Help on life insurance...?

help on life insurance...?
what are your opinions and what types are better?

i am a wife and mother in my early twenties. i haven't ever looked into this subject matter and would like to do a poll on what the general public has to say so please just share your thoughts.
Additional Details
thank you Chris c, that was a lot a good information and along the terms of what i was looking for. also thank you others for the ideas and suggestions!

term life insurance is the only option that makes any sort of sense.

Whole life insurance is a rip off and if anyone suggests it you should stop taking financial advice from that person.

You only need life insurance if other people depend on your income for basic survival. Would your husband be financially able to support himself and the children if you died? if so, then you don't need life insurance on yourself. Ask the same question the opposite way to determine if you need insurance on your husband.

Why are you asking a bunch of people what their thoughts are? We're strangers on the internet, and there are a bunch of 15 year olds that answer here occasionally.

You're just as well off taking advice from your magic 8 ball.

Don't let the "masses" of the general public be your information source! Check out some financial website blogs, or go to a local financial planner for an opinion.

It really depends on several factors.
1. Your current income
2. Your expenses
3. How much of your income is being invested and where
4. Your risk tolerance
5. Your health and family health history

Anyone on here that has a quick answer is wrong. You really should sit down with a life insurance specialist that can help you weigh your options and allow you to make an educated decision.

There is term and whole life (called by a couple different names). Term lasts 10 or 20 years, and is really cheap these days. It is good for young people.

Talk to some friends or your parents and get the name of a good life insurance agent, and they will be able to tell you how much you need for your personal situation.

It is good that you are thinking of your family's future. You can't imagine how awful it can be if your spouse dies and there is no insurance.

Any person that offer a flat out recommendation of strictly getting term based on the limited amount of information you've given is not a very unreliable source! Proper insurance planning requires a lot of information on your situation and goals and reasons you want insurance in the first place.

What you should get is completely dependent on your situation and reasons that you are looking for life insurance.

Here are a couple of quick tips to determine what is right for you:

Term insurance: If the need is a temporary need (such as paying off a mortgage, making sure your kids have enough money to go to college, etc) that will not be there after 20-30 years, term is the way to go. It's cheaper, but eventually it will expire, so make sure you've got the right length of term that is appropriate.

Whole Life insurance: If the need is a perminent need (such as funeral expenses, final expenses like laywers fees and taxes, charitble giving, tax planning on your estate passed to your family, etc) that will not go away whether you die tomorrow or 50 years from now and the cost continues to grow over time, Whole Life is the way to go. IT's a little more expensive, but it will be there when you are old and grey when you are most likely to need it.

It's not uncommon for people to have a combination of both. A little whole life to cover funeral expenses, estate planning, etc and a lot of term to cover the kids, the debts, etc.

You're best bet is to contact a liscensed insurance broker. A broker will give you unbiased advice since they are not tied to working for strictly one company. They will be able to shop around the market for you. Also, make sure they are able to sell both whole life and term. Many companies that only sell one or the other will try to fit a square peg ina round hole and get you to buy something that doesn't completely fit right.

Also, on a side note, being a young couple considering things like Critical Illness insurance and/or Long Term Care insurance would be advantageous to you as well. Given your age, it's more likely for you to get seriously ill or disabled than it is for you to die. Most brokers can tell you about those types of insurances as well.

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In response to car253, people like Suze Orman, Jim Cramer and Dave Ramsey are on TV because they are charismatic, attactive and most importantly, ENTERTAINING! TV is abotu entertaining people. Bill Gates is an absolute genius....why does he not have his own "How to be a smart guy" TV show? Becuase he's boring! Just becuase you're on TV does not mean you're advice should be taken as gospel. Did you know that most companies like the conglomerate who owns Primerica (A strictly buy term invest the rest company) own millions of dollars worth of whole life insurance? IF Buying term is the best way to go, why are these companies not following their own advice? Becuase term is profitable! People pay into term and invest the rest, then they cancel the term insurance before a claim is paid and get no money back. So the Insurance company collects premiums for 20 to 30 years in some cases, and has to pay out nothing...that's CLEAR PROFIT for them. Why would they not promote that theory?

Many people use the "Buy Term and Invest The Rest" theory and fail. The only way Buy Term and invest the rest turns out to be more profitable is if you invest the rest and leave the investments there forever! Being a person in her early 20s, I would assume that she will have several major purchases as she gets older. Buying a house, purchasing a new vehicle, paying for her childs education, etc. Odds of a person leaving thier money in an investment for ever is very slim, which is why people fail using this strategy. Great strategy in theory, horrible strategy from a practical view.

And for the record, it's not like Term is the only thing that is cheap when you are young. ALL life and health products are based on the odds of getting sick and/or dying, which means they are based on age, health and smoking status. ALL products are cheaper when you are younger. And I don't beleive that I strictly made a recommendation to go with whole life anyways. I recommended to speak with someone that sells both so they get the right product for the right situation.

Get term life.

Other insurance offer a savings plan but you are better off not going that route. Take the money you save on term life over cash value insurance (universial, whole life) and invest it. You'll come out having more and you are more in control of your investment. The savings usually don't go to benefactor if the holder dies during the plan, benefactor gets the face value of the policy.

Chris C knows his insurance stuff but is telling you to take the wrong product. Term is better because it is cheap when you are young and you can get level payments for a certain amount of years.

If you want to invest, then invest in some investment products, 401K, IRA or something else. See a financial planner. Just ask Susie Orman. Her products say the same thing. Any honest agent will tell you that. Insurance agents make more commission on other products that is why they sell them. It is not for your benefit, but for theirs. Take the term and invest elsewhere.

Term is the way to go for you right now. If you can do it also look into a Variable Universal Life policy. You can use it to help reduce your taxable income and you can draw on it tax-free later on. I have one that is part of my investment/retirement portfolio. Ameriprise Financial has some good choices.

Term insurance is definitely the better product for the reasons mentioned by the others. I can assist you with term life quotes if you are interested.

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