Suggestions for insurance after layoff?

51 yo male, just got laid off from a tech job where I had ~1.1M in term life for a reasonable (I thought) $140/month. At least, that’s the latest premium – it was cheaper initially (was at the company almost 15 years) – I want to say it started around $50-70/month. I went for the max without a physical. Spouse had $50K (she hates getting physicals, plus she has $50K or something through work as well).

I’ve looked around a bit, and while I’m a little overweight (6’1″, 220 lbs), I have none of the other conditions that they ask about in general.

We’re in ok shape financially (401k / 403b, my wife has a CTA pension on the horizon, some cash savings, decent equity in the house, etc). Two teenagers, one about to start high school, one halfway through. Some inheritance eventually.

I’ve been given the options for conversion and portability (Lincoln) for the policy I had. I’m shocked at the fact that the portability option (which I thought was going to continue at the same rate) seems to be a downgrade to max $500K AND an increase to 12.x / $1K / year – essentially $1 / $1K per month. With the previous plan, I was paying like $0.125 / $1K per month, so an 8x increase. WTF? And the conversion – which wouldn’t accrue any value due to some weird group plan rules (that’s what they said on the phone?), is 2-3x that price.

So I guess I’m on my own. Looking for advice on: -life vs term – is it worth looking at life? I always felt that the cost vs. payout of life was going to be a rip-off, and that the term was a better deal in terms of “only pay as long as you need it” and invest the difference? I guess I’ve always been leery of insurance that you pay into for 20+ years and then find out that there’s some loophole, and you get almost nothing. Or the company goes under, and you get nothing. Car insurance makes more sense – it’s for driving NOW and continuously, not for driving one time 20+ years from now (hopefully).. And car insurance always seems to give you the shaft anyway, whether or not it was your fault. I handle all the paperwork, so if they gave my wife the runaround, she’d be lost. Ok, enough for my pessimistic rant. I guess my point is: with life insurance, you really don’t know if you did the right thing until it’s too late unless you can get advice from others. So here we are.

-what other things to consider? What kinds of riders are common / popular? We’re in CA, if that matters, and plan to be for the foreseeable future.

-what’s a recommended amount? My annual income is $150K+ (assuming I find a similar job), wife just over $100K. I felt $1M was enough to pay off the house, pay for college for both kids, and a little left over. Isn’t the idea of life insurance to replace lost expected wages? If I work another 10 years, I’ll take home maybe another $1M in that time. We’ve always lived below our means, so we don’t need $250K/year to feel comfortable. Does life insurance have a better rate of return than investing in the stock market, assuming an average lifespan? Is lump-sum a thing? Does it make any sense?

-Should probably get some spousal coverage as well. My wife is under 50 – is it easier to get a separate policy for her, or can one get some kind of discount for a combined policy / 2 policies from the same carrier?

-I almost signed up for some combined life insurance / guaranteed annuity thing in 2005 – they hooked me up to an EKG and everything, but I opted out at the last minute because I felt in over my head. Should I have gone for it? Are those generally considered a good idea?

Sorry for all the questions. Is there some kind of FAQ / general advice post I should read first?

Thanks.