Why Young Parents Need Life Insurance Too

By: Dana Harvey

When I was twenty-five, I was getting married, buying a fixer-upper, and preparing to have our first baby. Adult things, right? If you’re entering the world of parenthood, you may be adding items to the baby registry or finding yourself sleep-deprived from the late-night feedings. With this new life unfolding before you, the thought of losing your own never crosses your mind.

As parents, young ones at that, it was crucial to avoid leaving our loved ones with financial stress when faced with an unexpected loss. Although uncomfortable to think about, during such an exciting time in life, there really isn’t a more relevant time to need life insurance.

Here are four reasons I decided to purchase life insurance at a young age:

1. My Kids & Spouse Depend on Me

If you just had a baby, congrats on your new bundle of joy and financial responsibility for the next eighteen years—and beyond! Not many of us are thinking about life insurance after having a baby, but this is precisely when you should. Life insurance was created for that exact reason, to cover the expenses of your loved ones that depend on you when you’re gone.
 

As a young parent, I had to consider how much I would leave my surviving spouse to cover on their own financially. It’s no secret how pricey it is to raise children. It’s daunting to consider paying for your mortgage, childcare, diapers, and even college tuition with a sudden loss of income. A life insurance policy would ensure my family wouldn’t suffer more than they would by merely shifting the financial burden to an insurance company. Another thing we considered was getting life insurance for both of us. We both work from home and take care of our kids simultaneously. If I were to pass, my husband wouldn’t be able to take care of all three kids while working from home, resulting in childcare expenses moving forward. Both of our presence brings a monetary contribution, whether a second income or significant savings with childcare.

2. The Cost Was Lower Since We’re Young and Healthy

We are talking about a significant financial advantage to buying it as soon as possible. Life insurance policy costs increase as you age, so it’s crucial to lock in a rate when you’re young and healthy. You may even benefit from getting life insurance before you have kids, as pregnancy can cause health issues that could factor into your monthly premium. Having back-to-back pregnancies, one being very complicated, left me in bad shape. We needed a physical for a larger life insurance policy, and although our rates were decent, I can’t imagine how much better they would have been if we locked it in before the babies.

3. I’m Carrying Student Loans with Co-Signers

If you’re like me, you didn’t graduate college too long ago, so you’re likely carrying some debt. It’s probably safe to also assume the majority of those loans had a co-signer. As a young student with no credit history or income, the banks would not lend to me without my parents’ co-sign. So, what do you think would happen to those loans if you were to pass away unexpectedly? Those debts fall into the laps of the co-signer, aka my parents. They will be expected to take over or pay back in full immediately. It’s a great idea to protect your co-signers from having to pay your debt or ruin their credit attempting to do so.

4. Funeral Costs Would Be Covered

If you have kids, you’ve been introduced to the new and very expensive costs of raising a child. Between the diapers and childcare expenses, it’s not likely you have a large chunk of money laying around for an unexpected funeral. During the birth of our second child, I experienced a very rare and unexpected complication. We exhausted nearly all our savings for an extended NICU stay at the hospital. If something had happened to me, I wouldn’t have wanted my family to have gone through the grieving process while also dealing with the financial burden of a funeral.

Life insurance for yourself and your spouse is not only ensuring coverage for your family’s financial future, but it’s also providing peace of mind. As a parent, you’re not just living for yourself anymore, but for the family, you’ve created. With so many to-dos on your mind, don’t let the fear of providing for your family when you’re gone keep you up at night; just leave that to the baby.

PAID ENDORSEMENT