bjornolf
08-08-2008, 06:29 AM
So, anyway, a friend of mine, my wife's cousin Matt, just died this week. We're going up for the funeral today. He was only 3 months older than me (33), and he leaves behind a wife, a pre-teen daughter (11) and a young son (5 next week). He had a bad malenoma on his face several years ago that they cut off. He was very diligent about his follow-ups. Then, in about January he started feeling really draggy. Started losing weight fast. He went in to the hospital, had tests and x-rays and MRIs done. They told him it was mono. But he just kept getting worse. Finally, he traveled a few hundred miles down to the VA hospital and checked in. They did a FULL workup on him, and found that he had cancer all over the place. When he went back to the original hospital for some treatment, the doctor he had originally seen called up the films from his first visit and said "Man, how did the radiologist miss that? It's small, but he should have alerted on that little spot there, especially since you are a cancer survivor. I just trusted his read on the films before." First off, did he just admit to something that Matt's family could sue the hospital and radiologist over? That just doesn't seem like something a doctor would say unless he was TRYING to throw the radiologist under the bus to me cause he felt sorry for the family. Just wondering, cause his family is NOT in good financial shape with him gone. Blue collar family with a widow mom and two small kids. I am NOT a fan of law suits in our crazy society, but if what that doctor said is true, I think they're entitled to some money. Maybe I'm wrong.
Anyway, on to my main question. His death has gotten me thinking about my own mortality and what would happen to my family. I'm 32 (33 in a couple weeks). I've got THREE children 5 and under. I'm a SAHD (stay at home dad) trying to get my book sold. We do okay, but if I died, there's NO way my wife could afford the mortgage AND daycare AND school. She'd have to quit her job, sell the house, and move back home within a few months, and in this housing market, that would REALLY suck.
I have the max spousal insurance through her work, but it's only $25K. I'd like to get enough so that she could at least afford to keep the house and get daycare while she decided what to do. Like $250K or so. We'd only need term if it's cheaper, as in 20 years, the kids will hopefully be supporting themselves by then and the house would be almost paid off.
As I've said in the workout thread, I'm an old overweight football player. I workout 5 times a week, I don't smoke, I don't drink. I'm pretty healthy overall. Although I'm overweight, my mom has been REALLY overweight for 40 years and never had a heart attack (5'2" and approaching 400 lbs...she tries to excercise and lose it, but every time she starts to lose, three more health problems pop up that get her stuck in bed). Strangely, despite coming from a relatively fat, creole family, heart problems are one thing we HAVEN'T had, not on my dad's side either. Anyway, I was on Jenny Craig and losing weight with my wife about a year ago when I called a life insurance company or two. I weighed 285 at the time. They told me my best option was to get down to 260 and then call them, as the rates took a big dive at that point. I got down to about 275 after that. The problem is, then my wife got pregnant with our daughter and had to leave the program. I soon fell off the wagon and went back up to almost 300 (not blaming her, it's all my own darn fault).
I'm eating better and excercising again. Like I said, I'm back down to 285 or so. But my wife just told me about how she's been freaking out about this insurance thing for years, and with her young cousin dying, she's REALLY freaking out (she's one of these people that takes life a little too seriously and whose mind is ALWAYS running like a hamster wheel about these things... not just me... she can't even stop thinking about work on the weekends, and she does NOT have one of those jobs where that's required). So, I'd hate to wait that long. I'd love to remove one of her biggest sources of stress.
Anyway, I've always gotten my insurance through USAA. Any advice out there? I don't want to wait the three months or so it'll take for me to get down to that weight, assuming I can. Does anybody know good companies that are reputable for paying out if the worst comes to pass? If I get the insurance now and then lose the weight, can I apply to get my rates lowered later? I just don't know how this works, and I don't even know where to start.
Thanks for anything you can give me.
Anyway, on to my main question. His death has gotten me thinking about my own mortality and what would happen to my family. I'm 32 (33 in a couple weeks). I've got THREE children 5 and under. I'm a SAHD (stay at home dad) trying to get my book sold. We do okay, but if I died, there's NO way my wife could afford the mortgage AND daycare AND school. She'd have to quit her job, sell the house, and move back home within a few months, and in this housing market, that would REALLY suck.
I have the max spousal insurance through her work, but it's only $25K. I'd like to get enough so that she could at least afford to keep the house and get daycare while she decided what to do. Like $250K or so. We'd only need term if it's cheaper, as in 20 years, the kids will hopefully be supporting themselves by then and the house would be almost paid off.
As I've said in the workout thread, I'm an old overweight football player. I workout 5 times a week, I don't smoke, I don't drink. I'm pretty healthy overall. Although I'm overweight, my mom has been REALLY overweight for 40 years and never had a heart attack (5'2" and approaching 400 lbs...she tries to excercise and lose it, but every time she starts to lose, three more health problems pop up that get her stuck in bed). Strangely, despite coming from a relatively fat, creole family, heart problems are one thing we HAVEN'T had, not on my dad's side either. Anyway, I was on Jenny Craig and losing weight with my wife about a year ago when I called a life insurance company or two. I weighed 285 at the time. They told me my best option was to get down to 260 and then call them, as the rates took a big dive at that point. I got down to about 275 after that. The problem is, then my wife got pregnant with our daughter and had to leave the program. I soon fell off the wagon and went back up to almost 300 (not blaming her, it's all my own darn fault).
I'm eating better and excercising again. Like I said, I'm back down to 285 or so. But my wife just told me about how she's been freaking out about this insurance thing for years, and with her young cousin dying, she's REALLY freaking out (she's one of these people that takes life a little too seriously and whose mind is ALWAYS running like a hamster wheel about these things... not just me... she can't even stop thinking about work on the weekends, and she does NOT have one of those jobs where that's required). So, I'd hate to wait that long. I'd love to remove one of her biggest sources of stress.
Anyway, I've always gotten my insurance through USAA. Any advice out there? I don't want to wait the three months or so it'll take for me to get down to that weight, assuming I can. Does anybody know good companies that are reputable for paying out if the worst comes to pass? If I get the insurance now and then lose the weight, can I apply to get my rates lowered later? I just don't know how this works, and I don't even know where to start.
Thanks for anything you can give me.