The very idea of buying life insurance for a child makes some people cringe.
Children, by their very nature, are energetic and full of life.
They are the face of the future.
It is impossible to imagine them not growing to adulthood, but unfortunately, sometimes children do die before reaching adulthood.
Should you buy life insurance for your child?
To answer this, there are a few variables to consider.
Do you have enough money to pay for a funeral?
Funerals can run $5,000 to $10,000. If your child died, would you be able to pay for the funeral or would it cause a financial hardship? Being unable to afford a funeral would cause undue financial stress in addition to the immeasurable grief you would already be experiencing.
Would you be able to continue working if you lost a child?
Buying life insurance for a child is a hard subject to think about.
It is impossible to determine how you would react emotionally to the death of your child until it happens.
However, do you think you may be incapacitated by the grief? Would you be able to pick up every day and go to work, or would you simply have trouble getting out of bed?
A life insurance policy could afford you some freedom to deal with your grief and take some time off work. If you have other children, they might need you home more often in the months after a child’s death.
Will you be able to survive financially on your own if you and your spouse separate or divorce?
Just as no one wants to imagine a child dying, you also don’t want to imagine getting a divorce because of a child’s death. Yet, some studies argue that couples are more likely to divorce after the death of a child.
If that were to happen to you and your spouse, would you have enough money to survive on your own with your other children until you were able to resume a normal lifestyle?
Would you like to protect your child in the case of childhood diseases?
If you cover your child with a term life insurance policy and then they are later diagnosed with a disease or illness, you have afforded them a level of protection. Someone who has had cancer or another disease as a child will find it very difficult to buy life insurance at a later date. They will at least be covered by the life insurance policy you bought for them when they were children.
Not every parent will find it necessary to buy life insurance for their child, and thankfully, even if parents do purchase life insurance for their child, the chances of actually having to use it are very slim. Still, don’t rule out the idea; consider all of the variables carefully before deciding if you should buy it or not.
What do you think of buying life insurance for a child?
Photo by Dawn Huczek
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Should You Buy Life Insurance for Your Child?