While life insurance is quite complicated, getting it doesn’t have to be. Through SDPEBA and your employer, you have access to several choices when it comes to life insurance. Each of these options have different pros and cons that you should consider before making your choice.
With your Employer
Getting life insurance through your employer is simple as it happens when you’re being hired. Depending on your employer, you might have a couple of coverage type options that are outlined on sandiegocounty.gov’s website (when you head here, click the group you’re associated with and then scroll down to life insurance plans).
The best reason to use life insurance with your employer is because well, you have to. Most County employers mandate you get one of their basic plans, but why wouldn’t you? They're pretty cheap, you can use your flex credits, and signing up is really easy. That being said, the coverage really isn’t too high. The county does allow you to get supplemental insurance through MetLife.
MetLife's supplemental plan pays out more than the County's basic plan and offers additional options. Overall, this plan is good for people who don’t mind waiting for coverage to begin. A note is that this plan is not fixed-cost, meaning your premium will go up annually. This plan also is better suited for healthier individuals, we highly recommend you read about this plan on the City’s website before choosing it.
With Aflac
Aflac offers a fixed rate plan that can be set up from the comfort of your own home. Once you have your plan approved, the amount you pay today is the amount you’ll pay going forward. These plans use a group rate, making them affordable and easy to get no matter your health status. This plan is also payroll deductible and portable.
One of the drawbacks to using Aflac is that it isn’t as customizable as our next two options and there is a medical questionnaire for payouts over $300,000. This plan also is not available for retirees.
Ultimately, this plan is great for someone who wants to lock in a fixed-price for life and wants to use payroll deduction.
If you’d like to learn more about Aflac’s Whole Life plan, click here.
With SDPEBA
Through SDPEBA you’ll have an individually underwritten plan that is designed for your life. After a meeting with us, we work with dozens of A-Rated companies to find the best plan for you. Our plans are usually the most cost-effective and have no coverage limits. Rates are often better for healthier individuals and some plans even have options to add additional riders.
The only problem is the time. This plan will require around 4-6 weeks of waiting to get it set up and ready, and will probably also require a physical/medical exam. But if you can get through this, this option is definitely one of the best available.
If you’d like to learn more about our plan, sign up to talk with our life insurance specialist by clicking the button below.
With Ethos
Ethos is our newest option and is a comfortable middle ground between the other plans we offer. It’s customizable, easy to sign up for, and doesn’t take too long to get a policy (2-5 days). Rates and your coverage options are determined by your health, age, and gender, and there are dozens of customizations available too! Ethos requires you to go through their online tool to get a quote, and it can take as little as two minutes! We suggest you check it out by clicking here.
The drawback to Ethos is that these are individualized plans, so you will have higher rates if you have health issues and it isn’t as customizable as our plan. It’s also important to note that it doesn’t offer payroll deduction. But it makes up for all of that by being so accessible! It really doesn’t take long at all to just get a quote.
If you’d like to learn more about Ethos, you can click here.