Im getting a blood test in a week, but like an idiot I've been smoking weed. Do insurance companies check your blood for drug use, or only on your health. IF they do what can i do to come out clean.

Well, you're not going to come out clean. That's the point of the blood tests. Sorry, they will check.

Is buying whole life insurance a good idea or a waste of money? Is buying whole life insurance a good idea or a waste of money?

For majority of people, its a big waste of money. Why? You have to spend lots of money to buy a small amount of coverage. For example, if a 30 year old bought a $100,000 policy, it may cost him $1000/year! If he bought a 30 year term instead, it may cost him only about $200/year!

Why? Because whole life insurance is a level term to age 100 with a savings plan attached to it. If you ever wanted to take money out, you have to borrow it and pay a loan interest on it. They have a slow growth of around 2%. If inflation is at 5%, you are losing purchasing power. If you die someday, the beneficiary only gets the death benefit but the insurance company keeps all the savings.

I have always sold a 20 year to a 35 year term insurance to clients. Its cost effective and the client can afford the right amount of coverage. At the same time, I help them start an investing plan to build wealth for retirement. Mutual funds (well, the ones I offer anyway) has a historic rate of return of 12% in the past 25 years. Is that better than 2% in the whole life policy?

If the client dies during the term, the beneficiary gets death benefit and all the investments. If the client outlives the term, then the client needs to evaluate his/her needs. Do they still need life insurance or as much coverage in 20 to 35 years from now?

You have done a great thing by already purchasing term insurance, and also getting your kids started with their own life policies. It will help them get better deals on premiums when they become adults.

To answer your questions, yes there are policies that are better than others, and the only way to find them is to shop around. Luckily, with the Internet, this really doesn’t take time these days. There are several reputed online insurance providers who can give you quotes suited to your requirements in seconds. They give you the best quotes from various insurance companies on their database, so you can be sure that you are getting the most affordable deal.

Your current coverage I am afraid, may not be enough. But it is encouraging to note that you are thinking of taking out another policy. You need to spend some time working out how much more coverage you need. Consider only the $ 250,000.00 you have and work out how much more additional coverage you need. Experts recommend your insurance coverage should be about 10 to 15 times your current annual income.

Since life insurance is a very personal requirement, there’s a more accurate way of arriving at your insurance figure. Consider what you would need your life insurance to pay. Would it pay off children’s education expenses, your mortgage, replace your income, would it have to be invested, or would it have to be used for day-to-day expenses? Write down all the applicable points, and calculate the total, after taking inflation into consideration. Please don’t overlook the little things you do for your family like taking care of the plumbing, or running errands. When you are gone, your family will have to hire help to do all these things, so factor even little things like this into your calculations, because they can add up and drain your family’s resources all too quickly.

Denise at AccuQuote
Disclaimer: I work for AccuQuote and this is my personal opinion.