4 Ways to Buy Term Life Insurance

When you're buying a car, you probably look at everything in your price range. Having a wide selection is usually a blessing, but it can be confusing when you're buying term life insurance. You know, there are several ways to buy term insurance that protects your loved ones, and the internet has added yet another layer of complexity. Today financial planner and teacher Rob West walks us through the selection process. Then it's your calls on anything financial at 800-525-7000.

800-525-7000. I'm Steve Moore. Four ways to buy term life insurance. That's next right here on MoneyWise Live. Well Rob, we want to give a tip of the hat to consumer expert Clark Howard for identifying how different companies sell their policies. We almost always tell folks to choose term over whole life policies or universal life, but today we want to share the different ways that you can do that, right? Well that's right Steve because as you said it can get a little confusing to say the least.

Excuse me. So let's start with buying directly from an insurance company. By the way, no matter how you buy a term life policy, you always want to choose a company that has an A++ rating and you can do that at ambest.com. So buying directly from a company. This is for folks who like to deal with an older established insurer and most of the big name insurance companies would fit into this category. Many of these companies have been around for more than a century and have great stability.

When you buy through them you'll probably have to deal with an agent on the phone who will take you through the process. Okay, that seems reasonable. I mean, how else would you buy life insurance? Well, several ways in fact.

I'm glad you asked. Another way would be to use a comparison site. This would be for folks who want a price shop in a hurry. I'm not going to name them, but you probably hear ads from them all the time. These actually aren't insurance companies themselves. What they do instead is gather price quotes from several different insurers as a convenience to you. Then when you choose the policy, you actually buy it from the company that offers it and they get a small kickback. Okay, and buying a policy that way, one would assume, would save lots of time, huh? It does because you only have to enter your information one time instead of having to do it over and over again on a lot of different insurance company websites.

That's the good part. The bad part is some of these comparison sites only deal with a select group of insurers. So you might not see the best quote if they don't have an agreement with that particular company.

You know, you mentioned kickback. I am curious about how these comparison sites make their money. Is that pretty much the way they do it?

Well, two ways. In fact, they might sell ads on their site. So if they generate traffic, obviously they get paid for each of those views and then commissions from the insurer you choose a policy with. Yeah, and I didn't mean to suggest that kickback was anything bad or illegal. Maybe commission might be the better word here. Yeah.

All right, two down. What's the next way you can buy term life? Yeah, you can also buy a policy through a new company or brand that's associated with one of the bigger legacy insurance companies.

And how would someone do that? Well, you know, you have to keep in mind that these new companies have the stability of the older companies that back them financially, but they exist largely in the digital realm. They're for folks who don't want the hassle of talking to an agent and would rather apply for a policy online.

Let me give you an example. And this isn't an endorsement, but Haven Life is backed by Mass Mutual, a company that's more than 100 years old. So if you find a great quote online from a fairly new company that you may not have heard of before, check to see if it's backed by one of the traditional insurers.

If it is, you get that measure of reliability while still working completely online. Interesting. OK, well, that's that's way number three. What's the last way to buy term life insurance? Yeah, this one is great for people who want to buy life insurance without having a medical exam. It's called simplified term or instant issue.

How do you do that? Must be some sort of catch here. Three, as a matter of fact, and we'll get into those in a minute. But with a simplified term policy, again, there's no medical exam and you can usually apply online and get an answer right away. Now, several smaller companies specialize in this type of policy, but several of the larger legacy insurers offer at least one simplified term policy.

These are great for people with preexisting conditions who want access to life insurance. All right. Do we have time to mention those three catches you mentioned? Maybe we do that right after the break and we'll unpack those a bit. All right.

No, no medical examination must be interesting, particularly if you just broke your leg. But I guess we'll get back to that. And we'll also get to your calls on anything financial. This is MoneyWise Live 800-525-7000. Call now.

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I'm Steve Moore. We're talking term life insurance for just a few minutes, then we open the lines for any sort of financial question. Before the break we were talking about something called simplified term or instant issue term and apparently with this type of life insurance policy you don't have to have a medical check-up. How does that work, Rob?

