Is Life Insurance a Good Thing?

I have life insurance. It's partially paid for by my company. I've upped my policy to make sure that my kids' college will be paid and then some, and that my wife-to-be will have the ability to pay off most of the mortgage and pay for my funeral expenses.

Yes, I trust in God to provide for those I leave behind, and he has seen fit to do so by providing me with life insurance.

 

A little saved all along adds up to be big dividends over time.

That pastor who died did not trust God for his finances while he was living, to live on less so that his wife would have enough later. According to Proverbs that kind of saving is unwise, foolish and selfish.

We have a universal life policy with no cash value. I knew from a friend of mine that you get much more insurance for less than one with cash value. At the time we took out three times what we thought we would ever possibly need. I am glad we did now.

If a person will be well disciplined he can make more on investments but most are not. But in the interim a person should have at least term insurance.

Just a thought:
Should the world take better of its Christian employees than the church takes care of its servants?

 

Any kind of insurance has been debatable in Christian circle. I think it's just one more way God has given provision for His people, simple as that. I don't think a person should be "insurance poor" but if God has given you the means to afford it, I would think He would expect you to be a good steward and invest that opportunity.

 

I have a ton of life insurance. My company pays for almost all of it so it really is a no brainer. I have life insurance on my wife and even have it on my children (the children cost me about $1.75 a year; I would spare no expense on one of their funerals).

The question of insurance is tricky. If I had to shell out 1400 like Dr. Bob I might reconsider. I believe I am trusting God, trusting Him to have the insurance company shell out the dow so my wife and kids are taken care of. Without it, she would probably go under the care of her dad again, who is already poor and 65, and while I can trust God would care for them it would make for a harder life.

Here is a thought, how about saving for retirment. My in-laws (to the best of my knowledge), don't really believe in saving for retirment, trusting in God to provide for them. And he will, and that provision will come straight from me, which I am fine with, as they provided for my wife for the first 18 years or so. However, I am taking a different approach. While I hope that either my wife or I, in are old age, will be cared for by one or both of my children; I plan to only be an emotional and time burden, not a finacial one. If anything, I want them to be able to spend my retirment money lavishly on vacations and visiting their own kids and grandkids in exchange for having to put up with me!

 

I believe it's a stewardship issue.
IMO, if you are responsible for a family or other concerns it is wise to insure that they will be taken care of if/when you are unable to care for them.

...but I don't argue with those that choose to leave those matters up to God either.

Same goes for saving for retirement too.

Rob

 

Seems to be a good enough thing for the insurance companies to bank on you buying it, especially since they make a rather comfortable LIVING selling life insurance, huh?


Banking on that thing that everyone will have no problem meeting their individual inclusion upon? No prob, Bob. Just send in the monthly payments, OK?

 

Not sure what the point is.

I have auto insurance, and I have more than the state requires me to have. I fail to see how me having auto insurance is in any way bad stewardship.

I have health insurance, life insurance, mortgage insurance, earthquake insurance, and fire/theft insurance. I fail to see how me having any of these is in any way bad stewardship, or how any of these is in any way not "trusting in God". And, the last time I checked, all these insurance companies were making a "rather comfortable living" on my premium.

 

Not having enough auto insurance could be a poor witness if you hit someone and did not have enough insurance to cover the part that was your fault. Not having enough could put you at the risk of losing what you own.

 

I have no idea what you are saying here.

 

Intresting question.

Maybe the solution is to trust God to give you good judgement to know when to buy a policy and when not to. I honestly don't think that the Lord would stand by and tell you not to provide for your family after your death. I've certianlly come across nothing in the Bible that suggests anything against it.

God helps those who help themselves.

 

I'm buying a policy right now (filling out the forms etc) for about 10 - 15 times what I make in a year right now. The thought is this, if I die, my wife will need to finish her education and pay for the kids to go to daycare while she does it. We figured that for about 10 to 15 times the amount that I make, she could do all this.

Or, she could invest it and live off some of the returns and get a part time job.

As far as trusting God, why don't we look at what we are doing with the money that God is giving us every day? The average household makes ~40k/year. Without a raise for 40 years of work life, that is 1.6 MILLION dollars.

 

I have no idea what you are saying here. </font>[/QUOTE]DYING Pete, something all of us will eventually do.

 

My State Farm agent loves you!!

 

Okay, let me rephrase. I have no idea what your point is.

 

Going without insurance is a gamble. I'm not a gambler.

State Farm loves me.

Life insurance is a gamble all the way around, though. I'm betting I die. The insurance company is betting I'll live long enough to invest all the premiums I've sent them through the years so they can make a ton of money on their investments. And when I do die, they will cough up enough to pay my funeral expenses. Most funeral homes don't give you a burial for free.

You know you've made a good bargain when both sides are walking away with a grin, thinking they "took" the other one, LOL.

 

I think part of good stewardship is planning for things to go wrong and things to go right.That being said ,what it means is:
If you have a car accident you need enough insurance to take care of those involved in the accident,restore your vehicle, recover your losses.
If you have temporary or permanent health problem you have adequate insurance to cover that.My health insurance paid for my cancer care,operation,hernia that followed,staph infection that followed that, plus the sleep apnia,hyper somnia,and a couple of other ditties that came to well over a 100,000 dollars in costs.Am I glad We had health insurance? What do you think.
Life insurance. Cash value life insurance is cyclicle in a good deal bad deal as far as that goes but is sometimes the only real savings some people have so it does serve a purpose.Term insurance is of value when your betting to die and your insurance company is betting you live.Now is a great time to purchase term insurance as all of the companies are having price wars on term insurance. It really pays to shop around for term.
Annuities provide garaunteed income for retirement if you don't want to be a burden and want to provide for your family.
All of these things are only a small part of a good financial plan.
If you are a pastor your church should be providing these things.In addition you should provide for an extra comfort cushion. God does intend for us to be wise and I think that includes being wise with our money.
So Dr. Bob I hope you and your wife are in touch with a good financial professional.

 

Term life insurance is only "betting you die" if you want to make sure the insurance company has to pay up. I for one, am happy if they never pay up. I am happy if they can make money by collecting 10 dollars from 100 people and paying out 250 dollars a piece to the two that died. Then, the two that died have the families provided for, the insurance company makes 500 dollars, and those who lived are only out $10 bucks, and they get to live!

Bascially, your paying a small amount to hedge your risk agaist a large loss. That is why it is called insurance.

I don't know why anyone buys cash value life insurances, those are too expensive. Get a cheap term insurance and save in the IRA or 401k.

 

Vivian and I both have term life policies, and she has life insurance through her job on both of us as well. It is the responsible thing to do, and we learned this after watching my father die of cancer, leaving my mother with little or no money, no income (she took care of him with the help of hospice nurses until he died) and only a car that was paid off by insurance, which he had bought just a few days before he found out he had cancer. The auto dealership encouraged him to take out a policy to pay the car off if he died. About a week later, he bent over screaming and mom took him to the hospital. They found cancer. It was a good thing he'd taken the insurance out. It also covered the car payments for his disability.

So, it IS a stewardship issue.