Life Assurance review

C

carrs

Registered User
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I've been meaning for some time now to review our life assurance policies.

We currently have a basic policy for the two of us taken out about 11 years ago which covers us for about 80k each (payable on first death). We pay about E20 a month for this.

Fast forward to now and we are now in our early forties, no mortgage but 3 children under 5. I would like to put a policy in place which would protect either of us should something happen to the other and protect the kids should something happen to both of us. Maybe we need to look at serious illness also.

Any thoughts on a good reasonably priced policy to cover this? I am not sure what would be a reasonable pay out to look after the kids should something happen.
 
Carrs, the cost all depends on your age, smoker status, and level of cover you want. Generally people go for a multiple of salary or you can do a review online at some of the insurance companies own websites - i.e. lifelens on the Irish life site. It works out what life cover you need based on x income. i.e. Worked out a 43 year old would need €85,000 cover to replace about €400 income per month.

Alternatively contact a financial adviser/broker who will go through your specific needs.
 
Life cover has two uses:

  1. Covering debt
  2. Replacing lost income
You have no debt, so exclude that.

If you or your wife died, how much income needs to be replaced so your family can continue to have a decent lifestyle?

What income would the surviving spouse receive on death? Widow's pension with 3 dependent children is about €1,000 a month.
You also have burial money and probably time off work to spend with the kids (think how traumatic the death of a parent would be to a child).

You can then calculate how much cover is needed for each life.


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie
 
Thanks all.

I will take all this into account.

PS Steven - It's me or my husband!!
 
You should also ensure you have a will in place and that it includes suitable guardianship arrangements in the event of both of you being killed. Or to put it another way, if you were both killed in a car crash this evening, who would you want to have the kids?. It happens

As part of this review, if you have a mortgage, ensure you have sufficient cover in place

Lastly check with work, some companies have very good Death in Service benefits that might mean one or both of you don't actually need live cover
 
thedaddyman said:
Lastly check with work, some companies have very good Death in Service benefits that might mean one or both of you don't actually need live cover
Click to expand...

People should be aware that with death in service benefit, the maximum lump sum payable is 4 times salary. The remainder must be used to purchase an annuity. The annuity they will get is based on their age at the time. A 40 year old will get an annuity rate of approximately 2.56%.

Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie
 
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