Do Children Need Life Insurance?

Life insurance on children (and babies) has always seemed very controversial to most people we spoke with. After all, why would you get life insurance on a brand new person who’s likeliness of dying prematurely is virtually nil? Particularly in the United States of America where people are living longer not shorter and infant mortality is at an all-time low. For that matter, why even get life insurance on anyone. Aren’t the odds in our favor now a day? If they were not, the insurance companies would be raising rates not lowering them (bet you did not know that insurance rates could ever go down).Then the question may not be, do children need life coverage but does anyone need life coverage? The answer is, unfortunately, still yes. And we say unfortunately because people are still dying in considerable numbers and families are being greatly affected by, not only the personal loss, but also the financial loss that occurs when a loved one is gone.Since we have established that a financial burden still exist when an adult dies (if you don’t then stop reading), then you may now understand our reason for taking out an insurance on a child. Yes, losing a child (God forbid!) may not create a great financial burden on parents when they are little but when the child grows up and starts a family on his or her own, then, at that point their death may create a financial burden on the own children and spouse or other dependents. If you, as a parent of that child, you did get insurance when the child was young and when no health problems existed, then you have, essentially, protected your child’s insurability. And, if you got your child a policy that would allow him or her to multiply the coverage later in life with a special rider, then you now have compounded their insurability benefit.The insurability you gave your child can be priceless! An example: Imagine that you take a $100,000 insurance policy on your 10 year old child (or sooner) and that policy included options to buy more coverage by just filling out a form – no exam needed, no medical records to order, no MIB check… Now, 15 years later, at age 25, your child finds out that he has some medical issue(s). His medial issue is manageable so everything seems fine. He gets married. He has two kids then the spouse of your child becomes concerned that if anything happened to him or her the family would be in financial troubles. The spouse of your child sets an appointment with an agent who, after asking medical questions, tells your now grown child that he/she may only qualify for an expensive policy. Since the price is too high, your child and his/her spouse decide to do nothing. They just cannot afford any coverage! Until… your child remembers about the policy you had purchased for him/her when they were little. Looking at the policy, not only is it affordable but it also includes provisions to increase coverage with no medical questions. Although the total amount of insurance that the policy will provide may not be exactly what your child needs, it sure beats zero insurance coverage. A sigh of relief!!!And now, as a parent, you are the hero of the family! And guess what, your child will do the same for his/her children. Now you are also the wise grandparent that keeps on coming to the rescue of the family.Our advice is simple. When your child is little, take as much life insurance on him or her as is allowed by insurance companies and, by all means, make sure the policy offers option to increase face value later on in life without any medical questions or MIB check or any checks at all.We hope this article will help you make wiser decisions when selecting any life insurance for your child. We wish you and your family long life, health and success. Feel free to always ask us questions.