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Impending Fatherhood: When is the Best Time to Purchase Whole Life Insurance?

Congratulations!

You and your wife or partner are going to become parents. This time just before fatherhood has so much joy and positive anticipation as you ready yourselves to welcome a new life into your family.

 

If something were to happen to you, think about the financial responsibility that would fall to your wife or partner. Mortgage or rent. Medical bills. Child care. College tuition.

As you probably already know, preparing for the growth of your family takes plenty of work – buying baby clothes, diapers, and toys; preparing the nursery; finding the right pediatrician; planning for childcare or adjusting to one parent staying home. Preparation also includes some financial planning, as raising a child typically doesn’t come cheap.

Cost of Raising Children

According to the USDA, “the estimated expense to raise a child from birth through age 17 is $233,610 (in 2015 dollars) for a middle-income (before-tax income between $59,200 and $107,400), married-couple family with two children”1. And that’s before college even begins!

So while you’re in the midst of financial planning for your growing family, life insurance should be something you should seriously consider, especially now that you’ll have extra people depending on you.

Consider Life Insurance

Life insurance can help provide the ultimate protection for your family, helping to ease financial burdens for your loved ones in the event of your premature death. If something were to happen to you, think about the financial responsibility that would fall to your wife or partner. Mortgage or rent. Medical bills. Child care. College tuition. These are all costs that your family will continue to face with or without your income. Even if you’re planning on being a stay-at-home dad, life insurance should still be an essential since child care and other costs would be your partner’s responsibility if the unplanned were to happen.

According to insure.com, “Life insurance should be at the top of your to-do list when your family is about to grow”2.

Since you’re likely to be a father for the rest of your life, you may want to consider purchasing a whole life insurance policy (which can provide coverage for your whole life). This type of life insurance is “useful if you have a lifelong financial dependent, such as a child with special needs,”3 according to nerdwallet.com.

Something else to consider is a life insurance policy for your baby, as well. Though it’s not a topic anyone likes to think about, planning for the possible death of a child may be in a family’s best interest, especially if covering medical and final expenses would create a financial hardship. According to dummies.com, if you purchase a whole life policy for your child, “it will start your child on the right track to financial security for retirement,” though it also advises speaking with a professional prior to purchasing4.

  1. Expenditures on Children by Families, March 5, 2018
  2. Pregnant? Make these 3 insurance moves now, March 5, 2018
  3. A New Parent’s Guide to Life Insurance, March 5, 2018
  4. How to choose a Life Insurance Policy as a new dad, March 5, 2018