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iQuestions Faculty, Ron Blue 
 
 
Question: 
 
What do I need to know about mortgage insurance and credit life 
insurance? 
 
Answer:  
 
A question that comes up all the time when it comes to life insurance 
is, “Should I buy term or should I buy whole life?” You can get varying 
opinions on that, depending upon who you talk to. I would like to 
rephrase the question, not as a “buy whole life or buy term,” but the 
first question that you need to answer is, “How much life insurance do 
I need?” 
 
For example, if you’re a parent of young children and you’ve got two 
or three children, you need a lot of life insurance—you need a lot of 
life insurance because you have to provide for the family in the event 
of your death. Do you want your wife going back to work? Who’s going 
to pay for their schooling, private school, and perhaps, college 
education? If you’ve got a home mortgage, is that going to be paid off 
in the event of your death? 
 
The younger you are, probably the more insurance you need. If you 
know how much you need—let’s say that it’s $300,000, $400,000, 
$500,000; and that’s not unusual at all for a young family to need a 
half a million dollars worth of life insurance—then the second question 
is, “How much can I afford?” Answering that question will drive the 
whole life verses the term question. You should buy an amount that 
you need, first of all, and then secondly, which kind you buy will be 
driven by what you can afford. 
 
 
Today, term policies are so inexpensive that nobody should be under-
insured. Young parents should always have enough life insurance. A 
good life insurance agent will help you answer the question, “How 
much do I need,” and then they will help you answer the question, 
“Which kind can I afford?” 
 
The first question, “How much do I need” is far more important than 
which kind of insurance. The “How much can I afford” will be driven by 
the “How much do I need,” but my counsel is, please don’t ever be 
under-insured. 
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