life insurance Archives | Kids Ain't Cheap

Life insurance is an important financial tool meant to protect your family in the event that something happens to you or your spouse.

And when you have kids to watch out for life insurance becomes a must-have. But talking about life insurance and the kind of coverage you need can be a tough topic to bring up. No one wants to think about leaving their family, but unfortunately that will day will eventually come.

There are too many times when a family loses a loved one who was once responsible for the financial well-being of the family with no life insurance. In these cases the family suffers not only mentally and emotionally, but also financially.

If you want to keep your family protected but need to figure out a way to bring up life insurance here are some ideas.

Talk About the Future of Your Children

As parents we all like to think about the future of our children. And as a responsible parent you can recognize that finances play a part in a bright financial future.

While you and your spouse are talking about the future of your children bring up the idea of a will and life insurance. Talk about what would need to be done if something happened to one or both of you. Who would take care of your children? How much money would you need to leave?

Calculate how much money would be necessary to cover all of your debt and to leave money for expenses, like your children’s college education.

Set Up a Meeting with Your Insurance Agent

If you feel like you and your spouse have a lot of unanswered questions then call your insurance agent and set up a meeting.

Your agent can answer all of your questions, provide you with quotes, and help you calculate how much money you need to stay protected. Talking to an experienced advisor can help your feel at peace with the decisions you make.

Bring Up Some Statistics

State Farm recently conducted a survey on life insurance with some pretty interesting statistics. For instance, when asked if life insurance has been an important part of their family’s financial plan for generations, almost half (48 percent) of Americans agreed and 22 percent strongly agreed.

Another interesting insight from the survey was that parents of children under 18 are more likely than those who aren’t parents of children under 18 to say life insurance is an asset (58 percent versus 47 percent).

You can find more results from the life insurance survey on Good Neighbors. These points can help you spark a conversation with your significant other.

Getting Protected Isn’t Hard

Unless you have a health issue life insurance isn’t terribly expensive. Regardless, it should be a line item built into your budget and looked at as an asset rather than an expense.

As a parent you shouldn’t leave the fate of your children in someone else’s’ hands. Life insurance can help you map out a plan for your family’s futures.

Have you made life insurance part of your family’s financial plan yet?

Disclosure: This blog post was written as part of a sponsored program for State Farm to raise awareness about the importance of life insurance. All views expressed are entirely my own, and were not influenced or directed by State Farm. You can learn more about this blogger program and life insurance at GoodNeighbors.com, PlantingMoneySeeds.com, and by following #StartLiving on Twitter.

If you’re planning to have a baby soon, you may be overwhelmed by the expenses you’re facing. All that new baby gear costs quite a pretty penny! There are so many must-haves: a crib, changing table, bouncy seat, baby tub, just to name a few. Marketers would like you to believe that this is just the beginning of the items you’ll need for the baby.

Don’t forget other necessities like diapers, wipes, formula.

Whew. Are you getting nervous yet?

While you may resign yourself to paying for these items, one important item you may not even consider is life insurance.

If you don’t have life insurance yet, you’ll want to get a policy as soon as the baby is born. Hopefully you’ll live a nice, long life, but if you don’t, you want to leave money so that your spouse or another caregiver can afford to raise your child.

Why Life Insurance Through Your Employer Shouldn’t Be Your Only Policy

You could get a fairly low cost policy through your employer, but this is a risky strategy. Remember, if you leave this job, you’ll forfeit the company’s life insurance policy. While that makes little difference if you’re healthy, if you develop a health condition before you leave your job, you’ll be hard pressed to find an insurer that will issue you a life insurance policy for a premium you can afford.

You could take out employer-based life insurance as a supplemental policy, but it shouldn’t be your only policy.

How to Reduce the Cost of Private Life Insurance

It’s far better to get your own private health insurance.

I know, you may think that is one more expense that you really can’t afford, but the simple truth is that you cannot NOT afford a life insurance policy.

The good news, though, is that if you’re healthy, you’ll likely find that a private life insurance policy is not as pricey as you think. Our friend Jeff Rose has some great tips on how to get the best rates on life insurance.

There are other strategies, too. If you’re overweight when you initially get your policy but you lose weight and get into a healthy weight range, your premium might be adjusted to cost you less (because the insurer’s risk is lower). Usually, you need to maintain this weight loss for at least a year and also have a doctor’s notice that you’ve maintained the weight loss for that duration.

The same consideration might be given to a smoker who has become a non-smoker.

Finally, remember that shopping around for the lowest policy is an excellent way to reduce costs. You’ll likely be surprised how much the same insurance policy’s premium can vary from company to company.

While you likely don’t want to think about life insurance, if you’re having a baby, you must protect yourself and your child with a good life insurance policy.

Do you have life insurance to protect your family?

How to Talk to Your Family About Life Insurance