Do you have a life insurance policy? if yes, who's the beneficiary?

[MamaBee]

Thanks mamabean! He is older than I and I still have a mortgage. We are not sure where we are going to live yet. One decision at a time. I'm thinking yes on life insurance as peace of mind is invaluable. Thank you for sharing your insight. Hugs!

Hugs back @bling_dream19! I’m so excited for your big day!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Yes, my DH is the beneficiary of my life insurance policy, and I am the beneficiary of his life insurance policy. Both policies designate my youngest nephew as the secondary beneficiary (should we die together). These policies were originally part of a work benefit package and after leaving that employment we elected to continue (port) the policies due to their very low cost. We wouldn't have sought out life insurance on our own nor have continued these policies had the cost not been so reasonable.

Just a general shout-out to anyone who does have life insurance - please confirm the beneficiary information held by the insurance company matches your current intentions and please also ensure you have designated a secondary/contingent beneficiary.

i have no idea who my my beneficiary officially is.
i just assumed (assumptions the mother of all f*** ups) would be Gary because of the matrimony property act now including defacto couples of more than 3 years
we don't even have wills
the morgage is in my name but we both pay equally


my bad

 

[gregchang35]

We have life insurance. We are each other's beneficiaries.

Like you @Dancing Fire , we would only carry on with the insurance till kids are adults / fending for themselves. The insurance will cover the mortgage, education and a little "cushion" which we are reviewing. WE have 4 young kids. We have to review what happens when one of us goes prematurely, when kids are still young. Running after 4, solo and working nearly FT, is difficult.

 

[sarahb]

With my health history, we only have a personal policy on DH, with myself as a beneficiary. He also has a policy through his work, of which I am the beneficiary as well. Thankfully, we're done with mortgage/debts & raising DS & putting him through college. Husband has a few more years to go before he retires...although I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[anne_h]

I do have a small life insurance policy through my workplace benefits program... but only because it's so cheap. I believe in 'self-insuring' once one is able to.

BTW, we are statistically more likely to become disabled during our working years than to die prematurely, so long-term disability insurance is more important to me. Until I reach financial independence of course!

Anne

 

[joelly]

My husband has me and DD as his beneficiary. Mine has hubby and DD as his beneficiary.

 

[Snowdrop13]

We have a joint policy which allows us to either increase the premiums as we get older or to pay the same and get less cover. We’ve opted for the latter. I also have some life insurance through my work pension scheme. It gives me great peace of mind, at least while our kids are still dependent on us.

 

[MamaBee]

Yes, we do. In the UK you have to have Life Insurance in order to get a mortgage. Although we were lucky enough to be mortgage free after only 12 years, we let the policy continue to run, my husband & I being each others beneficiaries. Husband also has another policy through his business.

For me, if anything happens to him, I will need an income until I can get life sorted out. I currently only work 2 hours a day at my childrens school, as they are my priority until they are older teens. Taking them to school, collecting them each day & getting them to their classes, is my job. I could never earn what my husband does & feel that if the worst happened, the last thing they would need initially would be mummy disappearing off to work long hours in a new job. They would feel pretty abandoned.

For him, if anything happens to me, he says he'll need to employ a live in Swedish Au Pair

That’s too funny @Alex T!

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

Same as in the UK: our mortgage will be paid off by the mandatory life insurance. Si beneficiary the bank. DH has a nice policy with me as a beneficiary (kids secondary) through work plus I'd be thé beneficiary of part of his retirement rights (solidary System here, no "fund"). What really scares me is the situation of the kids if we both go...they are still small and will be relatively wealthy (Well,enough to pay housing and education for 6 for 25 years + as a lump sum plus a monthly sum) . It has proven very very challenging to come up with a plan everybody is on board with. My mom and the out laws are too old to care for 6. Out laws already said that kids would need to get separated into different families. Which ist a no go for me. Especially as the money would ne there to maintain our family home...so far the plan is to hire two live in professional nannies (think norland) plus an au pair and have the godparents in an advisory board for finances and education.
Sorry to bei morbid, but this is very difficult to solve in the best interest of the Kids...anyone an expert? Have you got a plan in place, @gregchang35 ?

 

[missy]

Sorry to bei morbid, but this is very difficult to solve in the best interest of the Kids

That is a very (understatement of the year) challenging question. I am with you. Separating them would not be an option. No way. I wish I had a solution for you and it seems the solution you came up with is the best plan. Unless of course you could get a good friend or family member willing to adopt all 6. No child free friends who would be willing? FWIW if we were close friends I 100% would be completely willing to take over their care. Even though my dh and I are child free by choice this is something I would do without hesitation for a close dear friend. And we are my sister's go to g-d forbid something should happen to her and her DH.

 

[gregchang35]

Same as in the UK: our mortgage will be paid off by the mandatory life insurance. Si beneficiary the bank. DH has a nice policy with me as a beneficiary (kids secondary) through work plus I'd be thé beneficiary of part of his retirement rights (solidary System here, no "fund"). What really scares me is the situation of the kids if we both go...they are still small and will be relatively wealthy (Well,enough to pay housing and education for 6 for 25 years + as a lump sum plus a monthly sum) . It has proven very very challenging to come up with a plan everybody is on board with. My mom and the out laws are too old to care for 6. Out laws already said that kids would need to get separated into different families. Which ist a no go for me. Especially as the money would ne there to maintain our family home...so far the plan is to hire two live in professional nannies (think norland) plus an au pair and have the godparents in an advisory board for finances and education.
Sorry to bei morbid, but this is very difficult to solve in the best interest of the Kids...anyone an expert? Have you got a plan in place, @gregchang35 ?

