If you have children, you don’t need me to tell you that life can get really quite chaotic. That to-do list is never-ending, your house is rarely ever guest-worthy and you’re stealing moments of sleep between changing nappies. Sound familiar?
Despite all of this, there is a part of parenthood that often gets overlooked but needs to be prioritised – and that’s life insurance. Taking out a life insurance policy might sound too much like hard work, but think about this; if something were to happen to you or your partner now, how would that impact your little ones? No amount of money could ever replace you or your partner, but it can really help regain some sense of normality and security during the worst times to cover costs and lessen the financial stress of losing someone you depend on.
Why now?
Perhaps life and home insurance from insurance services like bear river insurance is something you’ve been thinking about for a few years now. Quite often, people take it out once they take out a mortgage so that they can protect potentially the biggest financial responsibility of their life.
Having a family is the next milestone where everyone should seriously consider taking out life insurance. Young children need all the care and attention that you can offer – not to mention they cost a lot of money to raise – so a regular steady income is pretty vital. Without you or your partner around, a life insurance payout can make sure that the costs of running a family home are kept on top of.
Think about the mortgage or rent – can that be comfortably paid with one less income? The last thing a family are going to want to deal with alongside a death is potentially losing their home because they can’t keep up with payments. Secondly, debts such as loans and credit card bills sadly don’t just disappear when someone passes away. How would your loved ones feel if they were suddenly hit with the responsibility of debt, along with the costs of raising a young family? Ouch.
And it’s not just bills and debts that need to be considered. With children come the costs of clothes, nappies and food, school costs and childcare costs. If something was to happen and there was only one parent around, those childcare costs are only going to rise, which can make it difficult to keep up with all that other vital everyday spending. Life insurance is that comfort blanket and safety net that will ensure that you can make ends meet. Surely that’s got to be worth it?
Where do I start?
If you’re convinced that you need life insurance, then I’ve done something right! The next step is to consider whether you’d opt for a joint or a single policy between you and your partner. A joint policy does work out cheaper, however, there can only ever be one payout and one claim. If you can afford the extra premiums, a single policy for each parent will give you maximum protection.
You should also think about whether to choose a decreasing term policy or a level term policy. Again, these differ in price. Decreasing term policies are designed to cover a debt that decreases over time, such as a mortgage. As your debt decreases, so does the payout designed to cover that debt. Because the potential payout decreases over time, the monthly premiums are typically lower for the life of the policy. The final payout might not be big enough to cover everything, but it will be enough to pay the mortgage off.
A level term policy pays the same agreed amount and lasts for the length of time that you choose. If you know that your family will need financial support for the next 18 years, then you’d take out a policy that lasts 18 years. It’ll payout enough to cover the important costs and help your children get by until they can stand on their own two feet.
You could also look at different kinds of life insurance products such as critical illness cover or income protection to add on to a life insurance policy. These products are designed to cover you if you can’t work so that you can make sure that your bills are paid and there’s food on the table. And in case you’re having issues with your insurance claims, make sure to hire an insurance litigation expert for professional legal help.
Hopefully, you’ve now made the decision to take out life insurance. If finding the time to do all your research feels like an impossible feat, insurance brokers such as LifeSearch can really relieve the burden by doing the hard work for you. They’ll happily provide you with free advice and put you on the road to finding your perfect policy.
Don’t put it off any longer!