Life assurance

[Ant]

I must be feeling a bit morbid today, but out of nowhere I started thinking of life assurance/insurance.

 

I don't have any savings or investment schemes, so it might be prudent to get some kind of policy that will pay out. I currently don't have a partner or kids, but I suppose I would like to have some kind of "pot" for my family.

 

Does anyone have such a policy, or work in the field?

 

I'm perhaps a little naive in this regard, but ultimately find it surprising that a quick search would indicate that for just over

[quote the raven]

I didnt bother with any of that until i had kids.

 

I now have both life and illness cover. I priced it to pay off my rental so that she could live without having to work and look after my son should i die, or suffer some horrendous illness.

 

The trick is to read the small print as to the in and outs of "death" and "illness" they change alot depending on who you go with. Me and the wife are insured for 150k costing around

[air_raid]

I don't have any savings or investment schemes, so it might be prudent to get some kind of policy that will pay out. I currently don't have a partner or kids, but I suppose I would like to have some kind of "pot" for my family.

 

In my mind, getting life cover sorted out before you have a life partner or kids is incredibly prudent, purely on the basis that the younger you are when you sort it, the cheaper it is. Most providers jack your price up every 6 months of age, so the younger you can get it sorted, the better. If you ever plan on having kids or at least a mortgage with an other half, and would worry how either would cope if you were die i.e. without your income, then it's a great thing to have if you decide you can afford it. Of course, if you don't have the mortgage yet then you have no idea how much cover to get, but it's worth getting some sorted out. You can always get more later. Better to have say

[Ant]

Great advice guys.

 

It's good to get your feedback as on paper it sounds too good to be true, but I know nothing about life assurance or indeed financial products in general. I think I 'get' the jist of an ISA . . . .

 

Actually my mate died in his 20's of cancer. His policy seemed to pay off his mortgage, and his work insurance policy seemed to pay out a considerable amount (in my view). It was something like 40 grand that paid out, yet he had only been employed by the company for a couple of years, so presumably the policy was only a couple of years old.

[air_raid]

Actually my mate died in his 20's of cancer. His policy seemed to pay off his mortgage, and his work insurance policy seemed to pay out a considerable amount (in my view). It was something like 40 grand that paid out, yet he had only been employed by the company for a couple of years, so presumably the policy was only a couple of years old.

 

Death In Service can be fairly generous depending on the industry and the company. My lot used to pay out 3 years salary regardless of tenure, so there was a spell when I was on a manager's salary that my modest CIC policy and my Death In Service combined meant I was worth six figures dead. Considering I had/have no mortgage or dependents, it makes me wonder what my mother would have done with 100K+ in the event I'd rolled a seven while still working there.

 

The most important thing to remember if you do apply, is answer all the medical underwriting questions honestly, because you don't want something to bite you in the ass later on if they find out you lied about or concealed something. People love to bang on about fine print and insurers finding excuses not to pay out, but when I was working as an agent for L&G, they were paying out on over 90% of claims, and nearly 100% of refuted claims were down to non-disclosure. A good rule of thumb with the medical questionnaire is - if you're unsure whether to mention something or not, mention it.

[carolann]

Dont have insurance in this country - as we emigrate in 6 months theres no point getting any now as it wouldnt pay out.

 

Hubby has a couple Supers and if he kicks it before retirement age he's worth around $400k AUD which will cover the mortgage quite comfortably.

 

Once I get out there and am working i'll have something quite similar but thats all without getting additional life insurance on top of the basic you get with a super. I've been told that some sort of life insurance is preferred if you are going into a mortgage so theres some surety over it getting paid if anything happens.

 

Could be wrong about that though.

[Ant]

Dont have insurance in this country - as we emigrate in 6 months theres no point getting any now as it wouldnt pay out.

 

Hubby has a couple Supers and if he kicks it before retirement age he's worth around $400k AUD which will cover the mortgage quite comfortably.

 

Once I get out there and am working i'll have something quite similar but thats all without getting additional life insurance on top of the basic you get with a super. I've been told that some sort of life insurance is preferred if you are going into a mortgage so theres some surety over it getting paid if anything happens.

