What are the pros and cons of getting a life insurance in the US?

New York Life has a whole life policy. DO NOT get term insurance!
Life insurance is good if you have family or someone to leave the money to. So if you’re single and have no one to leave the money to, don’t get insurance.
But do get funeral insurance. You can get that through a funeral home that will handle your affairs.

I mostly agree with @kritiper. Especially about term insurance.

When I croak, my family will get my estate, which is more than insurance would pay out.

You only want to get life insurance if there is somebody who will need money after you’re gone or who is dependent on it now.

I dropped my term life insurance last year since my sons are independent and the premium was going to shoot up..

A lot of people say don’t get whole life, which contradicts what @kritiper wrote, but I am no expert, and really don’t have advice about it.

I have term, and have been thinking of converting some of it to whole life, but another friend of mine recently said don’t bother.

You can create your own life insurance by putting money away and listing the beneficiaries on the account so when you die that money is available to them right away. For young people, if they suddenly die, they usually don’t have savings and a young spouse can be left in a very difficult position of grieving and not being able to afford the bills all at once. When an older person dies they often have savings and the spouse doesn’t have to deal with a dramatic financial change.

Again, I’m not offering advice, only offering the way some people look at it.

If you are single with no kids don’t get insurance, or very very minimal for burial if you want to be buried. Some people get insurance if they have pets if a family member will agree to take care of the pet.

If you are married or have kids get insurance that will cover your mortgage amount plus. There is a such thing as mortgage insurance, but I do not recommend that.

The younger you get life insurance the cheaper it will be.

Let’s say you are married with kids. The breadwinner in the family usually is insured more than a spouse who makes less money. It’s usually based on the income that person brings into the family. If you have young kids you might still want to insure a spouse that doesn’t make much money at a high amount if the surviving spouse will have to pay for more childcare after the loss. My husband and I have the same amount of insurance, so basically he has me way over insured.

If your job offers additional life insurance I recommend not getting additional through your company, but rather an outside company that will stay in force if you change jobs.

Here is a quick explanation of the difference between term and whole life insurance, if you d9n’t know (your details weren’t comprehensive)

https://www.investopedia.com/term-life-vs-whole-life-5075430

^^Thanks so much. That was very informative and helpful.

Thanks jellies! Much appreciated. I need as much info as I can get before making any decision and as usual here is where I feel most confident and comfortable to get them.

Also, don’t get Accidental Death and Injury if you want Life Insurance.

Whole life starts to pay you back after age 65. Term insurance only protects you and yours if you die before age 65. After that, you get zip.

@kritiper – but it’s cheap

I have a universal life policy from State Farm. It is cheaper than a whole life policy, but I can put extra money into it and get something like 9% return on investment. It builds up over time and so if I die, not only does my beneficiary get the insurance pay out, they also get the money that has built up over time.

I know very little about life insurance. What I do know is that you can get the kind where you pay monthly and get some money at some point in the future. There’s also the kind I got…I put in a bunch of money in 2016. I can start getting money paid to me out of that in monthly installments any time I want. I haven’t taken any out, and since 2016 I’ve made ⅓ as much as I put in. Every quarter I gain anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000, depending on, I guess, the market(?). I’ve only lost money twice, and have gained that back and then some. I’m a very happy camper.

My MIL had an expensive whole life insurance program that she had trouble keeping up after she got into financial trouble. Seems she would have been better off with term.