Shopping for Term Life Insurance

I considered getting term life insurance about a year ago, but since I'm single, with no children and no mortgage, I concluded it wasn't necessary.

But my recent trip to visit my folks made me reconsider. Although my parents are currently living independent lives (despite my father's dementia), I now have serious doubts that this will continue indefinitely. Only God knows whether or when my father or my mother will suffer some illness that would substantially impair their ability to handle basic ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) such as bathing, dressing, transferring, eating, toileting, and continence.

My parents don't have long-term care insurance and I am still in the process of getting my parents qualified under Medicaid. I still haven't quantified my parents' assets or income, so I have no idea whether they would even qualify.

Anyhow, I've now come to the realization that I will be sharing the caretaking duties of my parents with my sister when my parents are disabled or incapable of caring for themselves. Should I die an untimely death, the responsibility will fall squarely and solely upon my sister. I don't think this is fair or right, so I've decided to buy term life insurance.

I am already getting 1x my yearly salary automatically from my employer and the beneficiary to that policy is my mother. In addition to that policy, I got quotes from Accuquote.com for a $500,000, 30-year guaranteed level term policy.

Why 30 years? I don't expect my father to live that long, after all, the average life expectancy of a man over 65 with dementia is only 10.7 years. But I expect my mom to live well into her 90s. Members of her side of the family (and our ethnic group in general), live close to 100 years old. (Egads.)

Based upon a "preferred" rate class, A+ rated insurance company, my policy would run about $40/month. The quote already includes an accelerated death benefit rider (aka living benefits rider) where the policy will pay 50% or $250,000 (whichever is less), when I become terminally ill. If I added a waiver of premium rider (i.e., the premium is waived should I become totally disabled), my premium would run approximately $50/month.

I was also quoted a "Return of Premium" policy for $78.80/month or $104.17/month (with a waiver of premium rider). I think this is a bogus policy, a bit like giving the government an interest-free loan every year in exchange for getting a tax refund (but for 30 years!) And if I surrender the policy early, I may or may not get back some or all of the premiums I've paid. No thanks, I'd rather invest the $50 difference into my IRA.

I should be getting my application in the mail soon. Next, I'll need to see about getting myself some supplemental disability insurance. I already get 66.67% of my annual salary from my employer.