What life insurance would be best for my needs?

I am a 24 y/o single male who lives with my Dad. It's just him and I, as my mother passed away a few years ago. In the event that I ever died unexpectedly/suddenly, I'd want my Dad to not only be able to live comfortably, but to not have to be responsible for my debts as well. I am healthy(never smoked or did drugs, no allergies or medical history), am single, 6'2, 180lbs. My total debt(credit card+student loans) is about $13,000, so I'd want to have enough for him to pay those off and also have a great life as well. What level of coverage and what type(whole or term) would be best for me?

OK, Shazam! Dad's not responsible for your debts. Period. So now you don't have to worry about that.

You don't say how old dad is, or what kind of lifestyle he lives. You don't say who owns the house, you or him. You don't say if there's any other income.

At your age, you need to figure out how much extra money dad needs to live to be 100. That's the goal amount, or the insured amount. Then, you need to get two quotes - one for 20 year term, one for whole life. Odds are, you're going to outlive dad. Odds are again, that 20 year term will cost 1/10 what the whole life will, regardless of the limit.

You PROBABLY are going to want to buy the term, and put the difference between the term and the whole, into an investment account - like a growth stock mutual fund. By the time the 20 years is up, you'll have the option of renewing your term for another 20 years, if dad is still kicking around, (and although it will cost more, it STILL won't be as much as that whole life policy), or just having that investment account paid to him, upon your death, and you keep putting in that money. If dad makes it 40 more years and you haven't died, well, that puts YOU at retirement age, with a multi-million dollar investment account to fund YOUR retirement.

Call a life insurance agent and get quotes. At your age, it pays to look at universal life insurance, which has a savings component, as well as term coverage. Term coverage is cheap at your age. You can get a 30 year policy. See what you can afford.

At your age a 20 year term policy would be fairly cheap, and would give you the biggest bang for your buck. The amount of coverage would have to be discussed with your agent, along with any extra riders you might want. Make sure the policy is convertable to whole life if it becomes necessary in the future. You could get permanent whole life insurance, but is is much more expensive.

It depends where you live.

Given that all of your concerns are temporary needs (making sure you dad is taken care of...chances are he won't be here in 50 years when you are old and grey....your debts...chances are in the next 10 years you'll have them all paid off).

If you are soley buying insurance to take care of your dad and make sure he's not financially impacted if you pass away, go with term insurance...probably a 20 year term would be sufficient (not sure how old your dad would be, but chances are he may be gone within 20 years if he's in the 55-65 age range or you will not have a co-dependency on each other in 20 years)

As far as the best company it depends where you live specifically. IT can vary slightly from state to state or province to province. FYI, for the guy that recommended Primerica, Primerica polices are not convertable, so if you decide you want whole life (which Primerica doesn't even offer) later on, you'll have to reapply and provide medical insruance (if you become uninsurable before then you won't be able to get it) and typically they are amongst the more expensive one on the market, if not the most expensive, they are certainly no where near the cheapest. Example for a $100,000 ($100k would cover your debts and leave your father with a good $75k after your debts and funeral costs...realistically, you can buy as much as you want...depends how well off you want him to be), 20 year term policy for a person your age based on regular underwriting (if you are in perfect health like you say you might get bumped up to preferred underwriting and wil make it cheaper...it's better to start off assuming you''ll pay the higher underwritten policy and have them suprise you with being even cheaper), accroding to Winquote.net, Primerica isn't even amongst the top 55 companies in many states (randomly checked quotes in CA, NY, OH, FL, NM, WA, CO and they were 52 in WA, all the rest had them pegged in the 55-58th cheapest). In Canada for the same policy, Primerica ranks dead last in every province. Normally, I don't call out a specific company and talk down about them, but Primerica is not the best option for you. There a TONS of cheaper companies that are just as financially strong. FYI, amongst the cheapest quotes you'd be looking at the $12 a month range.

Your best bet is contact a lisensed insurance broker in your area that has access to multiple companies so they can shop it around to find you the best product on the market. It might also help to see someone that offer both term and whole life. At your age a small whole life policy to cover funeral expenses that will be around for ever would cost you next to nothing (like $20-30 a month for $50,000 depending on whether you want to pay for it for your whole life or just for a limited number of years). Maybe a small policy like that and a couple hundred grand in term for your dad might work well, that way you are taking care of him, and you have locked in a cheap price on your whole life for down the road.

Try Primerica they have excellent life insurance.

30 year, level term insurance. A $100K policy will only cost you about $16.00 a month at your age. At 54 your investments should be large enough to take care of your family should something happen. Whole life is the WORST investment money can buy. I'm in the insurance industry and I know how awful whole life is. Yuk. Check out the insurance links on this site: www.daveramsey.com
PS. your dad, (or anyone, for that matter) is not responsible for your debts if you die. Any debts will be paid out of your estate upon your death, (providing you have one). It would be a great thing to leave him with a hundred grand, though. This would take care of any long-term care needs, medical, etc.

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