What type of life insurance is right for me?

Hello i am seriously thinking about getting life insurance i am 18 and have an 8 month old baby boy god forbid that anything happened to me but if it did i want my son to be fully protected but I'm not sure witch life insurance is right I'm not even sure what type of insurance there are or what coverage is right for me.

Contact a licensedinsurance broker that can do a needs analysis to see how much you need, explain the differences between whole life and term life (make sure they can sell both as well...avoid companies that only sell one or the other...they will make you "fit their mold" instead of finding what is right for you) and can shop around the market for you to find the best product.

If you are looking at protecting your boy's 'livelihood' alone, look at something like 20 year term. After 20 years, your boy will be old enough to fend for himself and will likely not need the financial support as much.

If you are looking to make sure your final expenses (taxes, funeral, etc), or other needs longer than 20 years away (IE: paying for his college/university if something happens to you, or creating a legacy/charity fund after you die), look at whole life (at your age it will be very cheap).

It's not uncommon for people to have a little whole life for the funeral expenses and then term to top up the short term extra needs like making sure your child can eat and whatnot until he's old enough to support himself.

You need to sit down with an agent and have them discuss your options and find out which one best meets your needs. A ROP (return of premium) policy might work for you, or straight term or a whole life or a universal life, there are many options. But again find out your options and then you can make an informed decission.

At your age buy cheap term life insurance with level payments for 30 years. Times change and maybe your needs will later, but for now its more insurance for your dollar.

You should also have a trust in place in case anything happens you can name the guardian for your baby. See someone who can do it for you or there are websites you can do it yourself. Like, www.legalzoom.com but there are others. Post this question under law.

It is very technical question & differ from person to person.being a lady their are more clarification required but i believe that you are earning lady and not depend upon your husband income,
as you are say ,you are of just 18 age than i must say that you have given birth to baby child in very young age so you may be not good planner but any way you should go for long term purely term insurance and it have no refund of premium as well as any bonus.and up to age 40 you should make mind for life goal and than go for endowment plan with profit.

You need to go to a local insurance office and have a talk with a licensed agent. they will be able to help you decide..

First of all, congratulations on the baby boy, and on your maturity and sense of responsibility to see the value of life insurance and creating an immediate legacy for your son if you're not around to care for him. Yes, it's good to sit down with an agent on your first purchase because they will be able to explain a lot about the types and the pros and cons of each kind of life insurance, and really examine your needs (if they are a GOOD agent). Consider stable, solid companies like Nationwide, State Farm, Prudential and New York Life for starters.

Also, ask around to see if your family and/or friends can refer you to an agent. Someone usually always knows one, and can attest to their ability as an agent if they're willing to refer them.

To get started on some education and tips, MetLife has a great tool on their website - it's a life insurance picker. It asks you a series of questions and recommends types of life insurance based on your answers. Keep in mind I would not recommend this over talking with an honest, experienced agent, but it's a good tool. www.metlife.com

Good luck.

Congratulations on even looking at the situation. A lot of folks don't until it's way too late. Let's discuss some various types of life insurance.
Here are the basic forms of insurance.
TERM - this is for a specific period only. Most companies offer 10, 15, 20, and some 30 and even 40-year term policies. There is no cash value accumulation within a term policy and it is basically renting your insurance for a specified period of time. It's a very good option for folks who are tight with case and need insurance but don't yet have enough cash flow for a permanent policy. If you do have to get a term policy make sure it's a convertible term -- one that can be moved to a permanent policy without additional meds, etc. The down side to term is that you only win if you die. If you die when it's in force, great. If you should die even one hour after it expires, your family gets nothing.

PERMANENT INSURANCE. This is insurance that will cover you for your lifetime, no matter how long. There are various types of permanent insurance. A lot of folks only know of an older one called WHOLE LIFE. In this there is cash value growth within the policy. The premiums are fixed in this type of policy. The basic idea is that you make premium payments and what is above the necessary to insure you go into the General Accounts of the insurance company. They usually guarantee you about 3-5% on this. However there is almost never any cash accumulation over the first five years and what they give you barely keeps up with inflation. As you age, the company may use the cash accumulation to pay for policy charges. Thus these often lapse or the person winds up at retirement with little if anything in the policy.
There is another permanent insurance called UNIVERSAL LIFE that is similar in many ways to the whole life, but here the premium payments are flexible. Again any cash value accumulation is put into the General Accounts of the insurance company and guaranteed at about 2-5%.

Third:
A third type is VARIABLE UNIVERSAL LIFE policy. Here, the cash value accumulates in Sub-Accounts (which are owned by the insured and NOT the insurance company). These accounts are out in the market and get market rates of return. Depending on the portfolios that you are in, these can average 8 - 12% over time.

These permanent policies not only provide life long insurance for you, but the cash value in the account may be accessed tax free and if structured correctly, this can add much money to your retirement or even before so you may enjoy it while you're alive (as well as having the death benefit if something happens to you).

Eight years or so ago, the insurance companies created another permanent type, EQUITY INDEXED UNIVERSAL LIFE. Here the cash value accumulation is a result of being compared to an index, usually the S& P 500. A lot of these policies average about 8% over time. They often have a cap and a floor and they are attractive to folks who like guarantees.

I suggest that you read "The New Life Insurance Investment Advisor: Achieving Financial Security for You" by Ben Baldwin. It's a bit dry, but you can see for yourself that what I've said is accurate. You sound like a bright young lady. Your son is lucky to have a mom like you. All I ask is that if you speak to any agent local to you, make sure he/she is dually licensed so you can get the full story and not just the part of it that the singly licensed person wants to babble because it's the only way they can sell the only thing they have available.

Does this mean I think term is bad? Absolutely not. I often recommend it to folks who have a need for it, but usually it's a convertible policy that can be moved to a permanent one as their situation improves. However, term is NOT the be-all and end-all and it often increases in cost to a point where you can no longer afford it as you age. Also, say you're in a 20 year term, what happens if at age 45 you are suddenly diagnosed with cancer, or have a heart attack, etc. Your chances of having your policy renewed at age 46 again have dropped to about zero. If you died then at age 47 your loved ones would get nothing since no policy would be in force. Even with adult children, that would leave them liable for burial costs, any estate costs that may come due, etc. I suggest seriously that you find a good advisor local to you and explain your complete financial picture so that they can recommend something that is suitable for you and your needs.

whatever policy that you do select, just make sure that there will be enough left over after all your debts are paid off, for him to be taken care of through high school.

Currently I have 4 kids 12 and under and I made sure my policy will pay off all my debts and still leave them with enough money to finish high school and college. It may be more than what I need, but I don't want them to struggle immediately after my passing.

I'm going to to make an assumption on your situation and assume that you should only be looking at term insurance.

You can get quotes from ~150 companies right on my web site and it requires no personal information to use...
http://insurancepickle.com/life-insurance

Also, when you're naming the beneficiary you don't name your child outright without naming a guardian because then you've created another issue to contend with if you were gone.

I would suggest term life insurance, probably about 20 years. At your age you should probably be able to get $250,000 of coverage for less than $15 per month. You are probably not in a position to be building wealth in any type of whole life or universal life insurance policy.

Be sure and designate your son as the beneficiary on the application. You also need to get a will in place to make sure he has a good guardian that will take care of him and manage the money you leave behind.

IN general term life is the least expensive, because it does not last forever. Your concern is to carry a lot of insurance until your son is old enough to take care of himself. Since you are young, if you have no major health issues term life will not cost a lot, comparatively speaking. And as your son gets older you can reduce the amount of your insurance. But if you are flush with cash, then whole life is the way to go.

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