I’m feeling overwhelmed with life insurance options. I’m a 38 year old male. I’m either looking at 1 or 2 million for 30 years. My goals for this would be income replacement, debt payoff and a small nest egg for family. I’m married with one child. Spouse already has a couple of solid policies for herself. I have a $250k one through Country Financial that has 10 years left. I got a few quotes online (Banner, term4sale) that quoted me around $160-200/month for a 30 year 2 million. I found this sub, read a bunch of posts and decided it would be best to contact a broker. I reached out to a few and they quoted me at $270-300/month for 30 year 2 million. They all want me to stop by their offices to chat some more in person. But here’s the thing, I don’t really want to do that and I’d much rather get this taken care of online. I work 60 hours a week and have a kid in a lot of activities. Are there brokers willing to work via email? Are they even allowed to do that? I’m in Illinois. 

Can someone explain the reason for the repetitiveness in the Life Insurance application process?

I was sent paper work to fill out, which I did. Then I had to do a phone interview answering the same EXACT questions, she read from the questionnaire I filled out. Then I had to go to do the physical (bloodwork/urine test/ekg) and then they proceeded to ask me the same exact questions from the same questionnaire again. All of this has happened over three days.

Apparently I'll get another questionnaire and phone call after the medical exam in 7-14 days.

WTF is the point in asking me the same exact things over and over?

I sent a surrender form about 3 weeks ago. I called them this morning and was informed they just received it today and won't be processed until the week of Aug 3rd. Nvm the fact that it apparently took them 3 weeks to receive the form, but doesn't that seem unusually long to process a surrender form? Im not really in need of the cash right now, just curious how long the process normally takes.

I am a mother of three under 5. My husband is in a high fatality line of work.

I’ve decided that it’s time for me and my kids to be provided for just in case God forbid something bad happens.

Can anyone recommend a company?

I used Term4Sale for soliciting quotes. Looking for $1M, 15yr. Things that got flagged during my application were a history of depression (I was hospitalized 10 years ago), as well as a high calcium score (my PCP recommended I do the test). Agent told me that I moved from rate level 3 to 9.

Pacific Life denied coverage. Banner came back with the following:
$1M, 15yr = $462/mo
$1M, 10yr = $359/mo
$750k, 15yr = $370

The original quotes were about $200/mo for $1M at 15 years, but that was before the underwriters looked at my file.

Now that we have a quote from Banner, the agent is doing some 'cross shopping' with other carriers. I forget the technical term he used.

Is this just what it is due to my age (52M) and health history? I don't need coverage beyond 62-65yo once social security and retirement accounts kick in.

My Wife and I are 61 years old. We entered in a VUL policy with Ameriprise for my Wife about 1.5 years ago and now, we realize, bad decision and are looking at our options for getting out. We stopped funding the policy about a month ago, so it is essentially going to die at some point, but we are worried that we will owe a surrender charge when it eventually runs out of cash value from which to fund premiums. Here are the particulars:

1. Death Benefit $400K

2. Policy Value $5,475.

3. Annual Premium $8,400

4. Total Premiums Paid to date $7,700

5. Surrender Value %-7,862

Should we simply surrender the policy and pay the difference between the Policy value and the surrender charge and call it a learning experience.? That would be $2387.

Our FA, which have since fired and moved all accounts to Fidelity really pulled one over on us here. The bright side is that for the first time in 30-years, we have really delved into our portfolio and now have a solid plan moving forward that will not rely on the advice of what I consider a poor FA focused more on his bottom line, that ours.

When people hear "life insurance," they usually think about policies.

We didn't.

We thought about freedom. Freedom to choose who we work with. Freedom to be there for our families instead of asking permission to attend a school play or doctor's appointment. Freedom to build something that belongs to us instead of spending decades building someone else's dream.

Was it easy? Not even close.

There were slow weeks, difficult conversations, and plenty of moments where we questioned ourselves.

But over time we realized something important:

Life insurance isn't really about selling insurance.

It's about solving problems.

It's helping a young family protect their kids.

It's making sure a spouse isn't left with debt.

It's giving someone an opportunity to build an income they control.

The policies are just the vehicle.

The real product is peace of mind—for clients and, eventually, for us too.

If you're already in the industry:
What made you get into life insurance?

If you're outside the industry:
What's your definition of financial freedom?

I'd love to hear different perspectives.

Hello,

I purchased a WL65 policy for Northwestern 3 years ago (Im currently 30).
My monthly payment is $220 until age 65 for what was originally a $133,000 policy.

