5 ms·

No one deserves this, especially not at 35. That is far too young. I've had more than a couple of people close to me pass away from cancer and other causes and

No one deserves this, especially not at 35. That is far too young. I've had more than a couple of people close to me pass away from cancer and other causes and it all seems very depressing that in some cases you can't really do anything at all. Forgive me for asking but doesn't health insurance cover costs of cancer treatment even in the USA? I really don't want to sound like a narcissist and I'm not trying to judge in the least, but I'm curious why the OP wasn't more diligent about planning ahead in terms of health insurance given he made a decision to have/raise four children. Do people really not take into account stuff like children's education, cost of living expenses per additional member of family, emergencies, black swan events? I know my parents decided to have only X number of kids because they knew that they wouldn't be able to provide well for more than X children. This was a conscious decision given that my father grew up with 7 siblings and my mom says she would have had more children if they would have been able to provide for them. Also I'm genuinely curious whether $20,000 for a final resting place seems like a good amount to put on a list of priorities given all the other costs involved? Mortgage and transportation seem like good goals, but minus the cancer, if some one else decided to raise money from the internet to spend it on traveling, I'm not sure a lot of the comments would be so positive? I'm really sorry for being so negative, but these are general questions that I have and they are in no way directed towards the OP. Cancer sucks. Period.

timr 13y ago
If you're insured in the US (sadly, this is still a fairly big "if"...) the costs of cancer treatment will be covered, but unlike most of the rest of the developed world there are still a lot of caveats: depending on the quality of your coverage, you could end up paying very little, or quite a bit of money. It's not a simple question, unfortunately. That said, it sounds like he's not looking for money for treatment, but for things like paying down the mortgage and car before his income is lost. This is what life insurance is meant to cover, but again, there's a wide range of coverage options and many people don't think about how much to buy, especially when they're young. 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. All it takes is one bad accident to turn that assumption upside down. Get life insurance, folks.
- vishnugupta 13y ago
  >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 insurance. Or at least make the borrower opt into insurance by default with the option of opting out. Left to themselves borrowers are not likely to think about insurance at the time of taking loans. I think by nature we underplay risks to our life because of which our loved ones end up suffering financially over and above emotionally.
  - caiusdurling 13y ago
    From what I've heard from friends/family that have mortgages, here in the UK the mortgage company stipulates that you have to get life insurance in place to cover the remaining loan amount before they approve your mortgage.
    - ealexhudson 13y ago
      That's not at all true. Banks will be very happy to sell you life insurance, for sure, and may make it sound important - but the only insurance requirement is on the building itself, and even then the cost of rebuilding it, not the value of it.
  - maxerickson 13y ago
    What good would it do a single person? Life insurance is to protect the people that rely on your income, not pay off your debts (I don't think this is a deep insight, I just think it is the sensible way to talk about it). If you have children and only insured the value of your house, you probably need to buy more (but of course you might have discussed a simplified version of your situation or whatever).
    - DigitalJack 13y ago
matiasb 13y ago
My stepfather died from stomach cancer last year, the public health system here in Paraguay covered all the treatment, some of the drugs cost more than 15 or 20 times the monthly minimum wage.
bluedino 13y ago
>> Do people really not take into account stuff like children's education, cost of living expenses per additional member of family, emergencies, black swan events? If you have a life insurance policy, and Aflac, you'll get a ton of money from having cancer. Aflac will pay cash for every hospital visit, every procedure, transportation (not pay FOR it, your health insurance will do that, but give you cash on top of that) and then the life insurance policy will cash out when you pass away. Your family will miss you but at least they won't have to worry about paying for stuff.

timr 13y ago

If you're insured in the US (sadly, this is still a fairly big "if"...) the costs of cancer treatment will be covered, but unlike most of the rest of the developed world there are still a lot of caveats: depending on the quality of your coverage, you could end up paying very little, or quite a bit of money. It's not a simple question, unfortunately. That said, it sounds like he's not looking for money for treatment, but for things like paying down the mortgage and car before his income is lost. This is what life insurance is meant to cover, but again, there's a wide range of coverage options and many people don't think about how much to buy, especially when they're young. 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. All it takes is one bad accident to turn that assumption upside down. Get life insurance, folks.

vishnugupta 13y ago
>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 insurance. Or at least make the borrower opt into insurance by default with the option of opting out. Left to themselves borrowers are not likely to think about insurance at the time of taking loans. I think by nature we underplay risks to our life because of which our loved ones end up suffering financially over and above emotionally.
- caiusdurling 13y ago
  From what I've heard from friends/family that have mortgages, here in the UK the mortgage company stipulates that you have to get life insurance in place to cover the remaining loan amount before they approve your mortgage.
  - ealexhudson 13y ago
    That's not at all true. Banks will be very happy to sell you life insurance, for sure, and may make it sound important - but the only insurance requirement is on the building itself, and even then the cost of rebuilding it, not the value of it.
- maxerickson 13y ago
  What good would it do a single person? Life insurance is to protect the people that rely on your income, not pay off your debts (I don't think this is a deep insight, I just think it is the sensible way to talk about it). If you have children and only insured the value of your house, you probably need to buy more (but of course you might have discussed a simplified version of your situation or whatever).
  - DigitalJack 13y ago

matiasb 13y ago

My stepfather died from stomach cancer last year, the public health system here in Paraguay covered all the treatment, some of the drugs cost more than 15 or 20 times the monthly minimum wage.

bluedino 13y ago

>> Do people really not take into account stuff like children's education, cost of living expenses per additional member of family, emergencies, black swan events? If you have a life insurance policy, and Aflac, you'll get a ton of money from having cancer. Aflac will pay cash for every hospital visit, every procedure, transportation (not pay FOR it, your health insurance will do that, but give you cash on top of that) and then the life insurance policy will cash out when you pass away. Your family will miss you but at least they won't have to worry about paying for stuff.