8 Life Insurance Hacks for New Parents

This post was written as part of the Allstate Influencer Program and sponsored by Allstate. All opinions are mine. As the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer, Allstate is dedicated not only to protecting what matters most–but to guiding people to live the Good Life, every day.

New parents: think you don't need life insurance yet? Think again! Check out why you should consider it & eight hacks to make purchasing it easier!

The first time I saw my son, a rush of love and protectiveness overwhelmed me. It was a wonderful feeling and I am sure you mamas know what I am talking about! I was groggy from my C-section, but wanted to hold him tight and protect him! My mother and husband were fussing with the rest: diaper change, paperwork, etc. and I was just admiring my son. My dad, on the other hand, was standing beside me and said the following: Now Olfa you need to think of getting life insurance! My dad was a man of few words. He did not elaborate on it and honestly, I was too overwhelmed by my feelings for my baby to think about this.

But when he revisited the topic, I was convinced in no time! I am hoping I can be as convincing to you about the importance of life insurance!

Why is life insurance so important for a new parent and where do you start?

Honestly, I thought that life insurance was for older people and did not see why I needed it. I was young and healthy so why would I need to have life insurance? Most importantly, how did I go about even getting a policy? My answer: Allstate! Their online tools helped me figure what I needed! But first, do you know why life insurance is so important?

Why Life insurance is so important:

1- Life insurance will cover burial expenses

Unfortunately, death can strike at any age! You don’t want to add a financial burden on top of the emotional one to your family. Think of all the expenses, from the memorial service to the burial itself. Make it easier on your family.

2- Life insurance can help provide for your family

You know all of those expenses that your income or contribution to the family covers now? Your life insurance may continue to cover them if you are gone. Even if you are a stay- at-home parent, you are contributing to the household. Your spouse may need to hire a caregiver for your children or someone to take charge of the house!

3- It can help pay for education

I know that you are still changing diapers but let me tell you this: babies grow in the blink of an eye. Before you know it, they’re off to college. While life insurance is, first and foremost, there to protect you and your family if you pass away, if you have a permanent form you may be able to take a loan to help pay for college. It’s important to note, though, that unpaid interest on the loans is added to the loan principle. This increases the total debt on your policy. The combination of increasing loan balance, deductions for contract charges and fees, and unfavorable investment performance could cause your policy to lapse. If that happens, it triggers ordinary income taxation on the outstanding balance of the loan and may exceed your cost basis in the policy. So using your life insurance policy to pay for college isn’t an ideal option, but when you are struggling to find a way to help get your kids through college, it’s good to know that you may at least have the option available to you.

But where to start and how? I was clueless! Once my dad convinced me that I needed life insurance, even at such a young age, I didn’t know what I needed to do next!

4- Find the right agent!

To help you demystify all those insurance terms and help you get the best coverage, find the right agent. Allstate makes it easy with their agent locator tool. You can search by Zip code, state or even by agent name if you already have one in mind!

5- Determine your needs

That is the toughest part. How much do I need when I die? $10,000 or $100,000? If I am a stay-at-home parent, how can I calculate my contribution? I was so lost! Luckily, Allstate has a fantastic calculator that can help you assess your needs!  It took me just minutes to determine how much I needed. I just provided some easy to find financial information: income, mortgage, etc., and I got an estimate.

New parents: think you don't need life insurance yet? Think again! Check out why you should consider it & eight hacks to make purchasing it easier!

6- Calculate how much you can afford

As brand new parents, chances are your budget is already stretched pretty thin. You might think that you don’t have enough money to cover life insurance premiums on top of all the diapers and baby food that your tiny tot is going through. But there is always room in a budget. When my husband and I tracked our expenses, we found out that we indulged in clothing and take out! We cut back on these and we were surprised at how much money we could spare.

Once you figure out your budget and the monthly amount you can afford for life insurance, you have to understand your options

7-Understand your options within your budget.

When evaluating my options, I learned that there are 2 types of life insurance: term life and permanent life insurance.

Basically, with the term option, the protection is set for a period of time. If you set it for 20 years and death happens within that time frame, your beneficiary will be paid a benefit. Whereas with the permanent life insurance, there is no time period. The beneficiary gets paid at your death.

Again Allstate came to my rescue with their video that really helped explain both options. I understood that term life insurance is typically more affordable than whole life insurance for me.

8- Make it a priority with the right agent

I cannot emphasize it enough. You want a trusted insurance provider, like Allstate, that has been around for a while and offers a diverse range of options. It’s so important that you are comfortable with your choice. They’ll walk you through the whole process so you don’t feel as lost as I did when I was learning about life insurance for the first time.

Do you already have a life insurance policy? Share your hacks for new parents in the comments!

37 thoughts on “8 Life Insurance Hacks for New Parents”

  1. This one’s an eye opener for some people who find it unnecessary to have insurance. When it comes to finding the right agent, you can’t just “find’ one using all those tools and search engines, it takes a real connection and understanding so you can find the right plan for you instead of an agent simply busting out their best plans and you choosing from their options.

  2. I am not a new parent, but these are great tips to pass on to new parents. I learned a lot about in this post about why you would want life insurance and how it can benefit young families.

  3. Reesa Lewandowski

    We aren’t new parents, but this is really great info for us. Sadly, we have put off life insurance for a long time and we need to make it a priority!

  4. We got it right away when our little ones were born many years ago. Now we don’t have it, because of a big life change that took place last year, and I really miss it. It’s a security you really want to have in place.

  5. We picked up life insurance about a year ago. We opted for term because the plan is to have the house paid off by the end of the term so that we won’t need the money as much after that. With me already being a little older, whole life was prohibitively expensive.

  6. This is such an important post! The truth is none of us want to face these issues but they are so necessary and I’m so glad Allstate is helping to start the conversation. Great stuff!

  7. Once you have someone relying on you, life insurance is important. It’s good to be prepared because you’ll never know! I think this is a good guide for understanding life insurance!

  8. Honestly, I think everyone should have life insurance, even if they aren’t a new parent. Too many times I see families left struggling to pay the cost of final expenses because they didn’t take care of it themselves. I would never want to leave my family that kind of burden!

  9. This is something that is so important and everyone must check it and make sure to get coverage for! It’s really important and I am so glad to be informed. Thanks for this great info

  10. Life insurance is one area that we are totally slacking in. Thank you for the reminder that we need to make this more of a priority in our lives, especially since you truly never know.

  11. I’m so glad I came across this post because oh so many people don’t realize how important life insurance is once you have kids. It can provide such a peace of mind and take one thing off of your worry list.

  12. This is very important information! I have a 10 year old and it feels like I just had him yesterday. I can’t believe that in less then time he has been alive, he will be headed off to school! Preparing for the future is very important!

  13. Pam Wattenbarger

    Life insurance is so important. These are great tips for new parents who are looking into getting life insurance.

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