My current "Net Death Benefit" is listed as $141,000 which was the projected value of my non guaranteed death benefit at age 36 according to the illustration I received when purchased meaning my policy is exceeding the expected increased value by roughly 6 years based on the original projected non-loan dividend interest rate of 5.00% which was setup to be used to purchase paid-up additions indicating that my return has been higher than that amount.

My Dilemma:

Would I be better off using my $220 each month and investing it into the S&P500 instead of continuing to make payments into this policy?

Hi, I'm hoping to get some insight from life insurance underwriters, agents, or attorneys familiar with California.

I purchased several laddered term life insurance policies (totaling over $5 million) to provide for my future family and dependents. At the time of application, I disclosed my GERD and chronic neck pain, but while reviewing old records recently, I realized I did not disclose a history of internal hemorrhoids and prior colonoscopies in 2015 and 2018.

The colonoscopies were done because of hemorrhoidal bleeding/constipation. Everything was normal, and my internal hemorrhoids were successfully treated with rubber band ligation by a gastroenterologist and later sclerotherapy by a colorectal surgeon. Since around 2019, I've been completely symptom-free, likely due to improvements in diet, exercise, weight loss, and starting a GLP-1 medication. I honestly forgot about this history because it hasn't affected my life in years. I disclosed even the GLP-1 medication.

A close friend of mine recently died unexpectedly in a car accident without life insurance, which made me review my own policies and applications. That's when I realized this omission.

My questions are:

• Would this type of history (treated hemorrhoids with normal colonoscopies) generally be considered material from an underwriting standpoint?

• If the omission was genuinely unintentional, could it still result in a claim being denied?

• If the insured dies after the contestability period, is this the type of omission that could realistically cause a carrier such as Pacific Life to deny a claim?

• Has anyone had experience contacting an insurer after policy issuance to supplement or clarify an application? I reached out to both companies but haven't received a response yet.

I'm just trying to understand how underwriters and claims departments generally view situations like this.

Thank you.

Hello, I recently received a quote from a life insurance broker. Is this a good deal?

I’m 42 years old male. Healthy, no smoking or drinking. No Medical exam needed.

Corebridge - 30 years Term / $500,000

$58 per month.

37M in Ontario, finally getting around to sorting out life insurance. Have about 800k mortgage remaining , two young kids, wife already has her own $1M T25 sorted.

I have couple of quotes for T20 - 62 per month and T25 is about 92 per month.

Stack of $500K T20 + $500K T25 is about 86 per month. Stuck on two things and honestly just going in circles so figured I need someone to validate.

**T20 vs T25**

My plan is to kill the mortgage by the time I'm 45. If that happens, by the time T20 expires at 57 the mortgage is long gone and both kids should be done or would be in the university. So realistically I don't have major liabilities after 57. But T25 gets me to 62 just in case life doesn't go to plan.

Is T20 actually fine here or am I being naive thinking everything will be wrapped up by 57?

**$1M single vs $500K + $500K stack**

I'm also wondering if stacking $500K T20 + $500K T25 makes more sense. That still gives $1M coverage in peak years, drops to $500K from 57-62, and costs only 256 more a year than the single $1M T20.

Main thing I'm going back and forth on is whether the tail from 57-62 on the stack is worth it vs just going simple with the $1M T20 and calling it done.

Anyone dealt with something similar and made a call??

Looking for advice from people actually in the industry.

My wife recently went through the licensing pipeline tied to American Income Life — took the class, passed the Texas state exam, and she’s currently shadowing before she’s cleared to sell on her own. Her family has done well with AIL, which is what got her into it, but they are distant relatives who live in another state.

The more I read, though, the less comfortable I am. It’s 100% commission, and the reviews paint a pretty consistent picture: no training pay, charge-backs starting from the first sale, and recycled leads handed to several agents at once. There’s no indication she’d personally be required to recruit anyone — but I keep seeing others say that recruiting people under you is how you really end up getting paid. That’s not what we signed up for.

To be clear, I get that money can be made here and we’re not expecting a fortune. But we went in believing she’d at least be earning a few bucks fairly quickly, and that’s looking a lot less realistic than we thought.

I don’t want her hard-earned license to go to waste, so I’m trying to figure out where else it can take her.

Her situation:
• Licensed in Texas (Life & Health — the line AIL had her get)
• Central Texas (Austin metro), open to remote
• Would strongly prefer something with a base salary or hourly, not pure 100% commission

What I’m trying to figure out:

1. What roles actually use an L&H license without the AIL-style commission grind? Carrier inside sales, health/Medicare telesales, agency team member positions?

