I wanted to get recommendations from the board for companies that provide term life insurance policies or brokers that I should be reaching out to order shop various policies to get reasonable pricing for my wife (31) and I (39). We currently have life insurance offered via work plans but we max that out and would like to have additional coverage and also have coverage not job dependent. Lastly, any specific things we should be aware of or ensure to ask about when shopping the various plans?

I would look for a 20-year term policy. The general rule of thumb is 10x your income, but give consideration to your current assets, debts, and obligations should you pass. I recently added another $1MM on a 20-year term. I had quotes from USAA and Fidelity Investments that were within pennies of each other. If you're young I don't think you're going to get a big spread in quotes. Don't have to overthink it, just get some.

You could try Liere who is a broker based in College Station. Just have them shop plans for you based on your requirements.

One thing to look at on company policies is how they are calculating the rates. I worked for a construction/engineering company and their group rates were much higher than quotes I got, per month, because 60-70% of the people working there were overweight and old (55+).

So instead of the 10x salary policy, I got a stand alone policy (in addition to other policies) to do two things: one, move with me if I moved jobs (which I have) and cost less than company policy.

IIRC, I was paying like $44-$55 a month for company (per month) vs. $96 per quarter for private (single) policy term life.

Look into the comparison, if you renewal period is going on now.

~egon

Stive sold me term policies and I would go back to him again if I was shopping

I try and encourage folks to have the bulk of their costs covered until a) the youngest kiddo is off the payroll, or b) it gets you to retirement. Typically that's the difference between 20y & 30y term, but obviously let your circumstance dictate your need.

Considering some hybrid types of approaches too and layering in some permanent coverage has some interesting long term risk mitigation ideas.

Don't buy insurance for who you are now, buy it for who you'll be in 5 years.

IowaAg07 said:

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Stive sold me term policies and I would go back to him again if I was shopping

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Thanks for the compliment.

Pacific Life
TransAmerica

Appreciate the responses. The amounts suggested are inline with what I was looking to get. I'll price the policies online with a few of the companies suggested and reach out to a broker or two.

I view term life as a bridge to retirement. Once I have major life expenses and retirement funded, I no longer need life insurance.

First step is figure out how much the present value of pre-retirement annual budgets + major life expenses + retirement needs of your spouse. I calculated retirement needs based on a safe withdrawal rate of 4%.

I then subtracted what we had already saved, reducing the number to $3MM.

Based on projected savings over next decade, we were able layer a 10YR/1MM policy with two separate 20YR/1MM polices (second of these added after kid 4 arrived).

Also, don't overlook insuring your wife even if she is not the primary breadwinner. Your ability to earn will be substantially reduced if you become a single parent with kids still in the home.

Just have it shopped around.

We have used Zander Insurance before back in the days we listened to Dave Ramsey often. Looks like that is who he still advertises for.

USAA sells life insurance to everyone, not just military and families. They are one of the strongest credits in the business and their pricing is very competitive.

Deleted, I gave bad info.

Proposition Joe said:

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While USAA will sell life insurance to anyone, they require you to have home, auto or another insurance product through them.

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That isn't true, I had a non-USAA client purchase a term life policy from them in the past month. They also will sell their annuity products to non-USAA clients.

ATX Advisors said:

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Proposition Joe said:

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While USAA will sell life insurance to anyone, they require you to have home, auto or another insurance product through them.

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That isn't true, I had a non-USAA client purchase a term life policy from them in the past month. They also will sell their annuity products to non-USAA clients.

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Maybe I got them switched - possible they only sell umbrella policies if you have home/auto with them? I was calling about both term life and umbrella so I may have switched them.

Yep, the umbrella falls under the P&C category that requires military connections. The life products have different rules.

Penn mutual

I have mine through Fidelity. Went with them because I have everything else there. They sent someone to my house to conduct a health screening and had to get some dr records due to a condition I have. This also made the price a little higher at about $110 a month, but it was still the cheaper of three quotes.

Early 30s, 20yr, $1mil policy. It's extremely comforting knowing my wife and kids are taken care of financially if I get smashed by a dumptruck tomorrow.