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?