I am 25 and married, no kids. I am going on active duty (USMC) at the end of the month. I currently have a 20 year term life insurance policy (Northwestern Mutual) that is provided to me through my current employer with a value of $100,000. If I want, I have the option of continuing that policy on my own. It would cost me $146/year (I can afford it) and will last until 2033.

My wife has no debt. The only debt I have is some student loan debt - if I were to die the debt would go away, my wife would not be responsible for it. I realize that I will be able to get $400,000 SGLI coverage while on active duty and I plan to take full advantage of that.

My question is whether it makes sense to retain my Northwestern Mutual policy? Thoughts? Things I should consider or be thinking about? Anything is appreciated.

$2920 for 20 years' worth of term life with a $100,000 payout?  What's there to think about?  That's a no brainer.  Keep it.
 

Term insurance at your age is relatively cheap and easy to get.  It is easy to stop and start at reasonable rates. As long as you are happy that your wife is currently protected with the coverage you have/will get, there is no big advantage to retain a term policy with a specific company.

Are you going on short term orders (a year or so or less)?  If so, I would keep the commercial policy but only if it covers you in a combat zone, assuming you are going to a combat zone.

My reasoning for doing so, if it were me, is just to lessen the hassles/potential of losing the policy by starting/stopping it, especially since it's only $146.

True but...

Not short orders, I'm moving to permanent active duty status. The NM policy does not carry an exclusion for death in a combat zone so I assume that would be covered.

Thanks for the responses, sounds like I might as well just hang on to it.

Does your wife work? Is her income enough to support her if you were gone? $100,000 sounds like a lot, but it isn't much if your using it to pay for life's expenses. She could burn through $100K really quickly. I'm not suggesting that she's frivolously wasting money. There are a lot of one time and recurring expenses when one spouse is gone. Even $500K starts looking smaller if that's all you have.






 
 

She does work, full time, stable employment. Currently working on her master's degree - paying cash.

ETA: she would be able to support herself on her own.

In my mind, the point of a term policy is that you can guarantee specific coverage for a specified amount of time, regardless of your life changes.  Think into the future, not just about your pending active duty status. (Stay safe btw)

My point is this, your health may change for the worse in the coming years, you and your wife very well may have children, buy a house etc...  In a few years you will need more coverage than you do now, so buy it now, it will be cheaper...

buy enough coverage so that in a few years if you get hit by the beer truck it will pay off the house, put your kids through college and take care of your wife for the foreseeable future.  If you have kids and you die, your wife will have her hands full and may not be able to work full time... Don't put her in the position to have to!

When and if you have children, consider bumping up your coverage considerably. Kids are expensive. I have 5 kids who are relatively young, so I have a lot of coverage right now. My 20 years runs out about the time the youngest starts college. Hopefully, I'll be able to self-insure with my savings at that point.

Bingo.

Thanks everybody. The advice and future considerations are much appreciated!