Another money post. Today The Firm contributed some money to my 401K retirement plan. It wasn’t a lot, but hey – every little bit helps! Also, beginning this pay period my monthly contribution goes from 4% to 6%. So I’ll be contributing a bit more as well. In 2009 it’ll go up to an 8% contribution, followed by an increase to 10% in 2010. So over time I’ll be improving my contributions towards our retirement.
I’ve also been thinking about life insurance – we each have two policies, term and whole. The term is for 20 years and we got it when CootieGirl was born. Once she reaches 20 years old, that policy will be “over” unless we extend it for another 10 or 15 years (which will be possible, but at SIGNIFICANTLY higher cost). The good news is that if one of us were to kick it, there would be more than enough to allow the remaining spouse to 1) pay off the house, 2) pay of all outstanding debt and 3) pay all funeral and estate administration expenses. And there would be enough left over after all that to help that remaining spouse for a good number of years (although it’s not enough to even consider helping pay for CB and CG’s college years unless they go to a local community college). But I wonder – should we get another policy? Should we add to our coverage? A blogger I read regularly posted a while back about no-medical-exam life insurance policies that are available – but I’m sure the premiums on those kinds of policies must be OUTRAGEOUS.
What about you? Do you have life insurance? Do you feel that you have enough life insurance coverage for your family’s needs?
We have life ins. from my husband’s company – about 1 year’s salary. And then a 20 year term policy that we purchased when little d was born. I wouldn’t get more than that – remember, if one of you dies, the kids will also receive Social Security benefits. Plus, your cost of living will drastically reduce after they are adults, and you (he) should be able to support your (him)self. My husband sells insurance, (not the life, health, car kind), so I feel pretty good about our decision.
cristan’s last blog post..The Earth Laughs in Flowers – Emerson
We need to get life insurance for Beau. I’m covered by the insurance with my job pretty well. We still need to do our wills, too.
No kids + no consumer debt + small mortgage balance = no life insurance. Enough money in retirement savings to cover a surviving spouse’s needs. We considered life insurance a few years back, but then realized that without dependents and with aggressive savings, it’s not a good financial decision for us. It’s really a lifetime savings plan if you think about it.
Oh, and we have wills as of last year (at ages 39 & 40). Two simple painless trips to the lawyers office and they are keeping everything on file indefinitely, should we wish to make any changes.
We are intrigued by reverse mortgages also, and may consider that in a few decades, if we feel that our retirement savings isn’t quite up to snuff.