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My H is retiring soon and will be losing his employee life insurance. He says he's going to continue to work for another 10-15 years. He's been advised to get a 10 year term policy for 10 times his annual salary. He was told life insurance is for replacing lost income, not covering liquid debts like mortgages and car payments.

According to a few different longevity calculators I've used, his life expectancy is 81-83. Mine is 75. If he works another 15 years, he'll only be 70.

That got me thinking that maybe he doesn't need life insurance at all. If he dies before me, I will get his pension which will be abput 82k per year, his 401(k) ($350k), his social security, and possibly at least part of his VA disability. On top of that, I have a 401(k) (about 70k), an inherited IRA from my mother (350+k), and will inherit whatever is left of my dad's investments. We have 2 houses and 5 vehicles, all of which could be sold if I were in dire straits for well over $1 million.

I don't see why I would need to replace his lost income. All of our kids except one are adults. The youngest is 14, so only 4 years until he'll be an adult. I don't need to live lavishly. I just need enough to pay the bills and eat without worry.

Is life insurance necessary?

Doesn't sound like you'll need it and buying it this late in the game will be very expensive. Life insurance is to replace loss of income which is important in the earlier years but once you build up a sizable estate which you have then if he does unfortunately pass away early you will have enough financials in place to support yourself

WB, that is exactly what I'm thinking. Altho, it's not very expensive, only $150-$200 a month for $1.5 million. Don't get me wrong, that money would be nice if he died, but that doesn't seem likely. Then, the money is just wasted. It's not much, but seems to me we would be better served investing the money that would go to the life insurance.

I agree. It doesn't sound like you need it. The money would be better spent elsewhere.

My mom was telling me about a friend of hers (70+) who is paying for a life insurance policy. My mom advised her to cancel it. She's a single person with 1 grown son. Her son is married with 2 kids of his own. She has money saved to pay for any expenses after she dies. There's no need for her to have a life insurance policy.