My wife and I just had our second kid and it's caused my nesting instincts to review our finances closer than usual.
She got pulled into a Northwestern Mutual haul by a 'family friend' years ago that included term life, whole life, and long term disability.
We cancelled the whole life, kept the term, and now I'm revisiting the LTDI now that we're done having kids. We both make about the same in sedentary careers (100k each).
The policy:
- Non canncellable True Own Occupation @$214 per month
- Pays out $5891/month till age 70
- 1 year elimination period (!)
- Monthly benefit increases with CPI
She does have workplace short term and long term insurance which is maxed at approx $3k/month (and there's supplemental insurance if we want to add). It appears to also be own occupation.
She doesn't have any dangerous hobbies or anything...the most dangerous thing is driving to work a few times a week!
I'm leaning towards cancelling and that $214 a month would go to retirement savings.
We can afford our basic monthly expenses on my salary alone (mortgage, bills, groceries, childcare). Any thoughts on to cancel or keep?