Taking Care of Business

For a couple of years now, I have been asking Eli about getting wills drawn up, and after much delay, we finally got it taken care of during Christmas break.  It's not morbid.  It's responsible.

I did something today that I also have been meaning to do for a long time.  I now have life insurance (don't get any ideas).  I'm not getting any younger, and now that we have two children and a mortgage, it was a necessity.  I have inquired before but never followed through, and it has been eating away at my mind since Elsie was born…almost two years now?  I don't have the level of life insurance that I would like, but I figure that something is better than nothing, so the amount I got is enough to pay off our mortgage in the event of my death.  I jumped at this chance because I don't have to do a health assessment to be covered through my work, it was reasonably priced, and coverage started the minute I signed on the line.  It's 30-year term insurance, which is portable should I change jobs, and I got as much as this plan would offer, though it is only about 1/3 of what I need.  Like I said, though—something is better than nothing.

I also have invested in some long-term disability insurance through my school.  Why did I do this, you might ask?  When I had Oscar, I had to take some time off of work for maternity leave, and while I didn't end up using any unpaid days, I did use up all my sick days and personal days, and borrowed from the sick bank, so that now I am 15 days in the hole—I have to pay 10 back to the sick bank and then come up with the five that I originally donated.  We only get nine sick days per year.  That means I will have to use all of my sick days for the next school year and a half to get back my time, and that's assuming that I don't have any children who get sick, requiring me to take time off of work to take care of them.  All this to say that when we're ready for #3, in another couple of years or so, I won't have six weeks' worth of sick leave saved up.  I may have paid back my five days (Lord willing), which will allow me to borrow 15 total again (and I'll be in the same pay-back predicament), but that's only three weeks of leave.  So I will have to be out of work, unpaid, to take the rest of my maternity leave.  (I came back to work when O was 7 weeks old, and that just felt too soon.)  This disability insurance has maternity coverage that will cover up to five weeks of missed work (7 weeks for C-section or other complications).  Additionally, there is an accidental death benefit associated with the policy that should cover my cremation, if needed, so that my life insurance will actually go to covering the mortgage.

What is it they say about being able to sleep at night?  I think I will rest easier.  I'm not done taking care of business.  There's still stuff to tweak, but for now, I know that I have done something to take care of my family should I become disabled or die.  Again, not morbid—responsible.