

Ask HN: Life insurance? - zavulon

I saw a few threads on here about health insurance for entrepreneurs, but didn't see any on life insurance. Any advice on that? Is it necessity for a late-20s generally healthy single male? I'm trying to calculate my total costs, strongly considering leaving my job, and any advice would be much appreciated!
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mbrubeck
If you have no dependents then you don't necessarily have a need for life
insurance. I never bought life insurance until I was ready to have a child,
and I think that was the correct decision for me.

If you have any near-term plans to get married or have children, then buying
term life insurance now might make sense. It's cheaper to buy when you're
younger, but on the other hand you don't want to pay for several years of
insurance that you don't end up needing.

~~~
mechanical_fish
_If you have no dependents then you don't necessarily have a need for life
insurance._

I agree, but this statement seems unnecessarily cautious. Can somebody give me
an example of someone without dependents who _should_ pay for life insurance?

(Some companies take out big life insurance policies on their employees. This
is a tax loophole, and I believe it doesn't apply to you or me.)

(And, no, "I plan to fake my own death and collect insurance money under an
assumed name" does not count as a good reason. ;)

As with all forms of insurance, life insurance is only worthwhile if the
consequences of a loss are so big that you can't afford to self-insure.
Generally, the estate of a single person with no dependents has little need
for an immediate source of cash after their death. If you want to leave money
to someone it's better to simply invest the cash, then write a will to
bequeath your investments to the people of your choice, rather than blow the
money on a life insurance premium which -- by deliberate design, to keep the
insurance company in business -- is statistically likely to be an additional
cost rather than a benefit.

~~~
Mz
Funeral expenses can be quite high. I can't think of anything else, but if you
want to cover all your bases, that's something to consider.

