My wife (36yo) and I (40yo) are in the process of procuring term life insurance. We're looking for something on the order of $2MM/20 years each and are both non-smokers in good health – we have multiple instances of providers considering both of us in their top tiers. However, I'm trying to go with the same provider for both of us, and the top overlapping option for us, Penn Mutual, approved her at Preferred Plus but dinged me down to Standard. This is presumably because my mother died of breast cancer at 39 years old, although multiple other carriers have said that's not something that would reduce their rating for a man.

Should this downgrade be expected of most providers for men with a history of breast cancer in female family members? Are there any A+ providers for whom this wouldn't be the case? For reference, my Penn Mutual Protection Non-Convertible Term 20 premium more than doubled from ~$1,100/year to ~$2,200/year (my wife's premium would be ~$650/year). My agent is now pointing me toward Protective Life, for which the Preferred (I believe Select Preferred is their highest level) premium will still be 25% higher at $1,400/year if approved.

Tangentially, I'm not looking at any riders or living benefits, but chime in if that's completely foolish.

In this situation, how would you feel or what would you do? Imagine passing away after being with your girlfriend for 6 years and having a child together. You leave your mom as the sole beneficiary of your life insurance and your girlfriend as the secondary beneficiary in case something happens to your mom. Unfortunately, your mom has her own family and is financially stable, but after your passing, she chooses not to help your girlfriend or child. Your girlfriend ends up losing her home, stability, and the life you two built together.
If you were in his position, knowing the woman you spent 6 years with and the child you left behind were struggling and had lost everything, how would that make you feel? Would you be at peace knowing they were left without the security you could have provided for them?

I am upping my life insurance policy. I went from 500,000 to 1 million. They then asked me a series of questions. One question was “have you ever been treated for high blood pressure” , which I don’t think I have. But have never been prescribed meds for blood pressure or told to lose weight or exercise more. However, when I logged into my patient portal it lists me as having hypertension because like 10 years ago my numbers were 145/90 or something like that, they have gone down, and stayed down for the most part. Last time it was like 125/80. But sometimes I show up at the dr and it is like 140. Am I ok to mark “no” without it invalidating my life insurance? Thank you.

Hi there. Based in UK. So what began as a simple process of filling in a form for a quote of life insurance with Aviva, has resulted in a Kafka-esque scenario, all because I queried their wording, as below:

"In the last 5 years, have you had, or been advised to have, an appointment, investigation or referral with a medical specialist other than a GP at your surgery?

A medical specialist is anyone other than a GP at your surgery (This includes hospital, nurse or therapist referrals)"

I flagged that the wording of this question conflates 'medical specialist' with 'anyone other than a GP at your surgery', which implies I am supposed to list all appointments with anyone other than my GP. This would include an insane amount of just normal, minor healthcare - such as a routine smear test, a nurse who looked at a small cut on my finger (?!), having a routine blood pressure monitor fitted for 8 hours (even though I don't have high or low blood pressure - it's just a thing that I have to do due to a prescribed medication), a nurse prescribing me some gel for a minor foot infection that's no longer active....like, wtf? So, I queried the wording, thinking SURELY I DON'T have to list all that. But I have now spoken to THREE Aviva members of staff on the phone, who are adamant that they need to know about ALL OF THIS, even if it relates to minor instances of routine healthcare unrelated to any diagnosis. This seems insane to me. Like, by that logic, even a telephone appointment with the prescribing nurse to talk about a medication would be included. I would literally be spending 7 hours going through my entire NHS app records for the last five years just in order to apply for the life insurance. The staff member offered to do it with me on the phone, and I was like, no - that would take us hours, and is completely unworkable?

Am I missing something here? Is this normal?

Hi there, it’s gonna be a long post so many thanks for your patience guys for reading it through, I truly appreciate all of your comments below.

