Man, you need to meet some better people.

I hear ya. Unfortunately I'm related to most of them.

I'm curious...how is the OP's health insurance policy? Does he have coverage? He should be much more concerned with that than life insurance.

But, if life insurance is his thing I'd also be interested in selling him some alien invasion coverage. I'll write the policy myself. $1million in coverage for the low price of $19.95 per year, 50 year term. I have some add ons too, for just a little more money. Nuclear holocaust, Yellowstone Volcano eruption,....

Given that the OP hasn't logged in since he made the original post, we may never find out.

No. Put the money you would spend on a premium into a college savings fund, or into a retirement account. You don't need life insurance if you don't have kids or other dependents. Your premiums wouldn't go up until your mid to late 30's anyway. Don't sweat it, save your money. Insurance should be used to replace income that others depend on; it's not for saving.

It is best to get insurance at an early age.

Best for the insurance company, when you're talking about a 19 year old.

Let's be very clear:

Term life insurance is the only thing anyone should buy to protect their family.

Universal, whole, and life insurance with any other name is for estate planning purposes ONLY. If you have over $5 million then you might want to consider one of those.

NEVER NEVER NEVER mention life insurance and investment in teh same conversation.

LIFE INSURANCE IS NOT AN INVESTMENT!!!!!

Life insurance has two purposes - to provide money to dependents in the case of premature death and for ultra high net worth people to manage estate taxes. If you don't have dependents or an ultra high net worth, you do not need life insurance.

Spend your money on education instead.

Beer is not that bad

19 years old and already thinking about insurance, sounds like a responsible person. I understand that insurance is not investing but you can't fault someone who wants something to fall back on later.

I'm not faulting the OP at all! I think he is asking a very good question. I am addressing the people who inevitably start trying to sell insurance when someone asks such a question.

I'm just trying to give him a clear answer: life insurance is not an investment!

Now, I think almost everyone with kids or other dependents should have life insurance - term life insurance. And term insurance, while it might be cheaper when you are younger, should not be bought until there is a need.

That's right. It's just like preparing for something you don't know when will happen.

Me and the ms went for life insurance when she was pregnant. Started with $ 170.000 each and increased it to $ 285.000 each when our economy got stronger. We pay premiums for age and gender (you also have to be healthy when signing up), and premium increase with age. I don´t know about what kind of plan you are looking at but as far as our plan goes there is no point in signing up early since the premium will be adjusted for age every year anyway.

When I signed up for a $ 170.000 life insurace at the age of 28-29 I payed $94 a year for it. Today at age 32-33 I pay $ 219 a year for $ 285.000. Comparative price is thereby up about 40% in four years.

Most important though is to question why you pay for insurance. It should be to pay for unlikely things that you would have a hard time to cope with. Things that are likely to happen will be expensive to insure against. Better to change habbits in order to minimize risk. Also, if you financially can´t handle that your cell phone breaks, the answer is buyin a cheaper phone in the first place - not a $15 a month insurance on it.

Life insurance could live up to these two criteria. As long as you are not a member of the bloods or the crips or frequently visit Afghanistan, passing on before the age of 60 is unlikely. Even though dying young sucks in many ways (...) you could actually say it puts a permanent stop to you financial troubles (any troubles really). The exception would be if you provide for kids. I got life insurance in order to protect my kids (and their mother) from financial woes if I would "kick the bucket". Do you have kids, or provide for someone else?

I sincerely doubt the OP needs any life insurance...but here's the basic guideline:

No matter WHAT age - if you experience one of the events defined as "life-changing", that's when you look at your overall financial situation and do a risk analysis. The younger you are, the more simple it generally is. As you get older, a lot more risk starts to 'creep' into your life....this is where people's good intentions get lost in the rush of daily life. So they meant to do a will, have a durable healthcare PoA in place, get life insurance. But they're so busy, they just can't get around to it.

Sometimes you're lucky and have the time to finally get those tiresome details done. But sometimes, you don't. And then your family gets stuck with fewer options than they could have had.

Those life-changing events are:
* marriage
* divorce
* birth
* death
And I would add, * loss/change of employment (some co's offer employee life insurance; some don't)

When any of those events happen, that's when you look at your situation and decide the best way to mitigate risk. You can't eliminate all risk from your life, but you can lower it. Everybody's cost/value point will be different; e.g., the more risk you try to mitigate, the more expensive it generally becomes. You want the optimal cost/value crosspoint. You may be able to figure this out on your own, or you may need the advice of a trusted professional.

Just remember – ignoring risk won't make it go away. And term insurance – I use level term for myself – has gotten considerably cheaper over the years as mortality has improved, even as other types of insurance such as health, disability and LTC have gotten more expensive and difficult to qualify for.

If the OP is single and young, there should be no need for insurance, as others have pointed out, unless there is a high factor for future health risk combined with plans to marry/have children.