Why buy life insurance when you can save and invest the difference?

Answer 1

I'll tell you why *I* buy it. Because saving & investing takes time to build up assets. And I have small children. If I should kick off tomorrow, I want my husband to be able to afford a nanny and housekeeper, and not have to worry about how to pay for them.

Insurance is for a possible SHORT TERM need. Investing is for the long term. Someone once told me, buy insurance like you're going to die tomorrow, but invest/save like you're going to live forever. Between the two, you should be able to retire without having to eat cat food.

Just like any other financial tool, you need to SET THE GOAL, and then select the tool - or combination of tools - which meet your needs, at the best price.

Answer 2

What amount will you have saved and invested in if you die tomorrow?

Your question relates to buying term insurance vs Whole life. Many will suggest buying term instead of whole life and investing the difference. That's not bad advice if you have the diligence to actually save the difference and invest it. More often the difference is just swallowed up in the expenses of everyday living and never invested.

Life insurance has its place in protecting your family from financial catastrophe because it creates an immediate estate that your savings and investment plan would take perhaps decades to equal.

At least buy term if you have a family that is dependent on your income.

Answer 3

The bottom line is you need both.

Insurance is just a way of providing for your love ones in case of premature death.
Save and invest takes time, at least 5 to 10 years.

In the long run, you will have more money by investing.
In the short run, insurance is there first 10 years to help out.

For example, you just got married and your wife is pregnant.
Your saving/invest account has only $10,000.
That's not going to be enough to support your family if something happens to you.
If you purchase a term life policy of $200,000, your family will be in good shape even if you are not around to financially support them.
The $200,000 tax free money can go a long way until your child is old enough to start his own career.

So, the best thing to do is have both.
Enough insurance so you don't have to worry about your family's financial situation after your death.
Do a financial review every 3 to 5 years or after a major event.

I have $300,000 worth of insurance when I started my family.
Since then, my wealth had increase enough to support my family.
Therefore, I don't need additional insurance until this week.
This week, I am investing most of my savings into a building.
If something happens to me, I won't have enough cash on hand to support my family.
Therefore, I need to review my insurance and maybe add another $200,000 to it.

Answer 4

You mean buy term and invest the savings.
Insurance is a way to avoid taxes, and some people do not have the discipline to save and invest. Insurance is a kind of forced savings so it helps people who are not able to be as disciplined.
I think it's wise to have a mixture of both term and life insurance. You always need some kind of backup plan in case the investment goes awry.

Answer 5

Hey there! Its clear your like my uncle, he sees life insurance as gambling he would rather invest money in guaratee cd's. The thing is it does matter if your investing $1,000 a day if you die in the morning on your way to work. You only need it for a period of time, while your young, with young kids, debts, and little money saved. After the kids grown up, your older, debts are low or paid off, and you have invested difference between term and cash value life insurance

Answer 6

The short answer is that life insurance is guaranteed and passes to your beneficiaries tax free. Investments are not guaranteed, may decline in value and may be subject to probate.
The major benefit of life insurance is the immediate step up in value to the beneficiaries should you pass away. Depending on the type of insurance and your health, the death benefit of a life insurance policy could potentially be worth multiples of your original investment.

Answer 7

saving,investing and protection. all three are different. there are instrument of saving which ensures guranteed return but with moderate or poor growth rate. There are some investment options which promises higher growth(cud be 89-90%) but both of above can protect you against ur financial loss in case u die.
insurance gives the financial security to your family in case u are no more to earn bread and butter for ur family. there are some insurance plan which are wonderful combination of saving+investment+protection.

Answer 8

You're talking about different things. The primary purpose of life insurance is to replace lost income for those dependent on you in the event of your early demise, not to build an investment nestegg.

Answer 9

You buy life insurance to cover expenses incurred by your dependents from your premature death. In an ironic twist, one should buy the most life insurance when one is young and has most of their earnings in front of them but can't afford it. And should buy less as they age and have fewer earnings in frin of them and probably less people dependent on that income, but now they can afford it. Also at an older age you should have more in savings and investmenst and less debt to be paid off.

Bottom line, when young and having dependents buy as much life insurance as you can afford (luckily, its cheaper when you're younger) and as you age you need less, unless you couldn't afford to buy enough when you were younger.

Answer 10

For most folks, it's about immediately displacing a financial risk. Saving enough may take years.

For wealthier folks, it's about the tax advantages and net rate of returns.