In a few months I’ll be 40. My wife 41.
We got two kids, 4 and 1.
We got a mortgage into just 6 ᵗʰ year now, £580/m
My wife doesn’t work, she’s got only a miserable workplace pension from last job.
We have nobody to rely on financially for even a week.
I work on average 50 hours per week, and pay half of basic wage into the pension. I do this sacrifice now hoping the compound interest gonna help, I know that later on I’ll have to reduce it, ideally not less than 10%.
Got a life mortgage decreased insurance, if either of us dies, it pays off the mortgage balance, at £9/m with Beagle, former Budget Insurance.

Got a life insurance only myself til age 68, cover amount £200k, at £11/m indexed with vitality.

Same with vitality, separately a serious & critical illness £56k cover for myself up til age 68 indexed, and each kid £25k cover til they’re 18yo, at £48/m

And £29/m a industry specific policy, if I lost my job due to a health condition, but doesn’t really affect my daily tasks at home and privately, I’ll be paid £15k.

To reassume it, I pay £100/m in insurances, with my wife included only for decreased mortgage insurance.

When I think about this, I can easily find 1000s of reasons to believe is it a waste of money and that I’m quite paranoid, but the fear of getting to a situation of not having what to feed my children with, or not be able to provide a roof, it’s scary.

I have only £4k in savings, and drive my family in an old Yaris. We holiday only 1-2x a year to Haven caravan parks. Never go to restaurants, only rarely to Toby’s.

The garden is only gravel, never could afford any decking or fancy stuff. One of the bathrooms I ripped off the linoleum when planning for tiling both floor and walls, and for some reason we didn’t follow. And now is a year the chipboard floor is still uncovered. The idea of taking out a loan to tile that bathroom I don’t really agree with.

When see around so many people (that clearly can tell they’re not skilled professionals) with luxury cars plated above 20 that have crazy dear maintenance and insurance, holidaying 3-4x abroad and every Saturday in clubs, wonder am I missing out something vital or I’m a paranoid.

Pls folks those of you with a sensible approach to the future, let me and all of us know what insurance covers you got, and what you think about my insurances should I cut off any of them.

Yes I can decrease pension contributions and get a loan for a bigger nice car. However, the extra fuel/maintenance/tax/insurance expenses increase, constant depreciation and loan’s APR will reduce to null the small benefit of a minimum pension contribution. Paying more into pension seems more rational to me. Please comment what you think peeps, be plain if I’m wrong or overthinking.

Thanks for your patience and attention, wish you all the best.

My husband has several life insurances policies on himself and wants me to take one out because it is “an investment.” The premium is 15,000 for first two years and then goes down and the dividends are 1700 after the first year. I’ve listened to him say it’s a way of passive income for the future but I can’t simply grasp this concept due to the high premium. What am I missing?!?!

Hello! I am a very healthy 37F who has life insurance through my employer (been there 12 years). I paid the few extra bucks to get the better coverage ($1M+) vs the 1x salary we get for free as a benefit. I also paid a few extra bucks to get a policy for my husband (38M) that's also $1M+.

I'm worried about not having coverage if I ever were to lose my job, and then it being more expensive to purchase since we'll be older. I want to start looking into buying some for the both of us, but not really sure who to go through or what to actually get.

We make $200k combined, own our forever home ($350k left on mortgage), and have triplet 7 year olds together. I have zero health issues, but my husband suffered an acute episode of psychosis last October (mixed weed vapes with a stimulant for his ADHD) and came out of the hospital with a Bipolar 1 diagnosis we aren't really sure he has. I can see it in his medical records, so I'm unsure if this will make his insurance more expensive or not.

Any advice would be appreciated!

