Life Insurance questions

[tonilea]

I am in search of life insurance now and I appreciate everyone's input. My question is:
If I buy whole life insurance now wouldn't my premium be lower than if I wait until the term life one expires? I am just wondering how much I should expect to pay for life insurance at 59 (30 years from when a 30yr. term would expire)
Also, could someone give me an average of what I would be paying for a family term insurance 2 adults(29,34) 2 kids, If this is even possible.

TIA for all input since I am so uninformed on this matter.
(5,13)

Ideally, you shouldn't need life insurance in thirty years. Your home should be paid for, you children through college. You have investments and savings that would provide income.

You don't need to buy a life insurance policy for your children, just a rider for 5-10k. Only parents need life insurance. Don't forget the value of a SAHParent. Whatever they do, you would have to pay someone else to do.

Whole life is a poor choice of investment vehicles.

Dave Ramsey has a good article about life insurance. I provided the link and the text.

http://www.daveramsey.com/the_truth_about/life_insurance_3481.html.cfm

The Truth About Life Insurance

Myth: Cash value life insurance, like whole life, will help me retire wealthy.
Truth: Cash value life insurance is one of the worst financial products available.

Sadly, over 70% of the life insurance policies sold today are cash value policies. A cash value policy is an insurance product that packages insurance and savings together. Do not invest money in life insurance; the returns are HORRIBLE. Your insurance person will show you wonderful projections, but none of these policies perform as projected.
Example of Cash Value
If a 30-year-old man has $100 per month to spend on life insurance and shops the top 5 cash value companies, he will find he can purchase an average of $125,000 in insurance for his family. The pitch is to get a policy that will build up savings for retirement, which is what a cash value policy does. However, if this same guy purchases 20-year-level term insurance with coverage of $125,000, the cost will be only $7 per month, not $100.
WOW! If he goes with the cash value option, the other $93 per month should be in savings, right? Well, not really; you see, there are expenses.

Expenses? How much?

All of the $93 per month disappears in commissions and expenses for the first 3 years. After that, the return will average 2.6% per year for whole life, 4.2% for universal life, and 7.4% for the new-and-improved variable life policy that includes mutual funds, according to Consumer Federation of America, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, and Fortune magazines. The same mutual funds outside of the policy average 12%.

The Hidden Catch
Worse yet, with whole life and universal life, the savings you finally build up after being ripped off for years don't go to your family upon your death. The only benefit paid to your family is the face value of the policy, the $125,000 in our example.
The truth is that you would be better off to get the $7 term policy and and put the extra $93 in a cookie jar! At least after 3 years you would have $3,000, and when you died your family would get your savings.

A Better Plan
If you follow my Total Money Makeover plan, you will begin investing well. Then, when you are 57 years old and the kids are grown and gone, the house is paid for, and you have $700,000 in mutual funds, you'll become self-insured. That means when your 20-year term is up, you shouldn't need life insurance at all - because with no kids to feed, no house payment, and $700,000, your spouse will just have to suffer through if you die without insurance.

Don't do cash value insurance! Buy term and invest the difference.