 

Could be wrong about that though.

 

Carolann - what's a super?

[carolann]

Its a bit like a pension i suppose - but your employer is required under law to put a 10% value of your salary into a super for you (even if you are a temp) - you can add to it if you want but you dont need to. (it goes up to 12% by 2020 i think). In this country your employer usually has a pension provider - in Oz you can choose where your super payments go to each month, and if you dont pick anywhere and just reject your employers provider theres a central government one called MySuper that will stor the money fro you.

 

When you retire you can access the money differently - aside from a monthly income you can withdraw chunks - transfer money to other people etc without loads of penalties, and you cam access if from the age of 60.

 

It basically is a pension just more flexible and with more perks.

 

When my father in law retired he just signed $200k over to my mother in law for "spending money" as she had been a housewife since they married at 18 and so didnt have a super. Lovely gesture but she does buy lots of pointless stuff - I keep getting Australia tea towels in the pot now.

 

 

 

EDIT: On re-reading - its pretty much exactly like a bloody pension isnt it?? Anyway its called a Super because its part of the Government Superannuation programme.

[air_raid]

I keep getting Australia tea towels in the pot now.

 

I'd have thought it made better sense to wrap the pot in the towels rather than the other way round.

[MungoChutney]

I got life cover and critical illness cover last year. It's only a small policy paying out 50k when I die or if I was to suffer from one of the designated illnesses. I'm paying off some legal bills and stuff at the minute so couldn't afford to go for a higher payout with a higher monthly premium at present. Once I've cleared my legal aid bills and some money owed to family I'll be looking to change to a bigger policy. This one is just there in case the worst happens to ensure there's something there to help provide for my son. I have it written in to trust with my mum, 2 sisters and a borther as trustees. This is in case he dies in the next 13 years before he's 16 as it allows them to distribute the money in accordance with my wishes with regular payments plus bigger payments for birthdays, Christmas etc. Without this he would have inherited it directly and his mother would have had it spent in 6 months.

[Ant]

Quick update guys - last week I joined a multinational company that provides a "pot" to use towards benefits. I'm thinking of opting for the pension, life assurance (6 times basic salary) and critical illness cover (100k). There are other benefits provided by default but not worth going into detail.

 

I think in my current position should cover me nicely. Going forward I can consider whether it is worthwhile getting additional cover, but I think life changes will dictate this.

[quote the raven]

Quick update guys - last week I joined a multinational company that provides a "pot" to use towards benefits. I'm thinking of opting for the pension, life assurance (6 times basic salary) and critical illness cover (100k). There are other benefits provided by default but not worth going into detail.

 

I think in my current position should cover me nicely. Going forward I can consider whether it is worthwhile getting additional cover, but I think life changes will dictate this.

 

 

Sounds like a sound plan

[Southside crew]

Great advice guys.

 

It's good to get your feedback as on paper it sounds too good to be true, but I know nothing about life assurance or indeed financial products in general. I think I 'get' the jist of an ISA . . . .

 

Actually my mate died in his 20's of cancer. His policy seemed to pay off his mortgage, and his work insurance policy seemed to pay out a considerable amount (in my view). It was something like 40 grand that paid out, yet he had only been employed by the company for a couple of years, so presumably the policy was only a couple of years old.

 

 

The death in sevice at work places does not normally depend on how long you have worked there , more a certain amount of your annual wage. At my work it is 4x my annual wage but because I have children they double it. My wife does consider knocking me off at some point.

[MungoChutney]

A woman I work with quite regularly tells me that if her husband dies in the house she's driving him to work as the payout is doubled if he dies while at work.

[gary v1]

It's certainly a good thing to have if you have dependents. I'm lucky in that my work gives me 4 times my salary as a death benefit, plus I'll get what I've paid into my pension back. So if I die my (soon to be) wife can pay off the mortgage and still have enough money to attract a suitable toy boy. After an acceptable period of mourning of course.