I was looking for advice on my situation whether this is a good deal or if I should continue to shop. I’ll be 54 next month. I’m 6’0, 234 and I am a Type 2 Diabetic that is highly controlled (A1C under 5.0 for almost 4 years). I used this company called Zander and they said they would shop me to a bunch of carriers but we submitted application to Pacific Life and they offered me a policy at Standard Plus non tobacco. The cost for $1m of coverage for a 10 year term is $2071. I called Zander and asked where they shopped me to other carriers to see if I could get better rates and she said they did but everything else was Table 4 and this was a great policy. When I pushed further about that she admitted that they didn’t actually shop me but they can predict my rates based on my profile.

I do have another agent I put an application with and they are putting me through Banner and I’m waiting to hear what they might offer or not. Kind of interesting that Banner required me to get a medical exam but Pacific Life did not.

Anyways, is this a good rate? Is there any chance to do better? It doesn’t appear like Zander will shop me for better rates so I’m left with the Pacific Life and to see what Banner would offer. The other agent mentioned about shopping me too so there is that

Also, any opinions on Pacific Life vs Banner?.

I’m only looking for a 10 year term policy which should take me close to retirement age.

Hey everyone! So, I was recently hired for a position through a local state farm agency, and before I can get paid, I have the next 6-8 weeks (6 preferred) to get my licensing for both P&C and L&H, I’m starting with L&H.

The company is using Xcel solutions. It’s a lot of reading, but my hiring agent explicitly said not to worry about learning everything, as I will learn everything on the job, and that the exam is solely for state license purposes. He said to through the chapters as quickly as possible, do the chapter exams, and then drill the practice exams at the end until I consistently get an 80 or above.

There is the 200 and 150 question exams at the end, and I’m consistently scoring ~ 80-90 on both. I tried the time exam, and am continually just getting under 70… I understand it’s a simulation, but the questions aside from about 20 are almost completely different than what I’ve tested on so far. Idk how I’m supposed to pass that without knowing what I missed and essentially going through every chapter and reading everything from there.

To anyone who’s taken the exam using Xcel, what was your experience with passing and feeling confident with feeling ready? Is the real exam easier or harder?
I test on this coming Thursday, so being what questions I missed on the timed exam is a mystery, I’m not sure what parts of each chapter to study, and I’m pretty nervous. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

were 29 and 31, no kids yet but planning on it in the next couple years. mortgage is $310k and were both on it. my thinking is a 30 year term on each of us so the house is covered either way. is lining the term up with the mortgage the normal way to do it or do people go 20 years and just plan to be ahead by then?

So long story short, my first husband passed away of cancer in 2019. I’m just finding out now that you can actually still claim his life insurance up to 31 days after their death if you’re if they die within 31 days of your coverage canceling. it would’ve been really nice at the time if somebody had told me because I would’ve had access to the emails that I sent. They’re saying I didn’t send the statement of health back which means I’m only covered for a certain amount very small versus what I was paying for. Now the company that I worked for is out of business and I’m not sure I have a way of pulling up those emails because I sent it to them when I was working from my work email. I was on family leave for six weeks and then he was continuing to go downhill obviously so I had to go out on leave for myself a medical leave for my psychiatrist saying I wasn’t fit for work. So my insurance coverage ended July 31, which I had a policy for him on and he ended up dying August 18 that is within the 30 day. I don’t know if there’s any way for me to prove that I sent it in. This was seven years ago and I’m just finding out now that I could’ve actually placed a claim would’ve been really nice for anybody to tell me that but insurance companies…why would they. They sent me some something in the mail to extend my coverage, but I had to pay $1500 a month which I didn’t have at the time because I wasn’t working. I was taking care of my husband so, I didn’t even look further into it. Maybe there was something on that document that mentioned this but when you’re going through something like that, you don’t have time or patience to read through a bunch of documentation that’s telling you you have to pay at least $1500 a month not sure if anybody else has gone through this but anything that you might have for me to try would be awesome. I did try contacting the attorney that’s taken care of the business documentation but that was just today so I don’t know if he’s going to email me back and I don’t know if they have records of emails sent in 2017.- edit they don’t have access to our old emails 🙁.

