How Renewable Life Insurance Benefits Your Kids

Most people think about purchasing life insurance for adults. Adults have people that depend on their income or services. If they were to die, their family members could have trouble paying the bills afterwards. However, you may want to consider getting your son or daughter a renewable policy. While you may not be dependent upon your child’s income, your child could benefit from your purchase of coverage for them.

Renewable life insurance gives the policy holder the option to extend their policy. When the plan is extended, the insured will not have to take a medical exam. The premium will probably increase with every renewal, but it will only increase based on the age of the insured changing, not on any medical conditions that may have sprouted up.

Why Get this Coverage?

Your child is hopefully in good health. When you purchase renewable life coverage for your healthy son or daughter, you will pay premiums based on a healthy individual. As your kid gets older, he or she may develop medical conditions that might make it difficult for them to get protection. Your children may develop diabetes or high blood pressure, or may find that their cholesterol levels are a little higher than they should be. If you insure your son or daughter today, before they develop these health complications, they will be able to continue to pay premiums based on what a healthy individual would pay, regardless of any medical problems that they might develop.

What to Look For

If you take out a plan for your offspring, you want to read the fine print. Find out what the policy means when it says that it is renewable. Be sure that it really is renewable without a medical examination. Some policies say they are “renewable,” but only mean that the policy is easy to extend, even though they require a medical examination. You may also want to look for a policy that can have the coverage increased when your child gets older. You may only need to insure your child for a small amount now, in order to help with funeral costs and perhaps medical bills, but your kids may want to get more protection later, in order to replace their income once they have a family that is dependent upon them.

The Controversy

Not all of the experts are equally enthusiastic about getting a plan for kids. Some people feel that you don’t need coverage for a child because they do not have an income. Some people don’t like the way that company representatives pressure parents into buying plans for their offspring by using lines like “if you love your son or daughter, you’d buy this.” Don’t be pressured into buying any kind of coverage. If you get peace of mind by insuring your kids, or feel good that you are protecting their future insurability, by all means insure your kid. If you think that you might have difficulty paying for a funeral or medical bills, go ahead and get covered. However, before you insure your offspring, make sure that you have adequate insurance. Your child and spouse would probably experience more financial devastation if you died without a plan than if your son or daughter died without coverage.