Whether you’ve always been home with the kids or you’ve recently taken on the important role of stay-at-home parent, you probably know how important your job is to your family’s health and happiness. So, what if you can no longer be there for them the way you are now?
One of the most comprehensive planning tools to keep your children safe is life insurance. It is designed to be bought now, while you have some control over things and will start after you are gone. Life insurance policies provide many benefits to your family, including tax-free death benefits, a sense of financial and emotional security, and future insurability when your health is not certain.
1. Put yourself in the shoes of your family.
The first step of the process is often the hardest – because no one likes to think about what life would be like if it weren’t for your children. It’s important to put aside the pain and hassle, however, because you can’t really explore all of life insurance’s options until you’ve tried to imagine that one day, or even one year, in your family’s life. How would it be without you?
What needs do they have to meet? This probably goes beyond housework and cooking. From carpooling to tutoring to possibly mental health services, the goods and services you provide to your family as a stay-at-home parent are valuable.-And Your family’s needs may be greater in the future than they are today. Losing a loved one is disruptive and additional resources may be needed to help your family find healing and wholeness after you are gone.
2. List What’s Required-And what is its cost?
After going through the work of putting yourself in your family’s place, you get a better idea of the things that will cost them your absence. You may have older children and not believe they need certain services, but some extra help while they adjust may still be a good idea. Make a list of items that will initially need to be purchased after you leave, as well as ongoing needs the children will have throughout their childhood. Do your best to price these at the price tag per year, and add extra each year for inflation.
Be sure to include any expenses incurred by your partner or other loved ones in the household; You might also consider how aging parents or others who rely on you in other ways may also need support.
And don’t forget about funeral services, as these costs can run into the thousands!
Estimating all the costs can be difficult, but a life insurance need calculator helps simplify the process.
3. Consider ways to improve your family.
While no one views death as a good thing, life insurance can be used to help your family move forward in certain areas of their lives even as they deal with your death. Whether it’s paying off credit card debt or setting aside some college funds for a child down the road, now is the time to think about your family’s financial responsibilities and, if possible, to remove these obstacles. Make a plan.
If your family lives paycheck-to-paycheck, you may not have much left over to save at the end of the month. Consider adding some additional coverage to your life insurance to help your family with an emergency fund; The larger life insurance payout may put them in a better financial position.
4. Research your options.
While it’s true that a good life insurance agent can tell you everything you need to know about the policies they offer, doing a little research ahead of time can only help. You can become familiar with the terminology used when talking about policies, as well as get an idea of the different types of products available. If nothing else, looking through life insurance articles and guides can inspire questions you can write down to ask when you meet with an agent.
If you don’t have a life insurance agent yet, this tool can connect you with licensed ones in your area and help you choose between them.
5. Prioritize shopping.
At this point, you’ve done a lot of hard work, and you’ve probably even talked to your family about what’s needed in the event that you’re no longer around. With this, you are in a good position to meet a qualified agent and get your insurance policy. Pricing gets better when you’re younger and in good health, so there’s incentive to make up your mind and buy a policy sooner rather than later.
If, as you age, you decide you need more coverage or a different type of coverage, that’s okay. Your agent can talk to you about changes in your family to make sure you always have the right amount of coverage to help them succeed. Whether you add a new baby to the family or you want to increase your policy coverage for inflation, your insurance agent can guide you through what you need to always have adequate coverage for each new season in your family’s life. .