Well that's exactly right. Now keep in mind the death benefit with a simplified term policy tends to be smaller, also the term is likely shorter and finally it will probably cost more than a regular term policy that includes a medical exam. But essentially it's for people with pre-existing conditions that don't want to go through medical underwriting, they're willing to pay a little bit more, again take a little bit less with a shorter term and the insurance companies are willing to do it because you're just paying the mortality expense at an elevated rate. But the bottom line is there are multiple options. We get so many calls from people asking whether they need insurance, how to go about it.

Hopefully this helps you as you explore some price shopping and looking for the right fit for you. In terms of who needs it, let me just finish with this, Steve. We always say the same thing, you need life insurance if someone else, usually a spouse or a dependent child, needs your income. It's intended to replace lost income should something happen to you. So if you don't have any dependents, somebody counting on you who would either be harmed financially through your loss of income at your death or somebody who would incur an additional expense or liability as a result of your death, then if you don't have any of those people in your life, then you don't need insurance. Perhaps you've gotten to a place where you have the proper savings and maybe you're not even working anymore. So there's no reason to pay for what would often be very expensive life insurance premiums in that season of life when that is unnecessary.

So the goal is to not need it any longer and to drop it. But while we need it, we need to make sure we're properly insured and the very best, most cost effective way to do that is term insurance. Rob, what about buying life insurance because you want to leave some sort of inheritance to your children and you've not done a great job in saving, investing, preparing in that reality?

Yeah, you know, that's not my favorite option. I mean, keep in mind you would have to have a policy that lasts throughout your life, which means it would get very expensive because insuring you up to death in at older ages, not and we're not talking about something, you know, unforeseen happening during your working years. If you wanted a policy to last throughout your life, it would get very costly in those later years. So putting all that money into a policy just for inheritance, I'd rather see you only have the death benefit you need for the years that you need it.

Pay as little as possible in insurance premiums and then save, save, save in other vehicles that aren't attached to an insurance contract. Yeah, makes sense. Okay, let me give the phone number one more time. 800-525-7000.

In addition to the phone number, let me also remind you that if you'd like to send a brief email question to Rob, you can do that. Just a couple of lines if you want to hear it read on the air and that address is questions at MoneyWise.org. Questions at MoneyWise.org and Rob, we just happen to have one that came in recently.

This is from Teresa. She says we have four kids and need some guidelines for them to handle their own money. We like the idea of having them tithe, save and spend. What percentage should each category be and how should we handle the money given as gifts for birthdays versus money that they've earned from chores? Yeah, let's break that down.

Great question into two. The first part of that is how should you encourage your children to break down what they're receiving in terms of give, save, spend? I would say that depends on the age because when they're younger and we're talking about smaller amounts of money, maybe they receive $3 as being paid for, not a commission, but their allowance.

And so it's very easy to say let's do a third, a third, a third, right? We'll put a dollar and give, a dollar and save, a dollar and spend. As they get older, you want to start to teach breaking it down into real percentages. So perhaps you do a tenth, a 10% for giving or 20% and then maybe split the balance between giving, excuse me, saving and spending.

So I think you need to approach it based on the age, the lessons you're trying to teach and remember you're training future adults so you want to begin to develop some of those habits. The second piece of this is should we treat gift money differently than money that they're getting for an allowance or for work around the house? And I would say no, let's start to establish that any money you receive is your increase and therefore we should give on it first and then save and then live on the rest.

So I wouldn't treat those differently at all in fact. Okay. And if you don't mind, Rob, as an older guy, now that I have grandchildren, as I reflect back on this, you know, I just want to recommend and suggest that you try to make this activity of giving and spending and saving as something that's fun. Relax a little bit and if God doesn't get that extra 50 cents because they bought some bubblegum with it, the world will continue to spin.

It doesn't mean your child won't follow Christ in their later years. Make this a, you know, a reasonably fun activity. It doesn't have to be, you don't have to play hardball all the time with every child. And I'm hoping you'll agree with me on this. Oh, absolutely.

