A Different Kind of Date Night

“Hi Maywyn – we can empathize that shopping for life insurance online can be confusing and frustrating. We created Haven Life to help solve this problem. For example, with our quote tool, we make it simple to access rate examples without detailed health information or contact details. It’s true for medically underwritten life insurance that medical records may be needed to determine eligibility and pricing — this is so the insurer isn’t making assumptions about your health and that pricing can be personalized to you. Usually this is a good thing because without these details, insurers will need to increase pricing for the risk they are taking on. By full coverage, I believe you are refering to the two-year contestibility period that is pretty standard across insurers. Coverage is fully in place, but it’s a clause that protects the insurance company from false application information during this period of time. In general, top rated life insurance companies have an excellent track record for claims-paying ability. You can read more about this subject here: https://havenlife.com/blog/am-best-insurance-ratings/

We hope this helps ease your mind, but we’re always available to chat: (855) 744-2836 (M-F, 9AM-6PM ET) or email: help@havenlife.com.”

I just talked to my dad about this and they aren’t canceling because one of them could die much earlier and neither have jobs with pensions. They also don’t want to stick me with the funeral costs.

Jane, as Joanna suggests, you could visit the sponsor’s site to seek answers to your questions. However, here is some context so this makes more sense to you. Term life insurance is for a period of time – 15 years, 20 years, 30 years. A person might get such a policy to pay off a mortgage should they die unexpectedly; keeps the roof over the head of the partner and any children. Or people get a term policy when their children are born, hoping that by the time the term is up, the child is self-sustaining. Once the term expires, if nothing has happened, no more payments are due but the insurance company keeps all the money you paid. Whole life insurance, as I understand it, lasts your whole life and you pay for it your whole life. But, as one commenter stated, you can get cash from it. Hope that helps!

Hi Jane, you could cancel your coverage once you no longer have financial dependents. It’s a personal choice, but often people choose to keep the financial safety net in place since term life insurance premiums are usually affordable. With term life insurance, the intention is to select a term length that covers your family when they need it most — until your mortgage is paid off or your children are financially independent. Once the term is up, coverage ends and you don’t get the premiums paid back. Think of it like car insurance: you’re paying to have protection in place in case something happpens. We cover this topic more here: https://havenlife.com/blog/is-term-life-insurance-worth-it/

@Sarah Levy, wow that LastPass thing is really helpful to know about. Thank you so much for sharing!

I definitely feel like sharing/discussing finances and all aspects of your life is super important with your partner, but in the event that one person knows certain aspects more than the other (e.g. investments/etc.), knowing you can at least log in to everything is so so helpful.

I also used Policygenius and found it great. I tried Haven life initially but they were impossible to deal with—emails would go unanswered, and I couldn’t schedule a health visit after an hour on the phone. And through Policygenius I ended up with a cheaper plan. But thanks CoJ—it’s such a service to your readers to talk about life insurance!

Hi Kim – Life insurance is more affordable the younger and healthier you are. So generally, it’s best to not put off getting coverage in place if you need it. Pregnancy is considered in the underwriting process. However, if you are having a healthy pregnancy, it likely wouldn’t impact your rate. All that said — it’s hard to know for sure without going through the application process. Consider submitting an application for coverage, and you can inquire into if your rate class (i.e. rate) is being effected by the pregnancy. Customer success is happy to answer any other questions you may have. (855) 744-2836 (M-F, 9AM-6PM ET) or email: help@havenlife.com.

I have the same questions!

I haven’t found a simple to-do list, but I have the book
What Matters Most: The Get Your Shit Together Guide to Wills, Money, Insurance, and Life’s “What-ifs” on hold at the library, which I’m hoping will guide me on these important to-dos!

I used to work at an estate planning law firm. Many firms will retain your original estate planning documents (will, advance medical directive, power of attorney, trusts, whatever they prepare for you) in their office in a fireproof filing cabinet/safe and you go home with copies of the docs. You would just need to make sure your executor (or a family member/whoever) knows where these original docs are when you pass. In terms of other important docs, a fireproof box works or a safe deposit box at your bank. You could always make electronic versions as well. As mentioned above, just make sure someone knows where to find your valuable paperwork. I personally think it’s also a good idea of have a list (whether it’s written on paper, a Word doc, something) outlining where you have bank accounts, your estate planning paperwork, car title, life insurance, investment accounts, certificate of deposits, credit card information, etc., so that if something happens to you, your family knows what financial institutions/creditors/debtors they need to contact for your estate. It’s also helpful if you have contact info and phone numbers for any financial advisers that helped you, your attorney’s info, etc. It’s not uncommon for people dealing with someone’s estate to almost have the estate settled and then all of a sudden they get an annuity or dividend check or something for the deceased from a source they knew nothing about. It makes the estate administration longer when these surprises pop up. Many people don’t want to think about these things because it can be depressing, especially when you’re young and starting a family, but if you can put emotions aside, it’s the right thing to do for you and your family. Making things easier for your loved ones who are dealing with the loss is one of the kindest things you can do. Good luck and congrats on your second child! How exciting!

I can’t help on the checklist front, but I can with storage! I have important documents (like home insurance, mortgage, car title, ect) saved to Dropbox, so I could log in anywhere and access them, and on an external hard drive that is stored in a fireproof safe. The hard drive also has scanned files of things like my passport and birth certificate- then the hard copies are also in the safe. I think it’s important to have back ups of your back ups of important documents like these!
My household also uses 1Password, which is a secure online password storage service. That way, if something were to happen to me, my partner would be able to gain access to important accounts easily. (They have a “master key” that you can print and also store in the safe with instructions on getting in to your account)

Hi Michaela, congratulations on welcoming another child to your family. We understand being a parent, especially of two, can be overwhelming. We try to make life as simple as possible at Haven Life and a checklist is a great starting point. To help parents navigate through these life changing events to minimize stress, Haven Life provides you a checklist when expecting a new child: https://havenlife.com/blog/new-baby-financial-checklist/

Having a new child also means receiving a stack of new documentations to keep safe: birth certificate, social security card, and passport. We hope the following blog post can help you make a better informed decision on how to keep these documentations safe and secure: https://havenlife.com/blog/storing-important-documents/

I have to respectfully disagree with you, Karina- I appreciated that this post was geared towards normalizing these discussions and making them a part of what a couple discusses when planning for their future. I think there is a lot of stigma about planning for something nobody wants to think about (death of a loved one) and I appreciate the effort that went into making this conversation seem less scary.

Ok, replying to myself here. I stand by what I said initially but I can also see your point, Tess.
I should have just skipped this post and not commented. I forgot the old saying ‘if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything.’

I totally agree. Well said.

Karina, I don’t think that the old saying applies to the point that you made. I am sure that the folks here appreciate your constructive criticism. It was an interesting and useful post, but not what I expected by the title. Maybe a slightly different title, such as “A Different Kind of Date Night, Wine and a Chat about Life Insurance” (something on that idea).
However, it does say “Sponsored” at the top, which I think is fair. Bloggers need to make a living and there are a lot of contributors to this wonderful blog

Mallory, thank you for being a customer and spreading the word!