A New Will - A New Life Insurance Policy - A New Van - Busy Days For NCN

Oct 24 2007

Posted by NCN as Insurance |

I met with my lawyer today and gave him a copy of our current wills. He’s going to review them and make any changes that might be necessary. I had a friend help me write our original wills - a few years ago - using some software for creating your own will. At that time, I had very few assets and I knew very, very little about personal finance and / or estate planning. Now, I know (a little) more about personal finance and I want to shore up all of our end-of-life documents.

I have received, and am reviewing, several quotes for new term life insurance policies. It will cost me a little more up front, but I am going to go ahead and get 30-year level term policies. I am uninterested in whole life or universal insurance. I will do my investing in my retirement accounts. (By the way - if you have children and you want to have burial insurance - you can add a “rider” for them on your term life policy. Contact your insurance agent for more information.)

My wife is still loving the new minivan. I didn’t realize how stressed out I had been - worrying about what we were going to do about the old van, how much we could afford to pay, when we were going to buy something new, etc. I guess you could say that this was the very first “major” test for the No Credit Needed “philosophy”. I’m relieved that things went well, but I will confess that I don’t like seeing such a major drop in my savings account. It’s time to really, really hammer down and pour some money back into my savings account.

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9 Responses

SingleGuyMoney

October 25th, 2007 at 6:31 am
1

NCN - It does sound like you are busy but once you get it all done, you can take a break and relax in your new “no car loan needed” van.
savings monster

October 25th, 2007 at 8:17 am
2

Hi NCN

I too need to get my will in order as well as shop for life insurance. Do you think you could pass on any of the top agencies you are considering?

Thanks!
triple-e

October 25th, 2007 at 8:49 am
3

NCN, great job paying cash for a vehicle. Now is NOT the time to panic and save like mad to add to your savings. Now IS the time to continue to put aside the correct amount per month towards a vehicle purchase so that you are ready for purchasing when you think your next vehicle will fail to be worth it. You need to always have this item budgeted, including repairs, so that you can always pay with cash. And if your vehicle “dies” early, then you have a little less to spend, but you would already know how much you had to spend and could shop accordingly. These purchases are some of the hardest, because before then, it sounds like you were thinking of the money as part of an big/huge/omygoodness emergency fund, not a car savings. The money will get back up in time, knowing that you are budgeting for it.
Grace

October 25th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
4

Whoa, NCN. Saving is good. Obsessing is not so good.

You saved money for a vehicle. You paid cash, unlike virtually every other purchaser. You got a relatively new vehicle that is reliable and meets your needs.

Why, then, are you obsessing on the drop in your savings? It was a planned purchase.

Most of us got into financial difficulty because we did not plan our savings around our needs. We had wants and we fulfilled them, digging ourselves into debt.

I’m not out of debt, yet. I’m working hard to get into the position you are now in. BUT–when I get there, I do not want to be so obsessed with a dollar figure in my savings that I cannot enjoy the things I need to buy with those savings.

Relax. Ya gotta spiffy red mini-van! Enjoy it!
Sean

October 25th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
5

Sounds like you’ve been busy…

I’m a little confused on the life insurance decision though. Why the push for a 30 year term? At the pace you’re going (heck, at well less than half the pace you’re going), you should have more than enough set aside to be self-insured long before that 30 years is up. Oh, sure, the difference between a 15 year policy and a 30 year one is probably not all that much in actual dollars, but why pay something like 2.5 times more for something that’s giving you little actual benefit?

I can see, with term being so cheap, its hard not to go ‘Why not add another $500k?’ or ‘Why not add another 10 years?’. But being over insured is just wasting money that could be better used elsewhere…
Chris

October 25th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
6

We decided to take a 20 year term…in fact we just got it a couple of months ago. It just serves to cover the mortgage and a few years of income. By the end of the 20 years, we hope to have enough assets that one or the other wouldn’t need insurance to avoid a financial disaster if something happened.

The whole process was pretty painless, and a nurse even came to our house at our convenience to do the minor physical (no coughing!) and blood/urine samples.
NCN

October 25th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
7

I’ll address the question about the 30 year policy in my next post… Thanks for the great feedback!
NCN
» Weekly Blog Roundup II: Middle Class, Investing in Yourself, and Jai Rodriguez on Consumerism Commentary: A Personal Finance Blog

October 29th, 2007 at 8:39 am
8

[...] Busy Days for NCN. No Credit Needed outlines his new will, life insurance policy, and new van. It sounds like someone is getting something done. [...]
Heaven

October 30th, 2007 at 12:19 am
9

Its good your getting tasks done rather than let them drag. Encouraging others to get things done too!

After they done you can spend time, enjoying your van.

Heaven.