You certainly want to make it fun. Remember modeling this is the very best way to teach it. So yeah, a child asks for something rather than saying, no, we can't afford that. Take the time to say, you know what, we're not going to buy that because we have limited resources. And by the way, Johnny or Sally, we live on a budget and you know, we have a certain amount allocated to gifts or a certain amount allocated to eating out. I haven't had one dad, Steve, who told me he cashed his entire paycheck in twenties and fifties and hundreds, piled it up in the middle of the dining room table, got the kids around and actually showed them how quickly it was distributed to all the various categories. And there was nothing left, which at the right age gave them some perspective of how quickly the money goes toward the needs of the family and the other discretionary spending items. So make sure it works for you, but I think you need to find those real life practical examples as you train your children. Yeah, I agree. And this sometimes works when your children ask for something, tell them, ask grandma and grandpa. I'm finding that that approach often works. And it works well on you, I'm sure.

They're so cute. All right, let's go to Iowa. Hey, Brenda, how can we help? Hey, yeah, I have a child that is a senior in college. It's quite an expensive college, $50,000 a year. He's doing quite well. I have lots of faith and confidence in him. At the time that he decided on that, his father and I were still together, but we have since divorced and I am financially responsible for him. Um, I, in the course of the time I have co-signed loans for him. Um, and so if anything happens to him, I am looking at being on the hook for about $80,000 in loans on him. And I have thought about and looked into taking out a life insurance policy on him. Um, he's in Florida, I'm in Iowa and the last address was in South Carolina. And that's been a problem to get life insurance for him because the agent can't write anything for him since he's got a South Carolina address. He's not really been in Iowa with me.

Um, he doesn't have a Florida driver's license or identification. Um, so any help you can give, any advice, you know, am I doing right by taking out a life insurance policy on him? Um, and then the other part of my question is, uh, my previous job, uh, I left, um, I have been able to continue paying the premium for the term life insurance policy. It's like a hundred bucks, um, every six months for myself, my ex-husband and my kids, um, doesn't really benefit me to continue to pay, you know, $30 every six months on my ex in case anything happens to him.

Am I going to be able to get that or not? Yeah. Okay.

So let's, let's break these down. Uh, the first one is related to your son and you co-signing on this, uh, what will be a large student loan debt. And, uh, you know, under the terms of, uh, just about all personal loan contracts, the death of the co-signer doesn't relieve the other co-signers responsibility. So you are right to be thinking about that, even though, um, you know, unless there's a real medical issue, obviously this would be a, um, you know, a very remote situation. Um, but I think you having the peace of mind to offset that risk through insurance, which term insurance for a specified period of time, let's say even 10 years, if that's the length of time, you'll think you think it will take to pay this off for 15 or 20 years on his life as a young guy who's hopefully healthy will be very inexpensive. So it wouldn't cost you a whole lot of money at all to carry that policy and alleviate that stress or burden. Uh, I'm a little perplexed by this issue of the, you know, his residence versus, uh, where he's living right now and the documentation for that and his ability to qualify for life insurance. I do a little bit more digging on that. Perhaps call some insurance companies, maybe see if you can find a life insurance agent in your church, or you could connect with a certified kingdom advisor there where he's living, where, um, his current residence is and ask for some help. Uh, you can find a CKA Brenda, if you go to our website, moneywiselive.org, just click on, find a CKA. And I think that would be helpful to you just to get a professional involved who could help guide you on where, what state do you need to take this out?

What documentation do you need to be able to, uh, get this policy in place? Cause I think that makes a lot of sense. Um, why don't we, uh, come back in just a moment though and talk about the second half of your question. If you don't mind holding, I'd like to unpack that a bit. We'll do that. Brenda, thanks very much. You stay on the line. This is Money Wise Live with Rob West. I'm Steve Moore.

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Good to have you with us today. It's MoneyWise Live. Rob West taking your phone calls at 800-525-7000. Before the break, we were speaking with Brenda.

And, Brenda, what was that last question you asked us about? Yeah, our previous job, I was able to bring along the term life insurance policy that I had. It's relatively inexpensive. And at the time, I had myself, my husband, and my kids on it. Since then, I've divorced, and I've still been paying, you know, it's just $30 every six months to keep my ex-husband on there.

