Can you advise me on how to get the best of a short term life insurance to cover for a house mortgage?
Denny
Houston Texas
A short term life insurance, say for five or ten years, is good for people who are just starting out. People who are building their first house may find it a strain on their budget to get a permanent life with a higher face amount. What they can afford is probably a $25,000 coverage, which is low and not enough.
Getting the best of a short term life insurance means getting the lowest deal with the maximum coverage and using it to provide coverage while the family cannot afford a more expensive one.
Purchasing the lowest deal with the maximum coverage will not be difficult for you because a short term life insurance is way cheaper than the permanent one. If you have a mortgage for $250,000 on your newly-built house, you would not want that house to go to your creditors should something untoward will happen to you. Getting a $250,000 coverage could be enough to satisfy your house loan but how will your family survive? It is good if your wife has a well-paying job. But if her job is paying only the minimum wages, she would have difficulty raising your kids and sending them to good schools. This is a grim scenario but has happened to too many families.
What you should do is to get at least double that amount, and even four times of your annual income. Half-a-million term coverage only costs about $250 a year, which puts a million dollar coverage at about $500 to $600. That’s not a lot for insuring for family’s future.
Do not forget though that a term coverage is only to be used when there are no funds to buy a permanent one with a higher face amount. Once you have the financial flexibility later on, buy the permanent plan and still continue with the term plan if you want to.