Life insurance thru work, should you get it?

I’m 38 with family so they are always on my mind. I’m not super healthy or overweight. On scale of 0-10, i’m probably a 7.5 (10 being best). I’m slightly more of the bread winner in the family. As my spouse works but is more kid focus.

For the most part, we are doing well enough. I took out a 30 year term life that should cover them if something was to happen to me before 65. By then i hope to have enough saved up.

So every time i get a new job, i often consider getting some additional life insurance thru the job. I figure rates are not the best but i don’t have to do much medical and its should be minor cost. I don’t see this money as using to live but more of get by year 1 or cover my expenses.

My employer now offers $0.025/ per $1000 coverage thru Metlife. Paid bi-monthly So i figure whats $5 month for $100k coverage. I figured its a forever thing.

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AND, your work policy is only effective if you are on active status. I took a 6 wk leave if absence to take car of my sick mother and my work status was listed as inactive.

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I agree with everyone who said your priority should be locking in a personal policy while you’re young since costs go up as we age.

I always get life insurance through work because it’s very cheap.

From your post, it sounds like you already have a 30-year term and are doing well financially.

You might also consider cash value life insurance, where the focus is on building cash rather than a high death benefit. When your term expires, the cash value life insurance can take over if it’s set up correctly and has grown significantly.

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Just compare the price per thousand to what you already have. If it’s better, definitely get it. If you want more coverage and the cost is only a little higher, go for it. But if the cost is much higher, skip it and apply for an additional policy instead.

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If you’re healthy and insurable, it’s usually best to buy an individual policy because you’ll keep it when you move to another company. The company can also cancel any voluntary benefits at any time. If you’re uninsurable, then it makes sense to pay for the extra group life term insurance, beyond the basic coverage the company provides (typically $50K or 1x salary, if offered).

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Employer life insurance offers poor protection. In most cases, a lingering illness is the cause of death, and you’ll likely be fired or laid off before you pass away, so the policy won’t pay out. If you need more life insurance, buy it directly.

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My whole job is paying out employer-related insurance claims, and I can tell you that I personally pay several million dollars a year of benefits and I’m only one examiner in a department of 30-40, so it’s obviously useful to a lot of people.