Am I in trouble because we're not married anymore? I mean... No, so this is a policy on your life paid to a beneficiary. The question is, what's the purpose of the policy? You know, is there going to be any kind of financial hardship for any of those beneficiaries if you were to die? So I think that's the question. Just because the policy is available to you at X dollars a month, I think we've got to back up and ask the question, what's the purpose of it? You know, who is that payout for?

And is there a real need there that's tied to either a loss of income or an additional expense that any one of these beneficiaries would incur upon your death? Does that make sense? Yeah, but that's not the question. Okay, then I missed it. Try again. Sorry.

Okay. So there's $100,000 on me with my kids as the beneficiary. And then there's like a $50,000 policy on my husband, on my ex-husband. And then each of the kids, I think, got like either a $10,000 or $20,000 policy on them. It was a really good benefit at work.

And so I missed that. Yeah, obviously, you know, as long as you're paying for that policy, it's on his life. You're the beneficiary. The question is, who's the policy owner? And, you know, that would be the operative question. But to the extent, you know, his passing would create a financial hardship for you, perhaps a loss of an income stream that you were getting, you know, during his life, even though you all are divorced, then this, the proceeds of this could continue through the death benefit there. So there's nothing wrong with that or unethical about it. The question is just if you're the policy owner, is that something you want to continue to pay on?

Because it makes sense for you to have it. So hopefully that's been helpful to you. And by the way, Brenda, as to your first question, Steve, I think our next caller may have some insight there on how to help her son get a policy.

That's what I'm seeing. Joe is in Michigan. Joe, how can I re-help you and how can you help us? Well, I just wanted to, you know, see if I can help it out at all with I'm a licensed agent that have been for many, many years. And she was talking about her son being in Florida, moving from South Carolina.

She lives in Iowa. Basically, the rules on traditional life insurance, just basic term insurance, as long as the agent is licensed in the state where the person lives. And that's where the policy is signed.

Everything's fine. So the agent does not have to be living in Florida. The agent, like, for example, I live in Michigan. I could be licensed in Florida, which actually I was licensed in Florida. I still am actually licensed in Florida. I could write a policy on an individual in Florida.

As long as the policy document is signed in Florida and the agent's licensed in that state, you're fine. Yeah. Okay.

Very good. Yeah, it sure does, Joe. And that was really helpful.

And I'm sure Brenda's listening right now and can take advantage of that information, making sure she finds an agent either there or someone who's licensed there and can write that policy so that her son could sign that there in that state and the coverage could be put in force. So that's great. We love it, Joe. And we appreciate your generosity and your willingness to help us out today. Thank you very much. I'll take Utah. John, just a couple of minutes.

What's your question, sir? It's pretty quick. Hey, thanks. For most of my working years, I had a term life insurance policy and I pay about $100 a month. I think it's a $325 in the event I die. It won't change until I'm 70. And then obviously it jumps way up. And am I smart just to keep doing that right up until 70 and then cancel it?

Yeah. John, you know, I think obviously it's very inexpensive. I think the question would be, is there a point at which prior to age 70, you no longer need that death benefit and you could recoup that money, put it right back into your monthly spending plan because you you've saved and you now have other income sources. And if something were to happen to you, nobody is depending upon you for that death benefit.

If that's the case, then I think you could drop that policy early as soon as that is the reality in terms of a spouse or a dependent child. John, thank you very much. Hope that helps you. And we're glad you were able to hang on so we could get to you today.

Thanks very much. When we come back, we'll say hi to Jules and perhaps take your call because we have three open lines at 800-525-7000. Now's a great time to get in 800-525-7000. Investing is more than just returns. It's an expression of who you are and what you value. Does the way you invest your money reflect your identity as a Christian? At Eventide, we design investments for performance and a better world so you can invest with the confidence to reach your financial goals while remaining true to your Christian values and commitments. We call this investing that makes the world rejoice. More is available at investeventide.com.

