Biting the Bullet!
Momentous decisions for me of late! Good gracious...
Well, I had a meeting with my insurance agent tonight. I decided to take the plunge and convert my 10-year-term policy to whole life. Papers signed. Deal done. Premiums much larger now! To the tune of $60 extra a month...*sigh*
But my reasons for doing this are three-fold:
1.) "Term life" insurance is a lot like rent: you pay out your premiums and have nothing to show for it unless you kick the bucket. Not worth it!
2.) A whole life policy will actually accrue a cash value over time like a savings account. By age 58 (in 20 years), I'll have accrued $20,000 in cash value, which I can cash out to a certain percentage if I need it. If I die at any time before that, the payout value of $50,000 still applies. This is just enough to pay off my debts, but not to make it worth anyone's while to snuff me. :-)
3.) If I had chosen to continue my term life policy, I'd have had to do a whole new application: forms, submission, doctor's records for the last 10 years, the whole she-bang. And there's the chance I wouldn't get it, or that I wouldn't get the same rate I've had. I checked my lifestyle and current physical status and decided that the risk would DEFINITELY not be in my favor! Plus, with the conversion, I just get the policy--I don't have to reapply or submit anything. It's done.
Doing the math, I figured it works out to $15 more per week. So I'll have 3 fewer drinks a week when I go out. So it helps my temperance, too! See? A win-win situation.
I am, however, covered now at $50,000 less than I was before in case of death, so I need to check with my mortgage lender and see about getting credit life insurance, so if something happens, my mom doesn't get stuck with my mortgage. I also have a term life policy through my job which will pay off my mortgage if anything happens, but if I switch jobs, of course, I'll lose that. So I have to be sure I'm covered...
All in all, though, it's a "growing up" phase that was time to happen.
Interesting side story: one of the guys who works in my agent's office (corner of Bryn Mawr and Broadway), was the recruiter who placed me in my job! He started with the insurance agency early this year. So he and the agent got to commiserate with me over my current work stress. Before, he's always said, "Now, Aaron, it's stable, good paycheck, great benefits, blah, blah, blah." Well, this time I was ready: "Yes, Larry, but I'm less likely to wind up in the hospital with a heart attack if I'm not stressed out all the time." He understood that and told me that I'm at a good age to move on if I want, and also that being stable for the last six years looks really good for me. He gave me a pep talk about marketing myself, and said you don't have to get stuck in administrative work if you do it right, and that a good recruiter can help you find what you want if they know what opportunities to look for.
It was good to hear. For a long while, I've been feeling like a big, fat rube who's destined to be stepped on forever, and just be grateful that I have a roof over my head. Certainly I'm grateful for what I have, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to have mobility and options. If I settled for something I hate, I really would be asking for it.
I discovered, too, during my hellishly chaotic day, that when I'm really busy, I'm HAPPY. I just can't get overwhelmed, because I'm doing operational work for three program areas, and I have to know where to draw lines. (Here's a hint: printing off a certain boss's e-mail attachments and bringing them to her--NOT on the list of things I'm willing to continue doing. That's just over the fucking top.)
And the end of the year is coming, and the conferences will be over...things will be a little less crazy then, hopefully, and I might come to love what I do as much as when I first started doing it six years ago.
Now, how to communicate the new me. A tattoo is out of the question. Piercings--well, I already have one ear done. I refuse to butcher myself further.
Suggestions?
Well, I had a meeting with my insurance agent tonight. I decided to take the plunge and convert my 10-year-term policy to whole life. Papers signed. Deal done. Premiums much larger now! To the tune of $60 extra a month...*sigh*
But my reasons for doing this are three-fold:
1.) "Term life" insurance is a lot like rent: you pay out your premiums and have nothing to show for it unless you kick the bucket. Not worth it!
2.) A whole life policy will actually accrue a cash value over time like a savings account. By age 58 (in 20 years), I'll have accrued $20,000 in cash value, which I can cash out to a certain percentage if I need it. If I die at any time before that, the payout value of $50,000 still applies. This is just enough to pay off my debts, but not to make it worth anyone's while to snuff me. :-)
3.) If I had chosen to continue my term life policy, I'd have had to do a whole new application: forms, submission, doctor's records for the last 10 years, the whole she-bang. And there's the chance I wouldn't get it, or that I wouldn't get the same rate I've had. I checked my lifestyle and current physical status and decided that the risk would DEFINITELY not be in my favor! Plus, with the conversion, I just get the policy--I don't have to reapply or submit anything. It's done.
Doing the math, I figured it works out to $15 more per week. So I'll have 3 fewer drinks a week when I go out. So it helps my temperance, too! See? A win-win situation.
I am, however, covered now at $50,000 less than I was before in case of death, so I need to check with my mortgage lender and see about getting credit life insurance, so if something happens, my mom doesn't get stuck with my mortgage. I also have a term life policy through my job which will pay off my mortgage if anything happens, but if I switch jobs, of course, I'll lose that. So I have to be sure I'm covered...
All in all, though, it's a "growing up" phase that was time to happen.
Interesting side story: one of the guys who works in my agent's office (corner of Bryn Mawr and Broadway), was the recruiter who placed me in my job! He started with the insurance agency early this year. So he and the agent got to commiserate with me over my current work stress. Before, he's always said, "Now, Aaron, it's stable, good paycheck, great benefits, blah, blah, blah." Well, this time I was ready: "Yes, Larry, but I'm less likely to wind up in the hospital with a heart attack if I'm not stressed out all the time." He understood that and told me that I'm at a good age to move on if I want, and also that being stable for the last six years looks really good for me. He gave me a pep talk about marketing myself, and said you don't have to get stuck in administrative work if you do it right, and that a good recruiter can help you find what you want if they know what opportunities to look for.
It was good to hear. For a long while, I've been feeling like a big, fat rube who's destined to be stepped on forever, and just be grateful that I have a roof over my head. Certainly I'm grateful for what I have, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to have mobility and options. If I settled for something I hate, I really would be asking for it.
I discovered, too, during my hellishly chaotic day, that when I'm really busy, I'm HAPPY. I just can't get overwhelmed, because I'm doing operational work for three program areas, and I have to know where to draw lines. (Here's a hint: printing off a certain boss's e-mail attachments and bringing them to her--NOT on the list of things I'm willing to continue doing. That's just over the fucking top.)
And the end of the year is coming, and the conferences will be over...things will be a little less crazy then, hopefully, and I might come to love what I do as much as when I first started doing it six years ago.
Now, how to communicate the new me. A tattoo is out of the question. Piercings--well, I already have one ear done. I refuse to butcher myself further.
Suggestions?
posted by Aaron at 8:39 PM
4 Comments:
How about just adding a spring in your step?
I am SOOOOOO not about the tattoos and don't even mention getting my ear pierced. Ouch!
(But congrats on the being told you have options. Those of us who don't are on the sidelines cheering you on!
What I learned was that often, you have options when you don't think you do. Sometimes (OK, usually!), I'm just too tired or stressed out to step back and look at it objectively..."forest for the trees," as it were.
Perhaps. Then again you are in a job where you have mad skillz.
Recognize.
I'll try...thanks for the good word!
Post a Comment
<< Home