Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Estate Planning is SOOO depressing

We signed our wills this morning. It only took six and a half years of marriage to finally face the need for these important documents. We also took care of power of attorney for healthcare as well, so now Mike can pull the plug on me, if needed. We don't really have much that the wills cover. Most of our "assets" are the kind with a beneficiary designation that controls over the will. The only time that our wills could be important is if we die at the same time and our life insurance and retirement accounts end up getting paid into the estate instead of directly to the surviving spouse - and let me me tell you, if we die at the same time, my godsons and cousins are gonna have one heck of a party with that life insurance.
Facing one's own mortality at 8:30 in the morning puts a damper on the rest of the day. Signing the wills seemed so permanent, like admitting that you'll never live forever, no matter how indestructible you feel. Not at all like getting life insurance was... that seemed like "a just in case the unspeakable occurs" action. The wills felt like admitting defeat.
Life insurance is another important factor in the road to financial security - we don't have kids yet, but that is planned for sometime in the fairly near future. It's a heck of a lot easier to get a 20 year term policy for a decent price when you are still under 30. Mike's got 100K of term, plus another 500K from work, and we also have a 20K whole life policy on him as well. Which will leave me well positioned as I can pay off the debts and then continue working - if I ever decide to be a SAHM, we'll need to increase his coverage, but that is highly unlikely. Since graduating law school in December we've beefed up my coverage as well. I've got 600K of term, plus the 20K whole life policy. Unfortunately, my employer doesn't have group life insurance coverage, so I actually have to pay market premiums for my insurance. But I'm still under $50 a month for all the coverage we carry on me, so it seems well worth it.

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