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You'll find it all in Master Your Money. With SRN News, I'm John Scott. Joe Biden winning the battleground state of Wisconsin, securing the state's 10 electoral votes, the president's campaign has requested a recount. The Wisconsin victory for Biden bumps him up to 248 electoral votes, the president with 214 now. It takes 270 to win the presidency. President Trump's campaign says it's suing to temporarily stop the vote count in Pennsylvania, claiming lack of transparency. Justin Clark, the president's deputy campaign manager, says the campaign is suing to stop Democrat election officials from hiding the ballot counting and processing from our Republican poll observers. Clark also said the campaign would seek to intervene in an ongoing Supreme Court case involving the deadline for receiving mail-in ballots.

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Love that verse. 800-525-7000 Minnesota. And thanks so much for holding. What's your question for Rob West?

Hello, gentlemen. My husband and I recently sold our home in Minneapolis. We have about 350,000 cash that we have sitting in Capital One right now.

We're temporary living at our cabin in northern Minnesota until we can find a home in the area. We want to have that money available immediately. So if a good deal comes along, we have cash for a quick sell. Is this the best place to have the money in Capital One right now? You know, I would be fine and with you having it in any bank, probably a savings account that's FDIC insured, which you may want to consider.

I mean, you may be willing to have it in one institution. Typically, you would move it into two institutions because the FDIC insurance policy just simply says that you can have FDIC insurance up to 250,000 in one bank. And so it's per deposit or per FDIC insured bank. So in that case, with a joint account, you'd want to have that at two different FDIC insured banks. As to Capital One over any other, I like the online banks, you're going to get a little better yield there. I think Capital One's paying a half a point right now on their high-yield savings. You could use Marcus, which is the retail arm of Goldman Sachs. You could look at Ally Bank. I think they're both paying 0.6% so you get a slightly better rate. But again, the one consideration beyond rate is just whether you want to spread it over two different institutions. But I like the idea of wherever you land, linking that institution or those institutions up with your checking account so that you could transfer that money electronically on a moment's notice when you're ready to make that purchase. And the key here is to, obviously, not have any risk, have the liquidity, have the access, but earn a little bit of interest while you're waiting. So I think you're on the right track here.

I would just consider perhaps spreading it across two banks. Does that make sense? Totally. Very good. Thank you so much. I appreciate your time. All right, Anne. God bless you. Thanks, Anne. Lynette, you're next. You're calling from Akron, Ohio, home of the Soapbox Derby, am I correct?

Yeah, you're right. How can we help you? What's on your mind today? Well, I received this request from AAA auto insurance company anyway. They wanted to offer me an insurance policy for accidental insurance. And it would be like $29 semi-annually for me and $50 semi-annually for my husband. I'm retired.

We're both retired. And it offers hospital care, recuperation, outpatient care and loss of life. I'm trying to debate, should I get this policy or not?

Yeah. This is obviously inexpensive. And I think the key is being able to compare this against something else. There are other policies out there that provide specific coverages like this, whether it be cancer insurance or a death benefit of some kind. And the question is for the benefit you're receiving, is it an appropriate amount of money that you're paying in terms of the premium?

And is it the right product for you in terms of what you're looking to accomplish? AAA in terms of the strength of the institution is rated very highly at excellent. If you look at the various rating companies and in terms of gap insurance or pet coverage or whatever various types of insurance they offer, I think the key is just make sure that you understand what you're buying and that there's not somewhere to buy it at a more cost effective rate.

So I wouldn't say automatically get it. I think the key is what is it you're looking to cover and then do some price shopping and see if there's not a better place to pick that same policy up. A great website to compare this particular type of insurance at AAA versus others would be nerdwallet.com. It's kind of a silly website name but they have great information, nerdwallet.com.

They rate all of these and so I think you could look at this and compare it against some other options. Does that help, Lynette? Yes. How would you spell the website? Yep, nerdwallet.com. And should we take that website seriously, Rob? Yes. I say that with tongue in cheek because I know it's a great site.

No, it really is. A lot of great information there on a whole host of issues whether you're looking for a credit card, you're looking for insurance options, student loans, savings accounts. They're a great comparison site and their editors do a great job with reviews in particular. Alright. Here's another email, Rob.

It's from Eric. He says, Dear Rob and Steve, is it too early to think about taxes? Do you think a computer program like TurboTax will get me the same deductions as paying for a live accountant? The programs ask all sorts of questions about my business and also the deductions. Let me see if I'm reading that correctly. The programs ask all sorts of questions about my business and all the deductions. I'm not sure if he's suggesting he doesn't like that aspect of it or not but what do you think?

