Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You (the OP) need insurance to make sure your husband can pay for a Nanny and therapy for the 3 kids until the youngest is 18 (at a minimum). Any additional insurance for college tuition is fine, too.

The have $1.6m equity in a house, $600k in brokerage accounts, $800k in retirement, and "good 529 plans for the kids". If her DH earns $250k and OP earns very little (so her income won't be as missed) and "good 529 plans" means they are fully funded, then her DH may not need any life insurance money, or very little. He and the kids get her social security survivor's benefit plus he's got a $600k brokerage account he can access right away for any short fall.

Equity in a house is not going to help when a spouse dies and the family still needs to live there. Last thing someone wants to do after a parental death is uproot the family because they cannot afford the house or need money out of it. $800k in retirement accounts is for retirement, not for a 40-something year old to live off of. If DH needs to work to earn $250k a year, how they are going to deal with additional childcare responsibilities? That either requires them to cut back on work or pay for caregivers. I never understand why people making so much money would be so cheap at the expense of their family's well-being.

OP, you and your DH both need term policies (with his not connected to his employment). It's as simple as that.

Anonymous wrote:Term life insurance for some period of time… but we’ve realized that, at about $1,000/year for each our policies, we’re at the stage where it’s probably best to self insure. Ie, the money is best saved and invested over time.

I am certain that you misunderstand the concept behind life insurance.

FWIW the fed life insurance is very expensive compared with term life you could get on your own, assuming no major health problems.

10 year term life insurance is fine, if 529s will be take care of in 10 years’ time. Which they almost certainly will be…

Over-insurance is a waste of money. I would double check how much your spouse has, he may also need a ten year policy.

Anonymous wrote:DH is 44, has great life insurance through federal employment. I'm 47, self-employed, and don't have any. We have assets ($2M house with $400K mortgage, brokerage accounts worth $600K, ~800K in TSPs and IRAs, good 529s for the kids. Kids are 6, 10, 13.

I'm a fed and the life insurance is not great at all. I'm confused what you mean. If he passes away you get one year of his salary. That's not much. If he is paying for the options, they are extremely expensive compared to what you can buy on the open market. The only time they would be a good deal would be for someone who is desperate for coverage and had a bad pre existing medical condition that made one ineligible to get life insurance on your own. You should both look into getting life insurance.

Term life insurance for some period of time… but we’ve realized that, at about $1,000/year for each our policies, we’re at the stage where it’s probably best to self insure. Ie, the money is best saved and invested over time.