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What Dreams May Come

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Re: What Dreams May Come

#301

Post by jcromartie »

rkuykendall-com wrote: post #295
jcromartie wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the odds of a healthy 30 year old dying in the next 20 years are slim, they can collect $30/mo from lots of guys like me and pay out to the very few who die in that term. And, yes, they likely make money on that money while it's not being paid out. Here is an actuarial table that lays out the likelihood of dying and how long you're expected to live at every age. http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/STATS/table4c6.html So,…

I guess I was assuming it went from 30-Death instead of 30-50. Do the rates start to rise once you reach 50? Or do you have to buy a new plan, because you only buy them in 20 year increments?

Yes. A policy that covers you into old age costs WAY more. But by that point you hope your dependents are financially established.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#302

Post by ChuckMcM »

chaostheory wrote: post #271
darthclue wrote: post #74

Jonathan here. Being woke up by my wife crying because the donations just aren't stopping is both heart-breaking and comforting. For those of you who haven't seen the 'Bucket List' post, here's what it says at the very top: As I try to deal with the reality that is my impending death I can't help but wonder how many things I might have been able to accomplish given just a little more time. When I was diagnosed, I had…

> I'll be paying cobra rates to keep the same coverage. I have no idea how expensive this will be but I don't expect it to be cheap. It's really expensive even for young, healthy guys. I would imagine this would be more than your mortgage payment.

I'm guessing the Obamacare rates will be much more affordable.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#303

Post by jcromartie »

jblow wrote: post #294
rkuykendall-com wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does that work? Considering you would have to live for 1,389 years for them to make a profit, do they make money on... interest?

It works because when you die it costs them way less than $500k to dispute the situation and avoid paying you anything.

Does this happen often? It doesn't appear to be a common issue.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#304

Post by vishnugupta »

gnoway wrote: post #169
vishnugupta wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you've just bought a house and a car and had a kid you're probably in a lot of recent debt, with the assumption that you'll have a lifetime to pay it down Out of self discipline I bought a life insurance at the same time my home loan was approved; the insurance amount being same as loan amount. I have always wondered why don't Government have regulations in place that forces a borrower to purchase a life insuranc…

I'm single with no dependents. I have enough money to cover my mortgage. Why should I be required to purchase life insurance?

That's a fair point as others have also pointed out. It's that I couldn't even imagine such a scenario. The society I live in, India, you will very rarely come across such a person, i.e., a single person with no dependents owning a house on mortgage. Once you start earning here there's almost someone financially dependent on you :). Could be your parents, spouse, children at various points in time.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#306

Post by sp332 »

pge wrote: post #279
hessenwolf wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The highest source of personal bankruptcy in China is medical expenses. Something something about the largest risk of poverty for middle class people in China is medical expenses. Source: WHO speaker at a longevity conference I attended.

I believe (though I don't have a source handy) that the same is true in the US - medical expenses are the leading cause of personal bankruptcy.

What would be a better thing to bankrupt people for?

Re: What Dreams May Come

#307

Post by jessedhillon »

hfourm wrote: post #234
terragold wrote: post #215

I have sympathy for this guy as a human being with cancer, especially with a family and all. But I have no sympathy for this guy as a person and for the financial choices he has made. Having 4 kids, big house and car, expensive grave, need to travel, meet celebrities screams greed, irresponsibility and entitlement. You could have not had 4 kids and had 2. You could have rented a place and bought a used car. The probl…

Look I get why people are complaining about the expensive funeral and travel expenses, but don't question his character for having 4 kids. Even more so, if you don't want to donate -- don't, no reason to go all nerd mode about it.

Why is that an illegitimate criticism? Kids cost several tens of thousands of dollars in their first decade. A family which can't afford a $190k house and an old Buick should probably consider well whether they can afford 6 kids. Spoiler: no, they can't. Isn't it better to raise 2 kids in lower-middle class than 6 in utter poverty?

Re: What Dreams May Come

#308

Post by vishnugupta »

lafar6502 wrote: post #153
vishnugupta wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you've just bought a house and a car and had a kid you're probably in a lot of recent debt, with the assumption that you'll have a lifetime to pay it down Out of self discipline I bought a life insurance at the same time my home loan was approved; the insurance amount being same as loan amount. I have always wondered why don't Government have regulations in place that forces a borrower to purchase a life insuranc…

It certainly makes you confident that insurance company will take care of everything when you die. But are you really sure? Did you check the fine print? What if your death is 'because of age' or 'because riding a bicycle is a dangerous activity'?

Life insurance business in India is very tightly regulated. In fact till very recently there was just one player, LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India), which is essentially backed by the state. And LIC, being the oldest player in India, is profitable and has the highest claim settlement ratio, about 98%. Even though I haven't really checked the complete fine print I'm more or less certain, looking at the settlement ratio, that they wouldn't include such clauses.

That's the reason I'm fairly confident the insurance company will take care of everything.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#309

Post by gnaritas »

thro1237 wrote: post #208
darthclue wrote: post #74

Jonathan here. Being woke up by my wife crying because the donations just aren't stopping is both heart-breaking and comforting. For those of you who haven't seen the 'Bucket List' post, here's what it says at the very top: As I try to deal with the reality that is my impending death I can't help but wonder how many things I might have been able to accomplish given just a little more time. When I was diagnosed, I had…

A question about insurance. If you join a new job, typically you can have yourself insured without answering medical questions upto 2-3x your salary. I don't know how your health is right now, but it might be something to keep in your mind.

What does that matter at all; it's no longer legal to discriminate based on pre-existing conditions. He can simply sign up with any insurance company, they cannot turn him down because he has cancer. Obamacare solved this problem.

Re: What Dreams May Come

#310

Post by clusterfoo »

eranation wrote: post #252
darthclue wrote: post #74

Jonathan here. Being woke up by my wife crying because the donations just aren't stopping is both heart-breaking and comforting. For those of you who haven't seen the 'Bucket List' post, here's what it says at the very top: As I try to deal with the reality that is my impending death I can't help but wonder how many things I might have been able to accomplish given just a little more time. When I was diagnosed, I had…

I'm praying for you, but besides praying, your post has triggered the following: 1) cried a little, I'm your age, with kids, wife had Thyroid cancer, close to home 2) donated to your fund, hope many more will 3) read about Melanoma, was shocked how much I didn't know 4) made an appointment with a dermatologist, I'm in the risk group apparently 5) emailed my insurance company to increase my coverage My thoughts and pr…

> 3) read about Melanoma, was shocked how much I didn't know.

Yeah it's weird how little people know about something so prevalent. People are shocked to find how many different types and sub-types of cancer are out there and how different the prognoses vary from one to the other.

I just got the diagnosis a month or so ago (26 y/o, a year after my dad dies of lymphoma... epic wtf's all around).

First response is "Oh, well at least it's only skin cancer. They just cut it out and you're good." -- heh... NOPE.

Also, I was walking around with it and a lump in my neck for months because Dr. said it was only a birthmark, probably just scarred node, etc. Until I pushed for a dermatologist.

tl;dr: Get checked. Be paranoid. Don't take "you're young, it's nothing" for an answer. Demand a biopsy.

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