We have a plan in place. We have close friends that are the god parents to all 4 of them. They have agreed to be the parents in the event that both of us pass, and our kids are still dependent on parenting of sorts. We had all this planned out before our journey to be parents began. They have one of their own and we catch up frequently. We have the money set aside for education/food and housing.

I think your plan is an amazing one.
It is never easy planning these things and revisiting these plans. The fact that we can have these discussions about the future is important, as our kids mean the world to us and for them to be separated is just awful; so plans have to be made.

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

That is a very (understatement of the year) challenging question. I am with you. Separating them would not be an option. No way. I wish I had a solution for you and it seems the solution you came up with is the best plan. Unless of course you could get a good friend or family member willing to adopt all 6. No child free friends who would be willing? FWIW if we were close friends I 100% would be completely willing to take over their care. Even though my dh and I are child free by choice this is something I would do without hesitation for a close dear friend. And we are my sister's go to g-d forbid something should happen to her and her DH.

@missy , you're such a warm person and true friend! Your sister is lucky to have you and to know this. Just for peace of mind and no, she won't ever need this,but this offer is invaluable.
My sister is an absolute sweetheart and loves the children so much. She would have just moved into our place when we were still living in the same country. Now that she has her own baby and we're in different country, things got more complicated. Ultimately I also tell myself that we have to provide a financial cushion and in the unthinkable case my sister will assess the situation and decide if they all relocate together or if they go through with our plan. We did have great friends and godparents, to whom I have already talked about their respective roles and I'm very grateful to have reliable friends who I know will accompany my children growing up.
I am the "move in with"-person for my sister's daughter and two close friends. We could arrange for all logistics very fast and are 100% aware of the responsibility ....

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

We have a plan in place. We have close friends that are the god parents to all 4 of them. They have agreed to be the parents in the event that both of us pass, and our kids are still dependent on parenting of sorts. We had all this planned out before our journey to be parents began. They have one of their own and we catch up frequently. We have the money set aside for education/food and housing.

I think your plan is an amazing one.
It is never easy planning these things and revisiting these plans. The fact that we can have these discussions about the future is important, as our kids mean the world to us and for them to be separated is just awful; so plans have to be made.

Thank you for answering,I know it's a very personal question. Wonderful that you have this backup plan, that you won't ever need, I AM sure.

You're great parents and it warms my heart to hear about your family!!

Our plan unfortunately changed when we had to move internationally.

 

[missy]

@missy , you're such a warm person and true friend! Your sister is lucky to have you and to know this. Just for peace of mind and no, she won't ever need this,but this offer is invaluable.
My sister is an absolute sweetheart and loves the children so much. She would have just moved into our place when we were still living in the same country. Now that she has her own baby and we're in different country, things got more complicated. Ultimately I also tell myself that we have to provide a financial cushion and in the unthinkable case my sister will assess the situation and decide if they all relocate together or if they go through with our plan. We did have great friends and godparents, to whom I have already talked about their respective roles and I'm very grateful to have reliable friends who I know will accompany my children growing up.
I am the "move in with"-person for my sister's daughter and two close friends. We could arrange for all logistics very fast and are 100% aware of the responsibility ....

It is a challenging scenario but I am confident it will all work out no matter what and of course hopefully no plans like that will ever need to come to fruition. And you are very fortunate to have a loving family and loving friends and that's because you are a kind and wonderful loving person. Thank you for your lovely comments.

 

[Mrs_Strizzle]

We have term life policies that pay each other first, but go to the family trust if we both die together. The trust goes to the 5 children, but not until the youngest is 40. Might sound extreme, but we have worked way too hard for the kids to inherit and blow it before they are mature enough to make smart and strategic choices so it will last.

 

[SapphireLover]

We are in the UK and don’t have mortgage cover. It definitely isn’t mandatory on all policies.

DH has a policy with me as beneficiary. I have health issues which mean no companies will even offer me a policy, never mind at inflated rates. If I was to die, DH does get a payout from my work pension scheme, although it wouldn’t clear our mortgage. He would however be able to continue living here and it still provide for our kids.

 

[Queenie60]

Yes, we have "last to die" to help pay for our estate taxes. Recommended by our estate planning attorney.

 

[Lookinagain]

I have one through my job. My estate planning trust is the beneficiary. I think its for the amount of my salary. I won't buy any when I retire as I fell like I have enough assets to leave my daughter without buying insurance.

 

[luv2sparkle]

We have several large ones on my husband. They are term policies and have added to them over the years. They were supposed to cover me if something happened to him while our family was growing. Firefighters have a high mortality rate and cancer rate. When he retires we won't need it as much, because his salary will be paid to me for the rest of my life should something happen to him, and I will have his insurance also. It was always a comfort to me to have them. Life is uncertain and it made me feel a bit protected.

 

[chrono]

Only the free one from my workplace.