Well, I have some thoughts. I would just say because I hear the word business which tells me that you're self-employed, I would say no. I would encourage you to connect with a tax professional, a CPA who can prepare your return. It's worth the cost to have somebody that knows what they're doing that can look to maximize every deduction especially with a business. There's so many nuances to that and deductions that you want to get right. I would say those online or software-based tools, Steve, although they can be very cost-effective and in some cases even free, I would say only use those if you have a very basic return that you're filing. You're a W-2 employee. You're taking the standard deduction.

There's really nothing out of the ordinary going on and even then, I would consider a CPA if you have the ability to do so. Alright, great. Again, our phone number if you'd like to get in, this is a good time to call.

We have open lines available for you right now on anything financial, 800-525-7000, toll-free obviously, 800-525-7000. Rob, with the events of yesterday and still a lot of things being kind of murky, some people might be wondering, wow, what does that mean? What does the uncertainty of all that mean maybe to the stock market and Wall Street and my retirement money? Any thoughts about that?

I do, Steve. Here's the bottom line. Economic uncertainty is certain and what we know to be true in every situation is that God is on the throne. So here's the thing, when we're talking about how we manage God's money, whether that's money we're managing and spending on a daily basis through our spending plan or money in our 401k or in the stock market, we always want to seek God's wisdom.

James 1-5, if you lack wisdom, let him ask. And we should be asking, inviting God into our financial lives and then applying his principles to how we manage money. So what is the principle regarding investments?

Well, it's pretty clear. We should seek a return and we should invest for the right reasons with the right time horizon. We should also be properly diversified. If you're doing all of those things, don't let an election, a pandemic, anything that might result in temporary gyrations in the market thwart you from implementing a long-term investment strategy. Stay the course with God's money and over time you will do just fine. Well said, Rob. Thanks very much.

We'll be right back. The financial wealth you leave behind could be the best thing that ever happened to your loved ones or the worst in splitting heirs, giving your money and things to your children without ruining their lives. Ron Blue explains why it's important to make these decisions now instead of forcing your heirs to do it later. Splitting heirs will foster a real appreciation for the precious resources that God has entrusted to you.

And it's available when you click the store button at MoneyWiseLive.org. Hi, I'm Barry Maguire. I'm here to help you understand the urgency and how much fun it is to share your faith through the eyes of a layman. And now's the time. How many people will you be with today who are lost in the terrors of what's happening today that don't have the peace of knowing that God has everything into control, that God loves them and wants them to spend eternity with him and he's using all this chaos to get their attention? God's done the heavy lifting of getting their attention and now he wants to work through you to guide them to him. Can you possibly comprehend the eternal significance of your next conversation, of every conversation you have with an unbeliever through the eyes of Jesus? Knowing that once you get to heaven, the only thing that will matter will be how many other people are in heaven because of your influence, because if you're taking the time to talk with them today, they will be your eternal rewards. There's nothing more exciting than knowing God is using you to move people closer to him.

Join us at igniteamerica.com. Some people have a hard time reading their Bibles because they think it's an old book that has little relevance for their lives today. But I think they're wrong. The Bible is a unique book. It was written over a period of 1,600 years by 40 different authors of every sort, kings and poor people and fishermen, poets, government officials, teachers, and prophets. It was written in three distinctive languages on three different continents. And unlike many other books of antiquity, it's still being translated into thousands of languages. Why? Because people are finding the answers they need within its wonderful pages.

Oh, the Bible is relevant. Have you taken some time to read it yet today? Money and life run on the same track. But unfortunately, sometimes it seems like your money is heading in a different direction from your goals. In Never Enough, Three Keys to Financial Contentment, author Ron Blue helps you to break down all your financial options to a basic four and then shows you how to keep it all chugging along in the right direction on the same track.

Never Enough, Three Keys to Financial Contentment, available when you click the store button at moneywiselive.org. So glad you're with us today. So glad we have a great team behind us pushing all the buttons, pulling all the knobs. No, that's not right.

