Comments on: The life insurance premium

By: cabinart

cabinart — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:16:37 +0000

Hi Andree,

I LOVE your writing and discovered you through my subscription to World magazine. About your insurance, go to Dave Ramsey’s website and click on the link to Zander Insurance. Or, call or email Dave and see what he says!

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By: Allen Wrench

Allen Wrench — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:02:26 +0000

HRW (3) is exactly right. We are so fearful of the unknown that we allow ourselves to be convinced of the most unlikely situations. To wit: In two or three minutes my auto insurance agent can conjure such a picture of horror that I’m practically begging him to double to premium and write me up immediately. I know that past events are not always good predictors of the future but I have carried insurance for more years than probably most readers have lived, and I can’t help wondering if I have been played the fool.

I am in absolutely no position to give counsel to Mrs. Seu or anybody else, but I would certainly talk to the issuer of the policy and, if nothing else, inquire about what can be done to reduce the expense. Back to my auto insurance discussion, I recently convinced my company to make good on their offer of a discount to owners of cars with electronic stability control. The company said my car was too old to have offered this feature until I showed my original window sticker (I keep everything) with the feature listed.

Don’t acquiesce to the increase without knowing more about it, please.

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By: Pauline

Pauline — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:46:04 +0000

I meant to add that, I think I have the option to start paying a somewhat higher premium now, and lock in at that level for a longer time before the big jump. But cash flow currently precludes doing that.

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By: Pauline

Pauline — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:44:35 +0000

I know that my premium will jump like that at some point, but certainly not after only ten years. I’ve had the one I have now for at least twelve years, and I think the rate is locked in for fifteen or twenty years. If I continue now at the current rate ($27/month), at that point (in 3 or 7 years, I forget which), I’ll have a big jump, and have to decide whether to continue it. My oldest will be grown (he’s 17 now), and when I got the insurance we expected that any additional children we would have would be grown by then also. But because it took five years longer than we planned for me to get pregnant again, and our younger son has mild autism, we will probably need to keep the life insurance longer than I otherwise would have.

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By: endyblue

endyblue — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:35:24 +0000

Did you call to ask if it was a mistake? Crazier things have happened. I wouldn’t pay it without calling.

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By: hrw

hrw — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:18:06 +0000

life insurance, car insurance, home insurance, mortgage insurance, disability insurance ….. no wonder the politics of fear work in a populace always worried about the future.

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By: Mark Roth

Mark Roth — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:56:53 +0000

How is life insurance unlike get-rich-schemes and/or something-for-nothing projects and/or plain-ole-socialism?

How is life insurance like any or all of those?

Ultimately, who ends up paying for pay-outs on such policies?

If God doesn’t want me to do something, can I ever have enough faith and trust in His provision for it that He will actually provide it to me against His own will?

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By: Chas

Chas — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:31:36 +0000

Andree, I don’t know if you read these again after you post them, but you didn’t say if the $166 is per year or month. Nor how much protection you get for $166. I used to carry lots of term insurance when I was young. There comes a time when the protection isn’t worth it.
$166/month comes to $1992/yr. That could lower your mortgage and resulting interest considerably. If I wore healthy, I would put the money into the mortgage.

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