QUESTION: Tanner has a whole life insurance policy with zero cash value due to the loans he took out per the advice of his agent. He now realizes this wasn’t a smart move, as he now owes premiums plus interest every year. Tanner asks Dave if he is still on the hook for the policy loans if he forfeits the policy to buy term insurance.

ANSWER: No. Get your term insurance in place first, then when you cancel the policy your cash value will offset your loans. They will not loan you more than your cash value.

It’s likely that you actually do have a cash value that is above your loan amount, so you could probably get a little cash back. It’s very seldom that they will loan you 100 percent of cash value.

But if they have, it’ll be an exact break even, and just canceling the policy means you cancel the interest, cancel the premiums. And your set of assumptions are correct — you got screwed over. It was bad advice to buy the policy, and even dumber advice to clean the whole thing out and sit there paying interest to borrow your own money and pay a premium to keep the loan open.

I recommend 10 to 12 times your income on a 15- or 20-year level term policy. During that 15 or 20 years, of course, you should be getting out of debt and building wealth so that you have a big pile of money and no need for life insurance.

QUESTION: Ben asks how to know when you should file an insurance claim on a homeowner’s issue versus just dealing with it and paying cash. Dave says it’s when you begin to feel the pain financially.

ANSWER: When it’s far enough above the amount of your deductible that you feel the pain. If you’ve got a $1,000 deductible, and you have a $1,100 issue, you pay the $100 out of pocket and don’t mess with it. But if you’ve got a $2,000 issue with a $1,000 deductible, that might be enough to get you to file a claim — depending on your financial situation, the expense of the house, cost of the insurance policy, and those kinds of things.

Somehow, we get the idea we make money on insurance processes. We don’t. Insurance companies make money, and consumers pay insurance companies. You don’t make money on insurance in the long-term. You may have a situation, once in a blue moon, where you come out ahead on a transaction versus what you paid in. But over the scope of your life, you don’t make money on insurance companies.

The point is this: If you turn in the claim, you’re going to experience a rate increase or cancellation somewhere — at some point — that offsets it. I only turn in substantial claims, meaning claims that are substantially above the deductible. I don’t want to have to deal with cancellations or rate increases, and I don’t want to be questioned about that stuff. I’ve turned in a few homeowners claims in my life and a couple on cars, too.

QUESTION: Gina knows Dave recommends having 10 to 12 times your annual income in term life insurance coverage. She asks if the amount should be based on gross or net income.

ANSWER: I’m talking about gross income because you’re trying to replace your income. If you make $50,000 a year and you die, someone needs $50,000 a year where you used to provide $50,000. How are we going to create $50,000? You need to invest $500,000 to $600,000, and you can create a $50,000 income.

Of course, you’ve got to pay taxes on it. Investment income has taxes just like wage income has taxes. So, gross to gross is what we’re going for in these situations. That way it replaces your income. And it’s not that expensive. Term insurance, especially when compared to whole life (rip-off) insurance, is really inexpensive.

QUESTION: Julie’s mom is 73 years old, and she’s dealing with depression and a few other mental issues. Julie asks Dave if it’s too late for her mom to get long-term care insurance.

ANSWER: Not if she’s healthy. You can go to daveramsey.com and click on ELP for long-term care insurance. There, you can find the person in your area who we endorse for that kind of thing. Given her age and other struggles, they should be able to tell you whether or not they can find a company that will carry her. In the insurance world they call it “make a market.” Will they be able to find a company that will write her in that situation? I don’t know off the top of my head.

It’s a difficult thing. Is it completely impossible? I don’t know. It would probably depend on the extent of her depression, how long it’s been manifested, and what it has done in her life. I wish I could give you a solid answer, but I’m going to advise you to sit with an insurance broker to help with things.

That’s one of the reasons you want to go with a broker when you’re dealing with insurance. A broker doesn’t represent just one company; they represent several companies. They can shop around in a given situation and find someone to write something you might not get written otherwise. They can also shop around for the best possible price, and you get the efficiencies of the marketplace working for you.