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This & That

March 9th, 2015 at 03:20 pm

I met with widowed client last week and it was just awful. Will have to nag everyone about their wills and life insurance later. Though I know that no one will listen. The problem is most people don't see all the consequences of not having all that stuff in order. I see it way too much. I could never do that to my family!

Widow will be fine because she has been supporting her family all these years anyway, has a great job, and is a very strong woman. But, it's just I can't believe her husband didn't put her names on his accounts and stuff like that. *sigh*

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I was out of sorts after that meeting. Friday I called dh to rescue me. Just had to get the heck out of there and couldn't focus, so he took me to lunch. (I had met with client the day before? But I just felt so emotionally bogged down on Friday). We haven't been religiously doing our lunch dates and so I am thinking we should plan to meet up the next 3 weeks. The lunches might pay for themselves. I think I was much more refreshed and productive on Saturday after our nice lunch date, and I do get paid OT. 3 more weeks of crazy busy with dh here and then he will be gone for a couple of weeks. So that's potentially 4 lunches out in exchange for some extra sanity. Plus last Friday was very unplanned and we paid too much for a so-so meal. We can plan ahead and eat better food for less money like we usually do. (We just kind of drew a blank last week because we hadn't eaten out in a while, I didn't want to drive to meet him anywhere, and more eateries by my office have shut down. On the way to somewhere else we remembered there is a great little Greek restaurant we had found, so maybe we will eat there this week).

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Dh took some cash out of the ATM yesterday. I had received a note that our ATM card would expire and not be renewed if we did not make a transaction. We initially decided not to bother with it since we absolutely never use the ATM.

But as the expiration of the card approached I decided that it wouldn't hurt to just keep it. If we really never use it before now and next expiry we can re-evaluate at that point.

Anyway, I was frustrated with dh because he didn't know the PIN #. Though he is the only one who has used it for like the last decade?? So I called and was relieved I was able to quickly change the PIN# over the telephone through some automated system. I probably should have done that a decade ago.

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Other than that, I am just waiting for deals to grace my e-mail.

I saw some crazy cheap sales for Hawaii airfare for even up to a year from now but flying out from cities in other states. But I know it's just a matter of time. I am waiting to jump on the first deal I see out of Northern California. Could be any day.

A couple of low-miles cars also crossed my e-mail but they just weren't "the one", for various reasons.

12 Responses to “This & That”

  1. ThriftoRama Says:
    1425917595

    I'm all ears on your advice in this matter. We do not yet have a will or life insurance. The whole process has been held up because the lawyer said we needed to wait for DH's parents to create their irrevocable trust because we'd need all that information in the will, and to wait on life insurance because we want to the money to go into a trust for the kids if we both die before they are 18. Ugh. My head is spinning. I'm tired to waiting. I'm ready to proceed.

  2. MonkeyMama Says:
    1425919106

    Are you saying that you have no life insurance in place??

  3. creditcardfree Says:
    1425932172

    Thrift, you should get term life insurance now! You can always change who the beneficiary is later. The odds of one of you dying is probably greater than both of you together. And a basic will set up until you have the trust would be better than not having one. Yes, it may cost some to change it but that is small change compared to the consequences!

  4. ThriftoRama Says:
    1425945073

    Sadly, we do not have any outside of DH's job. It took me years to talk him into getting it at all. He seemed mad by the idea that "someone would profit from his death." And then he said his parents would support us if he died. He was living in la la land. He has said yes, but as I said, we have issues with the will/trust/blah blah.

    Any suggestions for a reputable life insurance companies. The few times I got quotes they were all from companies I had never heard of.

  5. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1425950948

    Thrift - I had a term life plan through Fidelity (actually it expires on the 15th) - I only canceled it because I can get more insurance for a lot less through my job. They were really easy to deal with when I started it .. 5 or 6 years ago I think.

    I don't have a will ... but I do have named beneficiaries on all my various accounts (my brother)

  6. MonkeyMama Says:
    1426263582

    Sorry for the delay (CRAZY WEEK for me) but here goes...

    Get life insurance NOW. TODAY! There is no risk in doing so - you can change beneficiaries or cancel and get insurance or whatever, later. Just get it done. Mostly concerned that your spouse has insurance in case anything happens to him. Ask him what on earth you (and kids) are supposed to do if something happens to him.

    Maybe ccfree can chime in, but check insurance ratings. If you buy a 30 year term insurance policy, you know, you want to feel that it's reasonable that said life insurance company will still be around in 30 years. The internet is your friend. Off the top of my head I don't know what those ratings are called. We bought our insurance many ages ago and have refreshed recently with my professional association (just supplemental). So you know, I haven't shopped around in a decade but I know there is a wealth of information at your fingertips.

    One reason it is so crucial to do today is the cheaper it is the younger and healthier you are. Not that I have never shopped around, but there is nothing cheaper than the insurance I get through my professional association and the insurance we bought in our 20s in peak health.

    Also, one thing no one seems to understand is that you can cancel a term life insurance policy at any time. I mean, check the terms. But you can err on the long term side with no commitment to actually keep it. I think it's wise to lock in low rates. It may be more rare to actually pass away, but it's not rare to develop health conditions on the young side. If you don't get insurance before that happens, you will be left with fewer options.

  7. MonkeyMama Says:
    1426263745

    P.S. I speak from experience. My spouse is completely uninsureable today but he got ample life insurance when we had kids. Phew!

  8. MonkeyMama Says:
    1426264301

    As to the wills, it is more costly to do it now and then again later, but it could potentially be astronomically more expensive and emotional and hard if you have no will in place. You have kids and you have assets. You have a potential mess on your hands. I would consider it an emergency to have a will in place for your kids. So what if you have to spend another $1k or whatever to redo it later? The human tendency is to procrastinate. Do you really think your in-laws will get their affairs in order in a timely manner? How long have you been waiting? I would get it done. By a professional. Nothing free or cheap unless you want a potential disaster. I question the judgement of the lawyer you met with, but you know, I don't know the whole story.

    In the meantime, make sure you are named on each other's accounts, named as beneficiaries on retirement accounts, etc. That you both at least have access to all your assets.

  9. Looking Forward Says:
    1426397104

    I'm in the no life insurance boat too.. I have wanted to get it for many years but I'm afraid of how much it will cost. I have gotten some quotes over the years. I *MUST* do this - I appreciate you discussing it.

  10. MonkeyMama Says:
    1426425950

    & the longer you wait the more expensive it gets. Do it NOW LF! It is so cheap these days. I pay $14/month through professional association (very low risk pool I guess - that is with no health review). That's for like 10 times my income. $20/month each for the "10 times income" policies we got in our 20s. & both are probably far more than we need. IT's better to aim a little lower and to have it than to have nothing. (In both cases, we just aimed on the high side because it was so cheap).

  11. Looking Forward Says:
    1426463440

    Thanks for the support MM! I think the quotes aim high to cover those folks who might have really bad health?
    Looking at $500k, 20ish year term. Have gotten quotes that range between $56/mo/pp up to $220/mo/DH.
    I should see if there is any association discounts for my profession.

  12. MonkeyMama Says:
    1426468126

    @LF - Actually, they usually give you lower quotes I thought upfront, that you have to have the excellent health to get, or presuming all your test results are perfect. Sorry to say. Your husband is having his age or health problems or whatever working against him, also sorry to say. That is crazy expensive. But maybe $200k or $300k policy is more feasible and would be better than nothing. You will have some cost/benefit to work through on that.

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