wjm@whuxl.UUCP (MITCHELL) (09/19/84)
Another source for the pros & cons of the various forms of life insurance is Consumer Reports. There have been several issues published on insurance within the past two years, and CR rates the various insurance companies. Personally, I find it hard to make a case for anything other than term. If you're going to buy life insurance, just buy the insurance (which is what term is). Any other form of life insurance is not only insurance but a savings plan as well. You can probably get a better return on your money by following the traditional advice "buy term and invest the difference yourself". Regards, Bill Mitchell (whuxl!wjm) "Insurance ... a clever modern game of chance where the player actually thinks he is beating the man who runs the casino" - Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
rbc@houxu.UUCP (R.CONNAGHAN) (04/06/85)
I have wondered about the merits of Whole Life vs Term. After very little thought I have gone for Whole Life. The reaspn is not the cost or the cash value. The reason is that in 7 years the policy will be paid up and I won't have to pay anymore. From then on in I will be insured. In fact I (depending on my health) can take out additional insurance using the money I no longer have to pay into the first policy. The whole idea of insurance is to provied for your loved ones, or at least to pay for your funeral. It is not an investment. I am very eager to here any comments on this. Robert Connaghan houxu!rbc microsys!rbc (maybe) -- Robert Connaghan Microprocessor Group AT&T Bell Labs - Holmdel, N.J. houxu!rbc
afb3@hou2d.UUCP (04/08/85)
I have an interesting mix of all the mentioned insurance types including the following: 1) Whole life (20% of insurance plan) 2) Universal Life (about an equal amount to whole, 20%) 3) Term (40% on plan) 4) Accidental (not part of basic plan. I figure that if I get bumped off traveling for my company or in the insanity of the New Jersey/New York highway system, my family deserves a wind fall. 5) "Savings" (20% of program. Real savings should be part of any good "insurance" program!!!) As I suspect with most people, I bought Whole Life when I was young and foolish. Thats not to say that I consider it that terrible a move, but it is expensive. My "Universal life" was purchased for an interesting set of reasons (about two years ago), which include: 1) For roughly 50% more preimium I get 2 1/2 times the insurance I got with the same company as whole life. 2) In 6 years the premiums vanish (and unless the interest rates reaaly tumble, they stay vanished). 3) My existing policies with that company have sufficient cash value to allow me to "borrow" the premiums to keep the policy in force while I'm paying the Universal life premiums (only diminishing the death benifit by the small amount of the cash value loan outstanding). After the 6th year I can resume my whole life payments with all my policies in place. 4) Like "whole life", this insurance remains in force until I choose to stop it (no renewal BS). All in all, I thought the "Universal" option pretty reasonable. At the time I purchased it, it seems to have nearly the cost advantage of the term option (given a reasonable and probable rate of return) but retained some of the important "features" of Whole Life (IE. permanance). I would be VERY interested in how the Government views Universal life. As it appears, others seem to have knowledge of this. Comments?? Al Baldwin AT&T-Bell Labs ...!ihnp4!hou2d!afb3 [These opinions are my own....Who else would want them!!!]