 | Lori Johnson is an insurance agent for Farm Bureau Financial Services, located at 219 S. Ozark, Girard, KS 66743. She can provide strategies for all stages of life: Vehicle, Homeowners, Farm, Business, Life Insurance, Annuities, Mutual Funds, Disability, Long-Term Care, Retirement and Education Funding, She is your resource for innovative insurance and investment products and services. To schedule an appointment, please call (620)724-4213 or email lori.johnson@fbfs.com. |
Insurance
2011-05-01 10:46:00
Life insurance for your children
Question: Is life insurance for my child really a good idea? What are the benefits of purchasing this type of policy at such a young age?
Answer: Some people are superstitious about insurance. They may be afraid to buy life insurance for their children, just as some people are fearful to buy it for themselves. Others feel sure that nothing bad could ever happen to their children/grandchildren, so they avoid spending the money to insure a child’s life.
The real truth is that there are reasons beyond the unthinkable to insure a child’s life. A good life insurance policy, purchased when a child is young, healthy and far from any negative events, can pay big dividends for the child later. In fact, most of the many reasons to insure your child’s life are really about ensuring that your child can have a long, happy, prosperous life, regardless of what he or she encounters in terms of illness or accident later.
Here are a few of the reasons to consider insuring your child:
•Permanent life insurance
accumulates cash value, and that
value grows tax-deferred. When
the child is old enough for college,
the cash could help pay for it. Or,
it could help the child purchase
his or her first home. If the policy
was left untouched through those
life transitions, it could even help
fund your child’s own retirement!
•Buying permanent life insurance
now guarantees your children will
not be without insurance later,
when they are more likely to need
it. Later in life, if they should
develop an illness or sustain
serious injury, it could be cost
prohibitive, or even impossible, to
obtain coverage.
•Insuring a child’s life with a
permanent life policy also means
that the child’s coverage can
continue regardless of military
service, health conditions-or taking
a college major in skydiving!
When you shop for life insurance for a child, there is still more to consider.
For instance, you can make sure the plan you buy offers a rider to purchase additional insurance. With that option, at such specified times as marriage or the births of your grandchildren, your child may purchase additional insurance at standard rates, without reapplying. Such a rider generally offers the opportunity to increase coverage on a no-questions-asked basis.
Advances in the science of statistics, too, will more firmly establish the mortality rates of various physical conditions, hobbies and professions. Your child becoming a member of any of those identified groups would also result in a premium hike, or the inability to purchase insurance at all.
Life insurance is one of the greatest lifetime gifts you can give to your children or grandchildren. And, while reasons for having life insurance can vary as you progress through the different stages of life, permanent life insurance can be an important component to their financial foundation at any age.