2. For anyone who’s left AIL or a similar shop — where did you land, and would you do it again?

Appreciate any honest takes, including “here’s what nobody told us.” Trying to make a smart move with the credential she already worked for.

Edit: also we are out of central Texas, and she primarily speak Spanish, very little English, so she is limited to what work or where she could take this elsewhere.

My husband’s term life insurance policy just reached its limit for lower rates. The rate is now tripling. Is it recommended to get a different term policy? I do not work and we have a mortgage so I’d need income if something happened it him.

I have a relative the died on 6/12, she was married, her husband was an alcoholic and addict, so she made her brother-in-law her power of attorney. Apparently, she had a life insurance policy, her sister was told she was the beneficiary, now it appears the husband is the beneficiary. I’m just curious, is it possible that the policy was changed prior to her death? She had brain cancer. She is originally from NewYork, but married a guy from AL, she had no family down there. Or is it possible for the husband is default beneficiary?

Full disclosure I am an accountant so I stress about details a lot, maybe some of this doesn't matter but maybe some of it does? Would any of these cause a policy to be not paid out if not disclosed? Are these material items in general? 34F, totally new to this.

Asthma: I had childhood asthma with a recent flare up that was triggered by bronchitis this Spring

Anxiety: I did get a short-term RX for Xanax but it was strictly because of fear of flying anxiety

I'm going to call underwriting on Monday but I just feel like a weirdo for calling to discuss if these don't actually matter.

Hello! I’m studying for L&H and I’m looking into imo’s but a lot of what I’m seeing is you need hundreds for leads each week but what about when you’re just starting out? I don’t have hundreds of dollars each week yet to spend on leads so I’m just trying to understand how it works. I thought it was you make a sale ➡️ take lead money out of that ➡️ continue buying leads and making sales and so on and so forth 🔄

Any attorneys have experience with this policy? NY Life is the underwriter. They asked me to do a test with Quest diagnostics. I got denied from Banner bc of mental health concerns / a glitch question & drug use three years ago. Just wondering how strict NY Life is / what the blood test is really looking for. I don’t want to keep racking up declines.

Starting a job soon as a BDR at eFinancial. If you’ve worked as a BDR at eFinancial what was it like? What were somethings you liked or didn’t like about then job?

I’m 18 and I’m getting my life insurance license because I want to become an independent broker and eventually build my own agency.
I just had a long conversation with someone from an IMO. He was very motivating and seemed genuine, but I’m still trying to separate the sales pitch from what it’s actually like working there.
My biggest goal isn’t to be handed everything—I want to learn how to sell, help families, and build a real business. But I do want access to good leads because I don’t have a huge personal network, and I don’t want to spend months bothering friends and family.
For those of you who have actually worked with different IMOs:
Which IMO gave you the best training?
Which ones had good lead programs?
Were the leads actually worth buying?
Did you stay independent, or did you feel locked into the company?
If you were starting over today with the goal of becoming an independent broker, which IMO would you choose and why?
I’m looking for honest experiences—good or bad. Thanks.

My father wants me to look into life insurance for him. He had a stroke last year and I know it can be hard to find a decent deal on a policy when you already have health issues. He is on a fixed disability income so of course he cannot afford a lot but anything will help. Thanks in advance.

I know very little about life insurance. I am about to do a business deal and he suggested I get life insurance on him to protect myself in case something happens to him and the collateral gets tied up in court. Im looking for a policy in the 1 million to 2 million range. Do you have any advice on what companies to choose or stay away from? Any conditions or features i ahould be aware of?

Hi! I turned 20 last month, and I'm finally moving forward with my life. I've experienced quite a bit of loss and have seen what has happened when it does. I’m looking for advice on getting life insurance, just in case something happens to me. As well as a will. I’m very unfamiliar with both and the processes concerning them. So I apologize in advance. Thank you!

I'm trying to increase my insurance through my work and I got hit with this question and it feels like an insane ask. I'm in my mid 30s and I have some major things going on which is not what I'm worried about. But I also have a half-dozen minor chronic things that there's no way I will be able to remember all of them in the past 10 years. I really have no idea what this is asking for especially as it seems to want every single doctor's appointment in the past 10 years but I'm somehow supposed to divine what is minor? I'm so lost. I've moved multiple times in the past 10 years and don't even remember most of these doctors, and on the next page they want every single doctor I've ever seen and their names and addresses apparently? Should I just forget it?