Life Insurance for Stay at Home Parents

by Insurance 5 comments

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Earlier this year, I increased my life insurance coverage now that we became parents.

I feel better having that safety net for my family. It took some time to get a number that we both felt comfortable with and finding a policy premium that went well with our budget.

Getting the right life insurance coverage is personal – each family has to find the right amount for them. One situation that can be a bit tough to figure out is how much coverage to get for a stay at home parent.

How Much Life Insurance Coverage?

The rule of thumb for life insurance is to get a policy that is 8-10x your annual income. With a stay at home parent, it's not that clear-cut. What has to be discussed is what would happen should the stay at home parent pass away.

Yes, it can be uncomfortable, but to determine a suitable amount of life insurance coverage, you two have to have the conversation.

  • Grieving: Losing a spouse/parent is life-altering and your family needs time to grieve. If you don't have savings to cover the short time off from work, you may want to include that with life insurance coverage.
  • Childcare: Check around places now to get an idea of how much you'd need to cover this expense.
  • Final Expenses: Uncomfortable to think about, but have a ballpark figure of how much it would cost to cover your final expenses.
  • Financial Assistance: If you want to leave money for your spouse and children to help with future expenses talk about what feels right for you.

Taking care of this while you're in good health can help you to be more objective with planning and save you money when you sign up for a life insurance policy.

Working through this can help married couples be better prepared for the future.

HavenLife can be a helpful resource for finding you a deal with term life insurance.

Thoughts on Life Insurance for Stay at Home Parents

Hopefully, as you two build your net worth you can switch over to being self-insured.

For those couples with a stay at home parent, how did you determine your life insurance coverage?

Did I miss any other considerations for couples to speak about when figuring out the right amount of coverage for their family?

About Elle Martinez

Elle Martinez helps families at Couple Money achieve financial freedom by sharing tips for reducing debt, increase income, and building net worth. Learn how to live on one income and have fun with the second..

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5 comments add your comment

  1. How soon should one get life insurance? I get free life insurance with my work and I’m in my early 20s, but if they hadn’t, I don’t think I would have thought about it.

    • It depends – do you have any dependents that will financially suffer should something happen to you? If not, you can skip on getting an additional policy for now.

  2. I’m glad you pointed out the part about childcare in the event a stay at home mom passes away. I’d imagine that this would be a big cost. I really can’t think of anything beyond that expense that needs to be insured.

    • You’re right John – some pf these considerations are not essential. They’re personal preferences that couples should talk over with one another.

  3. Life Insurance is quite expensive but its helpful, also I want about the exact amount a single parent be insured or does it depend on personal preference?

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