Should I keep our Universal Life Insurance, or take the loss?

Hello, Ms. Savage.

My wife and I were sold $100,000Universal Life insurance policies when we got married, 25 years ago. The cash value is negligible. However, at 57 yrs old, our monthly fee keeps increasing every couple of years.

We have a little over $200,000 in retirement accounts and over $100,000 in home equity. As it stands now, my mother is 84 and will most likely leave us around $200,000 from her estate when she passes, god willing she stays healthy until her demise.

Is it wise to finally cancel our two policies, which right now costs about $125/month for both policies, but will keep increasing (substantially) as we get older. We have no children to consider leaving money for them.

Should we keep the expense which is a strain right now, or should we cut our losses, dump the UL insurance, and perhaps buy a different type? i am 57 and my amazing wife is 52.

PLEASE HELP. We’ve been struggling with this decision for a couple of years.
I’ve been unemployed since December 2008, (6 years!) and we’ve basically spent our savings.

Thank you, in advance, for your thoughts on this.

 

Terry Says:  OK, if you’ve been paying in to this policy over all these years and have little cash value, it is likely a terribly costly policy.  But before you drop it, you might want to apply for 20 year term life policies for each of you, and see if you can still qualify to get life insurance, considering your age and health.  I’d suggest contacting Accuquote.com, and call them  800-442-9899 or visit their website.  They will guide you through the process of applying to see what the cost would be for new term policies, and whether you qualify.

One thought, since you don’t have heirs or estate taxes to worry about, maybe you could just get a first-to-die policy, leaving some money to the surviving spouse.  You should ask them to price that option too.   And you might be able to “roll” any cash value from your current life policies into this new policy, avoiding taxes (if any) that would apply if you cash in your old policies.

This is why you need a professional who is not just interested in selling you a new policy.   In fact, when you call Accuquote, ask for their president Byron Udell and mention my name.  He will get you to one of his professionals to  look at your current policies and handle this situation.  And please write back and let me know how it gets resolved.