getting on in years, so they will need to get help in, whether its domestic or child care related.

[k4t]

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.

[Astrid]

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.

[misty]

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.

[Lenny]

We both have it, enough to clear the mortgage and a to take a few years off work to support the kids through their grief. If both of us died it would be enough for my sister to be able to provide for an extra 4 kids on top of her own 3 plus some left over as a nest egg for our kids once they reach adulthood.

Same.

[Gigi]

i have no life insurance, i would consider getting some, if the people selling life insurance weren't so pushy.

I had a running battle with my ex, when we were together about this topic. I wanted him to get life insurance (sep to superannuation) and income protection insurance - he would never agree to do it. Now we are separated, it's like he thinks there is even LESS reason to do this. He has two child dependents (one disabled) so i think it's pretty important.

i have no idea who to appoint as bilby's guardian if i died, i guess it would have to be her father. I doubt he would have the money to put her into before and after school OSC, but cannot see any other way for him to keep his (low paying) job.

My only relative (auntie) is very vocal that her days of dealing with little children are long gone, so i could imagine her taking bilby to the zoo, outings like that ocassionally, and celebrating her birthday with her, but not daily stuff.