Depending upon your life situation (if you need insurance at all, some don't), a person should have anywhere from 4 to 7x their annual gross income in total life insurance. Life insurance, BTW, passes tax free to the beneficiary although it is counted in the total value of your estate for federal estate tax purposes. Wealthy people get around this by setting up ILITs (Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts). As an Exec Asst for salespeople, I worked at CIGNA insurance for 13 years. I also worked at an independent CFP's office for 18 months, who was both a broker and insurance agent. I would recommend level term insurance - in fact, the CFP I worked for refused to recommend anything else unless the policy was for tax planning purposes, in which case he recommended Universal Life. Annual renewable insurance costs much more over the long run. Mortality statistics have improved so much that term insurance is quite simply, the most economical choice for just about everyone. And level term insurance means your premium will never change, regardless of your health situation, for the entire period it is in force. Insurance companies make a lot of money off whole life and even universal life policies. With the decline in the stock market, the advantages of universal life have suffered compared to straight term insurance. Never underestimate what long-term inflation does to cash values. It hasn't been that long since people thought $50K or $100K was a lot of life insurance - but these days, $100K buys very little if your family is trying to live off of it for the next 15 years, or trying to send two kids to college and grad school. Pick the longest term that takes you to retirement age. Most people GENERALLY do not need large amounts of insurance after they retire, but YMMV. Disability insurance, if you are not covered at work, is extremely useful up until the time you retire. But the underwriting standards are extremely strict right now, unlike life insurance underwriting. It is virtually impossible to get a policy for more than 60% of your last two years' income (verified by copies of your tax returns) even if you are in good health. In contrast, I am a standard risk, NOT preferred. I have $750K of life insurance for less than $80/mo that was purchased a few years ago when I was over 50. One is a 15-yr level term, and the other is a 20-yr level term. I have them for estate planning purposes. If I were to try to purchase whole life or universal life in that amount, the cost would be astronomical.

Other things being equal, many of us prefer to get life, and possibly also disability insurance, related to paying a mortgage off on our own as a separate contract. The mortgage insurance's beneficiary is the bank, not the mortgage holder, who, though paying the premium, has no flexibility in case of need. The amount of coverage decreases over the years, as it covers only the portion of the mortgage remaining unpaid, while usually for a similar cost (sometimes lower), a mortgagee can get regular term life insurance for the full amount originally owing on the mortgage ... and it usually stays at that level throughout, if they so choose. Premium rate may increase at the end of the agreed term, if it is shorter than the years that the mortgage is to run. If premium rates are comparable, if the mortgagee dies the amount of benefit making up the difference between the original amount owing and the amount remaining owing at the time (which they would likely pay to the bank to retire the mortgage) would be really helpful to the survivors. It's wise to carry disability insurance, as well, as there's a far greater possibility of long-term disability (about 4 times) than of death during one's years of employment ... lacking employment income, how does one pay mortgage should s/he become disabled? Lacking a will ... no problem ... as long as the owner of the family's assets ... remains alive. Suppose someone were to come to your house tomorrow and, reading from a clipboard, ask you what your family owns, then say that this and that was to be done with each of the various pArts of it. As you listened, you'd likely object strongly, sputteringly saying, "But ... but ... we don't want our things and money to be dealt with that way!!". That person would just be telling you what your state's rules are, that would come into effect ... ... if the owner of the assets dies without a will!! So - get the will in place ... before you die. Can't do it after!! ole joyful P.S. Confession time. I'm close to 80 ... and I don't got one, either. Stupid. My kids'd get the stuff ... but they'd get a lot less, after all of those admin. costs. And they'd get the stuff later. And the charities'd get ... nothing! o j

Think of buying a car. You can purchase a basic car or you can purchase one with various options. Riders are the "options" added to a basic policy. For example, you might want to add a Renewal provision that allows you to modify coverage (for example increase the amount because you just had twins) without another medical examination. Riders increase the cost of the policy, so you have to be careful to choose only those beneficial to your situation. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: List of Common Riders

I don't automatically distrust people that post the day they become members. Perhaps they've been lurking for a time and just didn't have a reason to join. But then, if they do have a question, they've got to register first, then post. I would guess that that's how many of us started. I am pretty sure that I just "hung around" for awhile, but then something prompted me to post, so I registered and posted on the same day.