Term Life Insurance

So this week my wife and I bought some term life insurance policies. Since we're having our first child in a couple of months, having adequate life insurance is something that I felt was important.

I'd imagine that some people my age aren't really aware of what life insurance is, or why you might want some, so I'll take a few minutes to go over the process.

Basically, there are a couple of versions of life insurance. I bought a fixed rate, 30 year term life insurance. If I die for any reason, including cancer, plane crash, on the job accident, my wife will be given the amount of the policy. Typically, you want to buy between 8-10 times your annual, pretax income. You don't want to waste your money on things like annuities, whole life, or any other type. If you're 20 something, you want 30 year term life insurance so you'll have this fixed rate protection for the next 30 years.

You might think, "Well, I have life insurance through my employer." You very well might, and it's often completely inadequate. Both of my employers offered 1 1/2 times my income. Though this will certainly be enough to bury me and pay off some student debt, it's not enough to send a child to college, pay off a mortgage or any other sort of responsibilities.

For non-smoking, healthy men, you can get a $500,000 policy for roughly $25 a month. $750,000 for around $35. Likely less than you're spending for cable TV.

You want to buy life insurance while you're healthy. As you get older, you're more likely to have something affect your health. Even if you don't have children, a spouse or someone else who is dependent on your income, you want to get this now.

I went through insure.com and bought insurance for me and my wife. The process was pretty painless. They asked about 30 minutes of questions and a few days later a medical examiner took our blood pressure, a urine sample, height, weight and a blood sample in our home. It was pretty sweet, but admittedly a little weird too.

If you're 20-something, buy some today while you're healthy and can get excellent fixed rates. I know this sounds like a commercial, and I apologize in advance. It took me well over a year to make this a priority, and I'd hate to see a family go through some unnecessary trauma because they delayed in doing the right thing.