Author Topic: Is Supplemental Life Insurance worth it for this single mom of 3?  (Read 858 times)

MountainLakeMama

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I seriously have no idea - I'm 44, earn $70,000/year, my kids are 14, 11, and 11. I owe $170,000 on my home (worth about $270,000 now). The supplemental policy would be approx. $20/month for a $200,000 policy. There are cheaper options for less coverage. The regular benefit through my employer is a year's salary if I die.

secondcor521

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Re: Is Supplemental Life Insurance worth it for this single mom of 3?
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2021, 05:55:30 PM »
Without more information, it's hard to say.

If you died, who would take care of your kids?  Would any child support continue?

If you died, since they are still young teens, they would probably get Social Security benefits, which can be surprisingly generous.  You can check your Social Security record to see what they would get.  Since you have three kids, the family maximum might come into play.

If any child support and any Social Security plus your employer's policy wouldn't be enough, then you could add more to get them either to age 18.  Some might pay to get them through college, but I'm guessing you are not planning on helping them through college if you live, so I wouldn't allocate resources to making things better if you die, but some people would feel differently.

Just sit down and figure out how many years you want to provide for them for, and then multiply by maybe $50K a year (which is what you're probably living on).  Maybe a bit less if they would go live with a grandparent who already has a large enough house.

If you need more, I'd just look at one of the online brokers like selectquote.com and get maybe a 10 year term policy from a good insurer.  (It sounds like this may be what you did with the $20 a month policy.)

Sometimes there are pricing breakpoints, so a $250K policy might be about the same price as a $200K policy.

Metalcat

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Re: Is Supplemental Life Insurance worth it for this single mom of 3?
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2021, 06:49:19 PM »
Unless you have family with ample assets that they don't mind spending on your kids, then yes, get a solid insurance policy.

You don't need to have it forever, just until they're old enough.

JJ-

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Re: Is Supplemental Life Insurance worth it for this single mom of 3?
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2021, 03:34:51 PM »
I can't quite tell but it looks like this may be employer sponsored rates/limits? I would suggest getting it outside your employer. Coverages are higher and typically cheaper than I'd bought through your employer.

Plus, if you leave your job it stays with you. An employer policy doesn't.

YttriumNitrate

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Re: Is Supplemental Life Insurance worth it for this single mom of 3?
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2021, 04:01:39 PM »
In my experience, unless you have some sort of risk factor that makes obtaining coverage yourself prohibitively expensive, life insurance plans through an employer are rarely a good idea.

PDXTabs

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Re: Is Supplemental Life Insurance worth it for this single mom of 3?
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2021, 06:16:59 PM »
In my experience, unless you have some sort of risk factor that makes obtaining coverage yourself prohibitively expensive, life insurance plans through an employer are rarely a good idea.

My experience is the opposite. My term life policy that I purchased outside of my employer is way more than my employer sponsored one. But the employer ones are based on the insured group AFAIK. If your group happens to be young and healthy they will cost less.

As far as insurance: one thing to do, if you are in the USA, is to check ssa.gov to see what the survivor benefits for your kids would be. Depending on how long you have worked and how high your salary is you might be surprised as how much money they will get. FWIW I do have life insurance for my kids but based on their survivor benefits I don't think that they would "need" that money.

Zamboni

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Re: Is Supplemental Life Insurance worth it for this single mom of 3?
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2021, 07:01:26 PM »
Personally I would go ahead and sign up for that deal. I'd probably also shop around for 10 year term life insurance on top of the employer sponsored plan.

Best case scenario you live a nice long life, but it provides peace of mind for me to know that there will be plenty of money very close to the time of my death to help my children with things they need.

marion10

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Re: Is Supplemental Life Insurance worth it for this single mom of 3?
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2021, 07:07:36 PM »
Is there a father of the children or ex husband that will,provide for them. When we had minor children, we had life insurance at 5 times our annual salary.

secondcor521

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Re: Is Supplemental Life Insurance worth it for this single mom of 3?
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2021, 07:42:15 PM »
On another note, if the father of the children is paying child support, you may also want to get a life insurance policy on him if his death would result in financial stress on you providing for the kids in that scenario.  Before I did that, I'd look at what the SS benefits for the kids would be if he died.

FLBiker

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Re: Is Supplemental Life Insurance worth it for this single mom of 3?
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2021, 09:55:48 AM »
The supplemental policy would be approx. $20/month for a $200,000 policy.

Cost-wise, that seems fair.  I paid something similar for similar coverage a few years ago.  Ultimately it totally depends on how much money the caretaker of your kids would need.  If they're rich, maybe you don't need life insurance.  If not, life insurance seems like a good idea.

honeybbq

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Re: Is Supplemental Life Insurance worth it for this single mom of 3?
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2021, 01:07:22 PM »
In my experience, unless you have some sort of risk factor that makes obtaining coverage yourself prohibitively expensive, life insurance plans through an employer are rarely a good idea.

My experience is the opposite. My term life policy that I purchased outside of my employer is way more than my employer sponsored one. But the employer ones are based on the insured group AFAIK. If your group happens to be young and healthy they will cost less.


Totally agree. I have over a million life insurance through work and it is DIRT cheap compared to 3rd parties. My spouse isn't offered one through work and I think he pays 4 or 5 times what I do (but he also older).

If he and I were to both die today - what standard of living would I want for my surviving children?  I would want to cover their rearing expenses and their college tuition. I would never want them to 'need' anything - and maybe have some money for therapy as well. Hence the large amount of insurance.

mistymoney

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Re: Is Supplemental Life Insurance worth it for this single mom of 3?
« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2021, 03:56:26 PM »
I seriously have no idea - I'm 44, earn $70,000/year, my kids are 14, 11, and 11. I owe $170,000 on my home (worth about $270,000 now). The supplemental policy would be approx. $20/month for a $200,000 policy. There are cheaper options for less coverage. The regular benefit through my employer is a year's salary if I die.



Get a quote on a 10 year term policy.