r/LifeInsurance

Hi. The hospital I work at is going to start offering what they call a "Capital Accumulation Plan." The way I understand it, they take pre-tax money to buy a whole-life insurance policy, and the idea is that you can save a bunch of taxes by doing this. The main rules are that you have to invest a minimum of $40k per year for 3 years, and you can start borrowing from the policy after year 5. What are the downsides to this type of product? Are the tax savings worth giving a bunch of money to another company?

I bought a whole life insurance back in my 20s because my friends husband was
Selling it and I was a diagnosed diabetic and at that time a smoker. I was single and living on my own.. Fast forward almost 30 years and low premiums for a 100K policy.. I am divorced with a house and significant investments and was laid off this year so I am retiring at 57.. if I take the cash balance - it is about 50k and that would cover my healthcare premiums for about 4 years. Is there any reason to keep a policy anymore.
My 18 year old son will have plenty of funds if I were to pass and I don’t really plan on leaving too much for legacy- I want to enjoy my retirement while I am still young and healthy.
Thoughts on keeping of giving up the policy?

Hi everyone. My wife passed away unexpectedly about 10 years ago, and I’m hoping someone can help me figure out whether she had a life insurance policy in place.

More than a year before she passed, she signed up for a small policy that I believe was offered through her bank, possibly as an add-on to her checking account. I don’t remember the insurance company or the exact type of coverage.

A few weeks before she died, she asked whether she should keep paying for it. In a tongue-in-cheek moment, I told her not to worry about it because money would be the last thing on my mind if anything happened to her (I was the main bread winner so the financial ramifications were not important to me). I don’t know whether she actually canceled it or kept it.

After she passed, I didn’t look into it. Over the years, though, I’ve wondered whether the policy was still active and whether there might be a benefit that went unclaimed.

I recently found her old bank card, which brought this back to mind. I know which bank she used and still have her checking account information, but I don’t have any insurance paperwork.

Is there a database or policy locator I could use? Would her bank be able to help identify the insurer after this much time? And if a policy was active when she died, could I still submit a claim roughly 10 years later?

It’s a shot in the dark, but I’d appreciate any advice on where to start. Thank you.

How do I understand portability options with a policy? How would ones work performance effect it?

Recently met with a financial planner. Really keen to get life insurance and TPD in place to protect my family if something awful were to happen to me. Quote seems reasonable but he is pushing me strongly on income protection. My thought is if I have life insurance, TPD cover, trauma cover, work cover and considerable savings, personal leave and annual leave is income protection needed? Worst case scenario is I go on Centrelink, I earn 83k currently so it’s not like I’m protecting an enormous salary. Thoughts?

Edit: Financial planner has been engaged only as an insurance broker, no fee for me, they get commission from the insurer. My super is painfully low and so is the death and TPD included there, this new policy would replace the existing and still be paid from the super account. I think my mind has been changed, thanks for all great replies.

There are so many MLM events and outreach nowadays around life insurance, annuities and such, it is very important to educate consumers, so informed decisions can be made. What are some of the resources people use to not get sucked into these and ignore fiduciary aspect?

Got into a big argument with my parents over not keeping my grow-up plan after looking into other life insurance options with my employer. Without getting too into it, I wanted to know if it would be theoretically possible to reinstate my lapsed account. I never officially ended the account; I just stopped paying it, and it lapsed. I was paying about $14 a month and stopped paying almost 13 months ago, at the end of August 2025. I assume I would be paying about $200 to reinstate the account, if possible

My wife and I are both Canadian citizens who moved from Canada to the US in 2025. I’m currently on TN status and transitioning to H-1B, while my wife is still on TN.

We’re looking into getting individual life insurance outside of our employers because I don’t want to repeat a mistake I made previously. When I worked for an employer in Canada, I had employer-provided life insurance of roughly 3–4× my salary, but I never purchased an individual policy. Now that I’m older, I’m realizing that getting independent coverage earlier would have been better.

Our situation:

* Both Canadian citizens, currently living in Texas
* i am 35 and wife is 33
* ⁠no major illness, i was diagnosed with Sleep apnea in Canada
* combined yearly : ~$300k USD base + ~$120k stock compensation
* have 2 mortgages: Canadian home and Texas home
* No credit card debt
* Cars are paid off
* We have roughly $200k+ of liquid/investable assets between US and Canadian accounts
* We are also planning to start a family

I’m thinking somewhere around $1.5M–$2M of coverage per person, but I’m open to being told that’s too much or too little.