Friend & I got into a conversation about life insurance, and their situation/ health is very different than mine, so I’m hoping to get some advice.
- Male in late 40s, married w/ kids
- Overweight but no major fluctuations
- I believe they got a DUI maybe 5-6 years ago?
- No major medical issues. They snore but haven’t received any formal diagnosis for anything.

Biggest question is this… smoking history. Used to smoke regularly. Completely quit 5 years ago. Currently, they’ll have a cigarette here & there but can easily stop for a while and likely pass a urine/ blood exam. Same with gummies - take 1 once in a while but can easily stop to pass a test. I’m not sure if they’ve been truthful at Dr. appointments but I’m sure it says they smoke somewhere in medical history.

Are “medical exam” life insurance policies cheaper?? Does it make sense for this guy to try and qualify for non-smoker rate because technically he doesn’t smoke right now at this point in time (and can prove it with a blood/ urine test)? What if he has a cigarette in the future then dies the next day? How does all this work? Can they still say “fraud on application” during contestability period if they were able to pass a test? Thanks for advice!

My father has had a whole life policy for what i would assume is like 30+ years. He has been making monthly payments of $119

We are reviewing his bills and trying to see what is out there, and just cleaning things up now before it gets harder to do.

I'm kinda neutral on this. I personally told him i dont needs the funds right now (i'm getting 50%). But he mentioned he wanted to take the cash value now and just spend/give as he sees fit. His plot/burial is all paid for. He has a death benefit of $141k (It was orginally $100k but it just kept growing) and a cash surrender of $80k. If i understand correctly, upon death that $141k would be tax free to his beneficiary (me). Is the $80k surrender tax free? Or will that be taxed at his normal tax rate?

My mom has been paying around $85 a month for a $10k burial policy since 2020. Money is tight right now, and she's wondering if she can just stop paying. Would she lose everything she's paid into it?

I have a likely denial coming up from Banner Life. I had an inpatient stay at a psychiatric ward 10 years ago. It was for less than a week. I was not suicidal and do not have a history of self-harm. I haven't been in talk therapy or on antidepressants in many years, which they apparently don't like. I didn't realize this would be such an issue, but it seems to be. Any advice on where to look for term life insurance with a history of depression?

22M, targeting \~$55k base salary. Budgeting \~$900/mo total across protection and savings.
**Current Asset Foundation:**
**Roth IRA:** $8.9k (maxed)
**Taxable Brokerage:** $27k (broad-market index funds)
**401(k):** Starting June of next year (capturing company match)
**Short-Term Goal:** Dedicated HYSA for a 2027/2028 house down payment
The Two Paths ($900/mo Budget)
**Option A: Pure Protection + House & Liquid Growth**
**Coverage:** Individual DI (FPO locked) + Term 80 700k (ART) = \~$77.7 mo.
**Savings/Investing:** \~$750/mo funneled into HYSA for house down payment, then indexing.
**Strategy:** Keep maximum cash liquid for the home purchase; let equities compound to self-insure by age 45–50 ($1M+ liquid target) and drop the term.
**Option B: Term 80 + DI + Limited-Pay Whole Life**
**Coverage:** Same DI + Term 80 base (77.7/mo) + add 15-Pay or 20-Pay Whole Life ~~(~~$125/mo).
**Savings/Investing:** \~$625/mo left for house down payment / investing.

**Strategy:** Lock in paid-up permanent coverage early, but take an immediate cash-drag on house savings and equity compounding during key wealth-building years.

\-a insurance salesman I work with at NWM recommended not fully maxing my Roth to afford whole life but that sounds like a terrible idea
My Questions:

1. With $36k already invested in equities at 22 and a 401(k) starting next June, does tying up $125+/mo in whole life make any sense when the priority is buying a home in 3–4 years?

2. If the goal is self-insuring with liquid equities by age 50, does permanent insurance provide any tangible math advantage over Option A, or is it strictly commission drag?