Pushing all the buttons, turning all the knobs, pulling all the levers. They include Amy and Deb. Gabby T. is down the hall today.

That T, of course, stands for top notch. And then Jim Henry, our own Jim Henry, taking up space in our coastal offices. He's taken down the inflatable pumpkins, now putting up a six-foot-tall inflatable turkey. And you certainly want to take the family, drive by with the family and see that.

Yeah, it's quite the thing. Miami, Florida. Hello, Jenny.

What's on your mind? Yes, I'm calling regarding our mortgage. We have an existing mortgage that we modified back in 2012. And I would like to know, should I refinance or re-modify the mortgage company? They say they can try to re-modify it again.

But I want to know is that the best option that we can go or just go try to do or get information or refinance? Yeah. Okay, very good. Let me ask you, Jenny, what is your credit score?

Do you know? Above 800. Above 800? Wow. Okay. And what is the current rate under the existing terms of the mortgage? Four and a half percent.

Okay. And what do you owe on it today? And what do you think the home is worth? I owe like $399. And the home is about $600.

Okay, very good. Yeah, I mean, a refinance seems like it is going to be the way to go. Loan modification is not going to be the best option for somebody in your situation. You've got great equity, you've got a great credit score.

And I mean, unless there's something here that I'm missing, I would absolutely look for a refi at this point. I think the key will be as long as you're going to stay in the home, you're not planning on selling anytime soon. And as long as you try not to extend the term. So if it was a 30-year mortgage you've been paying on it 10 years, then you have 20 years left, I'd look for a new 20-year mortgage instead of starting over at 30 years. But other than that, you're going to bring the rate down considerably with that kind of credit score and that equity, you know, you should be able to get a 20-year loan, you know, 2.6, 2.7%, somewhere around there, which would be considerably lower and allow you to have a shorter term and probably not see the payment up high to a point where it's not cost effective for you. But you are going to need to take a look at that and make sure that you understand what that payment is. You're also going to want to shop this around and make sure you don't overpay in terms of the expenses. This can run you from 1% to 2%. And you want to find a loan where you're not having to pay discount points to buy the rate down, but where you can get a mortgage that, you know, you're going to pay some money, it's going to be several thousand dollars, but you'll want to find somebody who's going to do that on a really reasonable basis. So you could start at bankrate.com. You could look at any number of other options, even your local bank, to get started.

But I think a refi is going to be the very best option for you. Jenny, thank you very much. Let's stay in Florida from Miami to Tampa. And Gabby, what's your question for Rob? Hi, Gabby, you with us? Hello, Gabby. Okay, we've lost Gabby for some reason.

Maybe we can get her back. Gabby, are you there? Nope. Okay.

Nashville, Tennessee. Glenda, are you there? I am. Thank you for taking my call. Yes, ma'am. Go right ahead.

Okay. My question has to do with insurance. I bought a townhouse. And right after we moved in, practically, I started getting these letters about additional insurance that I should buy that the option was open for me to buy this type of insurance in case of disability or my death. I'm raising two grandchildren.

The youngest is 15. I'm 67. I'm still working. But the only thing that I owe is on my townhouse. So I don't know if I need to be buying some additional insurance or not. Yes.

Well, I guess pay off the house. Yes. Well, I think the key here is, you know, if something were to happen to you, who is going to be caring for these children? Who would be their guardian if something were to happen to you?

Well, it may revert back to their mother. Okay. All right. And would she have the ability? Would your death create a hardship there financially?

Probably for her. Okay. So that would be one thing to look at, obviously. It's going to be more expensive.

I think you said you're 67. Still absolutely possible to get a policy, but it's going to be somewhat costly. So you'd probably be looking at a 10-year policy just to get them to where they're a little bit older and where it still fits into your budget.

But, you know, that might be something to consider. Apart from that, you know, if there's nobody that's depending upon you, you know, at your death, your home would be sold to pay off the mortgage. And, you know, as long as everything can be covered and there's money there in savings and so forth for funeral expenses, I don't really see a need for a policy apart from, again, you know, you wanting to have something in place to provide for those children. And that could be done in a trust of some kind to provide assistance directly to them as opposed to paying it to a beneficiary such as their mom or somebody else.

