I think death premium? To leave behind for my wife and kid in case I die.
In that case you will want term, since you get the most death benefit for the dollar hands down.
The best is to find an agent/office that deals with multiple insurance companies, as they are more likely to be skilled at the proper setup and construction of policies. Even though term life is a very mature product, it's still worth it to get more than one quote, as some companies may not have term life as their competitively priced focus or may charge a premium to customers that fit in your demographic. It's also important that not only you, but your spouse and any potential survivors (including potential caretakers) are comfortable with the agency, which is one of the main reasons to use a local office.
The plan should be specifically tailored to you, not a group plan (workplace plans are the worst) so that you are given the most favorable terms for your chance of longevity. You should always try to be with a company that scores you the highest (usually called Super Preferred Non-Tobacco), and an experienced agent will know that different companies have very different ways of ranking potential customers. Some may care how your relatives of the n'th degree have died, some may not. Different thresholds for BMI exist. Some use a points scoring system, others may use a "three from column A, two from column B" approach. Some may not even care about certain genetic conditions or other problems.
You should follow up with the agent if there's a plan you're interested in that you may not have Super Preferred with to see if there is anything you can do to increase your ranking (decrease your cost) like lose weight or quit smoking. Temporarily quit (or don't mention) any dangerous hobbies, such as hang-gliding, scuba diving, piloting, snow-mobiling, etc. Don't lie, of course, but get yourself the most favorable status.
Different plans have different options. You pay for each favorable option. One of the most popular (and I do recommend) is the option to renew your plan near the end of the term without a medical examination. It sucks to see a client a year out from his plan's expiration and develop prostate cancer. The closer to the end of your term you have to decide, the more risk the insurance company assumes and the higher the premium (not that much higher, but it adds up).
It's rare, but certain plans have you pay a lot more in exchange for returning the premium at the end of the term (assuming you didn't die). Avoid this if it's offered, because they're charging additional premium to float the cost of the insurance. This is the -actual- "buy term and invest the difference" thing the Dave Ramsey quoters speak of, only the insurance is "investing" it for you.
It's important to discuss the possiblity of decreasing the amount of the plan's coverage over time as an option. Most plans have this. If you start with a 30 year plan for 1.5mil, for example, but then the children graduate college and the house is paid off, you may want to reduce the amount to 1 million and reduce the premium. Some people suggest doing this with a "ladder" approach of multiple term plans for varying lengths of time, but having a bigger plan the you can reduce at will gives more flexibility of the timing later. Say, for example, one of your children has a grandchild and then becomes incapacitated and now you must raise it? You may want to keep the 1.5 mil longer at the premium rate you set 15 years ago instead of trying to obtain a new plan at your advanced age and possible additional health conditions.
You should go in knowing about how much you want to ask for. There are a number of rules-of-thumb, but simply calculate all of your debts (loans de school, auto, home, etc), any future obligations (childcare, tuition) and add an amount that your spouse/survivors would need to generate enough income for the rest of their lives. While you are discussing this, get a plan for your spouse as well unless you know for certain that you could cover funeral expenses and not have to disrupt your job or work schedule on a long-term basis. Even a house-spouse has the value of childcare. The agent, of course, gets paid more commission to sell you a longer term, higher benefit plan, and may try to push you into more coverage than you want/need. Keep this in mind, but don't short your survivors over benefit they may actually need/use.
Discuss with the spouse and agent what to do in the event of death and how the money will be delivered. It usually comes very quickly as a checkbook with an account created in the life insurance company that holds the funds. These may not want to be taken out immediately depending on family, social, or creditor circumstances. The insurance company may offer to pay out as an annuity. To a beneficiary that may not know better, this may sound like a good idea (it's usually not). To a beneficiary that is legitimately mentally impaired or disabled, this may be the best option to prevent embezzlement from malignantly interested parties.
I know several pharmacists satisfied with Pharmacists Mutual, although I haven't personally had a chance to look into their term lineup (not my interest), but I imagine that pharmacists are made of a higher-than-average longevity population, which in theory should make their rates competitive. Whoever you go with should be having at least one meeting with you just to get a sense of what you need, and be willing to change parts of the plan that you wish to see adjusted.
There is an incredible amount of flexibility (in whole life in particular) but a lot of agents that are focused on finishing the sale and moving on to the next that they often do not take the time to learn enough of about their product and end up selling an "off the shelf" product. This is pretty much where people have problems with life insurance (again, with whole in particular) because the agent was not spending enough effort to understand the client's wants/needs and educating them about the product. Do your due diligence and don't be afraid to show the plan to other people before completing the agreement, especially the survivors/beneficiaries.
docdro.id