The bigger question is what type of policy makes sense for someone in our situation.

I’m looking at:

1. Regular 20- or 30-year term life insurance
2. Return-of-premium term insurance
3. IUL / permanent insurance
4. Canadian life insurance purchased while we’re still Canadian citizens
5. US life insurance that can continue to be maintained if we eventually move back to Canada

We don’t know whether we’ll stay in the US permanently. We could potentially move back to Canada in the future, so portability and what happens to the policy after becoming Canadian residents again are important to us.

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have actually been in a similar situation:

* Canadian → US
* TN/H-1B or another temporary US status
* Bought life insurance in the US
* Later moved back to Canada
* Or purchased a Canadian policy while living in the US

What did you do, and would you do the same thing again?

Also, if anyone has experience with return-of-premium term vs regular term, I’d love to hear whether you thought the extra premium was actually worth it.

I’m not looking for an insurance salesperson’s pitch—I’d really appreciate experiences from people who have dealt with the Canada/US situation firsthand.

Pacific Life recently denied me due to my mental health history. I’ve had postpartum suicidal ideation and received medication treatment. The application process was a nightmare for both my husband and me, lots of paperwork and difficulty reaching people to arrange medical exams.

I’m interested in Ethos because it advertises coverage without a medical exam, but my main concern is whether my husband and daughter would actually receive the benefit if I died.

Assuming I disclose my medical history fully and accurately, what exclusions, contestability rules, or other policy terms should I look for? Could my mental health history affect a future claim even after I’m approved?

Has anyone dealt with an actual claim through a policy purchased through Ethos? I’d appreciate firsthand experiences or input from people who work in life insurance.

I (39F) live in Ontario. I’ve been lucky in life to have had a few good careers early out of college that gave me the kind of income where I was able to afford a life I’ve wanted. I own my vehicle, have a mortgage, and a decent paying job. Recently I’ve had some health changes that’s made me think about long term income and what happens if I get sick or injured. I’m single, and probably won’t be getting into any kind of relationship that’s going to be able to offer finacial support in those situations.
I’m curious what kind of assistance I can get (life insurance, health insurance, etc) while still being reasonably healthy that could cover my monthly costs if something happens. I don’t necessarily mean a fully debilitating thing, but an injury or illness that makes me miss work (or have modified hours, not Wsib covered) for a few months - making it difficult or impossible to cover monthly costs and whatever treatments I will need (physio or other stuff not covered by benefits).
And because I’m not confident in my current employment that I would keep my job if something like that happened. Other then the obvious government assistance programs - is there something that covers a mortgage for a few months if that termination situation happens?
Just wondering where to go for this kind of coverage and what to specifically ask for for policy coverage kind of thing.

i started studying with global life, but they were too demanding in how fast i study. 10 days to study l&h insurance & then take the state exams works for some people but it did not work for me. i ended up failing both l&h state exams so i backed out & they ghosted me. i still used the study material & recently passed my life exam (still studying for health).

i was doing research because i'd like to start off base pay + uncapped commission. if i can't, no huge deal. i came across nyl & colonial life. are these two good for base pay or am i applying to the wrong agencies?

Has anyone used PolicyTek? My upline says they are a good lead source but wanted to ask for investing my time and money into their services. Was using Goat leads but lately the quality just hasn’t been there for the price for me. Also looking into running my own ads, but don’t know to make my own ads yet lol

Hi im looking into joining a new agency or pursuing independently and eventually building out my own team.

I wanted to get your advice on both sides.

Currently I’m signed to an agency but from my understanding if I want to leave I keep my books and there’s no like hold for me to move on.

I’m located in Florida and got licensed a year ago.
I’m a solo mom, I have no family - village or anyone/thing for support so I’m really trying to grow in this field and then help other moms in the same situation as I am.

I’ve seen a lot of the pros and the cons of each side but I feel stuck on what I should do if I go to another agency that has better mentorship or if I go through the “hassle” of going independent and form a team.

If you have an agency of your own or one you recommend pls leave a comment or dm me or if you’re an independent broker

Let me know your thoughts!