And that way you would know that the money is being used for their benefit. Beyond that, in terms of the types of policies we all need, we need, of course, auto insurance and homeowners insurance. It's probably good for most folks that have assets of over a half million dollars to have an umbrella policy. We need health insurance, we need disability insurance, and then term life insurance. And then at some point, probably at your age, I would be considering long term care insurance. You know, beyond that, I think anything else is is additive and, you know, something that would be there to give you peace of mind.

But as long as you, you know, have resources saved, you have income, and you've got these key types of insurance in place, you know, I don't see the need necessarily to add anything else. But we appreciate you calling in today, Glenda, and thank you for the great work you're doing to care for these sweet grandkids of yours. Yeah, God bless you. God bless you, Glenda.

Thank you very much. Victoria in Ohio, you've got some coins. What's the situation there? Yes.

Hi, guys. Thanks for your show. Love it.

Thank you. I've been saving coins for a very long time. And I have a lot of the different kinds of quarters and big water bottles, a lot of coins. And I heard that there was going to be, or there is, a coin shortage. And I was wondering, if I hold on to them, what happens to it?

I mean, if anything, where should I cash them in? Well, I wouldn't do anything, Victoria, necessarily because of the coin shortage. The coin shortage you're talking about is COVID related. It has to do with people not using as much physical currency because people have been staying home, obviously more, which means they're using electronic means of payment over the internet with credit cards or other digital payment options and just physically at the mint because of the social distancing and some of the stay, shelter in place that we had earlier this year. There was just a limited workforce there at the U.S. Mint, so they just weren't producing as many coins.

That will take care of itself over time. I don't think that has necessarily affected the value of collectibles. I think the key is to look at these as an investment or an asset and just evaluate apart from their intrinsic value to you as either a hobby or a collectible, something that has some value to you that's non-financial. Apart from that, I would just evaluate whether or not this is the right place to keep your money stored in the form of these coins. And if they have a numismatic value to them, I would have them appraised by a registered appraiser who could look at the value of these coins, see what you should be able to get by selling them. This would be an independent third-party appraisal and then you'd have an idea at that point of the coin's value and its potential for increase and then you could make a decision at that point as to whether or not this is something you want to hang on to.

So I think at this point you need to answer those questions and then decide if you want to go ahead and get it appraised and then I think once you have that information, it will become clear whether you should hang on to them or go ahead and sell them. Victoria, thank you very much. Mary in Chicago, we have like 90 seconds, so how can we help you? Okay, thank you. A former employer, I have $22,000 in a 401k and I was wondering if I should put in a Roth IRA that I would be managing myself and also what do you think of crowdfunding on student loans because I'm trying to get out of my student debt.

I don't know what to say. Please. Sure.

Let me tackle the first one first. So the idea here with the 401k is you can roll that out not to a Roth IRA directly, you'd roll it to a traditional IRA and that would give you plenty of options as to how you want to manage that. You'd have unlimited investment options essentially for you to be able to then direct your own investments and not be limited to the options inside the 401k. You also wouldn't have the fees and expenses associated with the 401k. So I like that a lot. If you want to then move it to a Roth IRA through a conversion, then at that point you could certainly do that.

You'd have to pay the tax on it, but the benefit would be at that point it could grow tax-free. So I think that could be a great option. In terms of the student loans, I think probably staying with a traditional lender is going to give you a better option if these are not federal loans or you're willing to give up the flexible repayment options and I'd be careful about that. But if you are, you could certainly look at some private lenders.

You could go to studentloanhero.com to compare those private lenders and see who has the very best rate. But I think that's going to be the most cost effective solution for you. Yeah.

Mary, thank you for that. I have heard of crowdfunding to pay off your loans. Apparently some people have done it. I don't have a lot more information on it other than that. And what about you, Rob?

About the same? Well, you know, it's mainly focused on individuals and their personal stories and trying to raise funds that way through GoFundMe or other options like that crowd funder, but not for just the average person. All right. Speaking of average people, you're not. If you listen to this program, thanks for being there. Join us again next time.