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by Hope

I wrote 2 or 3 or several years ago about my life insurance. I’ve had the same policy since Princess was born. And several years back, I could have converted it with no check up. I did have a conversation with them and it just didn’t seem like a good idea. My coverage would have been cut significantly and the cost would increase.

But at the end of the year, my original term expires. So it’s time to figure out what’s next as far as life insurance goes.

Current Coverage

I currently have a $250K policy that costs me $67 every quarter. If I want to keep this policy, I will have to undergo a physical and I’m certain the price will increase considerably. (I imagine I will have to have a physical no matter what decision I make for life insurance going forward.)

Time to Do the Research

I will have a call with my current provider in the coming months. I do have until the end of the year.

So hit me with your best suggestions. Companies, questions to ask, amount and terms I should consider, anything else? And at what point, does the cost out weigh the benefit?

What I’ve read is to make sure that I have enough coverage to cover my debt including my mortgage. I should make sure my will is up to date to prevent or expedite probate. And, as always, I must keep the benefits up to date. (Good reminder, since I haven’t updated my current beneficiaries since all my kids are now adults.)

I realize that life insurance rates go up exponentially with age and health. My dad has often expressed the possibility of dropping some of his policies due to cost.

I believe I should still carry a decent amount for the foreseeable future. Thoughts?

Hope

Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.

But life has a way of rewriting your plans.

A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.

Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.

Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.

She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.

by Hope

Lots of comments about how I am helping Princess with her new apartment especially since I published my forecasted spending for next month.

There is certainly going to come a time this fall when I will help. (And for the record, she did not ask for my help, I offered. Yes, I know that’s a whole other problem. But I want to be clear on this.) However, she’s had a full time job with great pay this summer via her internship. And she’s been saving diligently for this last year.

I will update my spending every month and you will see what financial support I am contributing when it’s needed. (Yes, I’ve already got a line item each month for it, but some months, it will not be needed.) If not, that money will be re-allocated to debt. This will also be affected by the job she gets for the school year. She’s currently on the hunt for that. Last year, she had an internship all year that paid slightly higher then her last “job”; however, the commute time was terrible. Hopefully, with the move to a more inner city location, she can find a job that she can possibly walk to.

Setting Her Up

I know most of you are solely worried about the financial aspect of my support. But there is a lot more to it…

For instance, she has come home almost every weekend since she moved to “acquire” stuff. She’s antiqued (cheap, real wood furniture, not like high dollar antiques), thrifted (thanks to her sister setting aside great pieces at the thrift store she works at), built (friend built her a bed frame), and refurbished stuff from home in order to furnish her apartment. She’s lived in a dorm and furnished apartment (student housing) for the last three years so had NOTHING by way of furniture.

This past weekend was the “final” weekend after 5 weeks of this. We spent ALL weekend sanding down her finds, repairing them, and staining them. Then loaded up a friend’s truck Sunday and officially moved it all in. She’s been living with a mattress and a metal folding chair since she moved in.

Before you jump to conclusions, I did not spend a dime on any of this furniture. I did provide the hand sanders and sand paper. And when we went to put the bed together, I had to run out and purchase about $30 of forgotten supplies from Home Depot. But all of the furniture was her spend. And she got great deals! Just alot, alot of work to get it right for her.

My biggest expense in all this was the time and gas to travel back and forth to Atlanta once or twice a weekend to help her “move” stuff that wouldn’t fit in her Honda Civic. (So grateful for a friend’s truck this past weekend to get all the BIG stuff.)

But we are done. She is happy and has what she needs.

Helping Her is Not Up for Debate

I will help her get through this year. In whatever way I need to. She and I have talked extensively of what that looks like and when it will stop. I realize it’s not a wise financial decision. I realize it will set me back in getting debt free more quickly. My eyes are wide open to that. But my heart leads where my kids come to play. And this is the last. All the kids will be launched in their own directions after this.

I have heard and understand what you all are saying about me possibly being dependent on my kids in my old age. I am making small moves like investment, retirement, and increased savings to help with that now. But I don’t think 9 more months of helping my last child in her post-high school training is going to make that big of a difference one way or another. And it will satisfy a goal I have had forever…to see all my kids be able to get post high school education of their choice and complete it debt free. Yes, I know not all 5 completed a four year degree, but all of them outside of Gymnast, did attend a community college or a four year college for 2-3 years and none of them have any debt from it. I call that a win!