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Questions Growing Families Have About Life Insurance

Writer's picture: Madison HostetlerMadison Hostetler

Updated: Jan 29


Mitch Hostetler/ November 05, 2019
Mitch Hostetler/ November 05, 2019

If you are just starting or expanding your family and are considering life insurance, congratulations on this new journey. Exploring life insurance is a smart move. Here are some questions I’ve heard over the years:


1. What type of life insurance coverage is best for new parents—term or permanent? Before figuring out what kind of coverage you need, you first have to understand how much death benefit you need to protect your family. You can do an easy calculation online to get a working idea of how much you may need with this by clicking here.

Then you can move on to what kind of coverage—term or permanent—meets your needs. An advantage of term life insurance is that it costs less than permanent life insurance, at least initially. This makes it affordable for young families that may not have a lot of disposable income, but have a large need for coverage. Permanent insurance provides both  lifelong coverage and a cash accumulation feature, which can be a valuable source of money that you can tap in the future.


Often, the best solution can be a combination of term and permanent life insurance. The term policy can give you extra coverage during the years when the children are at home, with the permanent policy offering lifelong coverage.



2. Should you consider different types of coverage if you are working mom versus a stay-at-home mom? Both working and stay-at-home moms need protection because what they do for their families is so valuable. While a stay-at-home mom isn’t compensated for her work, if something were to happen to her, it would be expensive to replace all those things she does—from childcare to home care to ensuring the family gets where they need to go when they have to be there.

The difference between the two is that a working mother also contributes an income, which may be critical to the family financially. This means she needs to think about replacing that income when considering how much life insurance coverage she may need.




3. The company where I work offers life insurance, is that enough? Group insurance is a great benefit to have, but it’s limited in a number of ways. First, the coverage is often a lump sum, such as $50,000, or it may be one to two times your salary. That may sound like a lot of money, but my question to you is: Honestly, how long would that money last? And what would happen to your family financially after that was gone?

Second, when you leave that job, you generally lose that coverage. If you don’t have an individual policy that you own, you’ll be leaving your family at risk. Think of how many times people change jobs, and you’ll quickly realize that group coverage, which is limited in scope and amount, is not a proper life insurance plan.



4. What can I expect to pay for life insurance? How much you pay for life insurance is based on a number of things but most importantly age and health. So, it depends on how old  and how healthy you are! But here’s an example: A healthy 25-year-old woman could get $250,000 in life insurance coverage (for a 20-year level term policy for a nonsmoker) for about $16 a month. A healthy 25-year-old man could get $250,000 in life insurance coverage (for a 20-year level term policy for a nonsmoker) for about $18 a month. That’s certainly a lot of peace of mind for $16 or $18 a month.

In conclusion talking with one of our licensed insurance agents can be very valuable. We can do a needs assessment and come up with the right type and amount of life insurance that works for your family budget. What many people don’t realize is that we will sit down and offer this advice free of charge, with no strings attached. If you’d like help figuring out what life insurance product and amount is right for you, you can contact us at Hostetler Insurance Group.



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