We have seen so many of those Gerber Insurance Policies, and also have several friends who have policies on their children. Do your kids have Life Insurance Policies?
I can’t currently afford it, but it’s a good idea. Talk to an insurance professional that you trust that specializes in whole life planning. You want something that can grow with your child, that builds value as they get older and that does not require having health checked to purchase more. My brother in law was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 14 - it almost killed him. He’s ok now, but his insurance costs are through the roof. Gerber’s a tiny policy and doesn’t have the punch of a true whole life insurance plan.
No - you only need life insurance if you have dependents who will suffer financially if you die. Children do not have dependents. You would do better putting the money away for college. None of my insurance agents or my attorney have ever recommended a life insurance policy for my son. My son does have his own health insurance policy - that seems the appropriate insurance against a catastrophic health crisis.
No. I would hate to think about something terrible happening to my kids, but if it did we would be able to pay for the expenses. And it’s not as if they have dependents to take care of.
The other reason would be to do it as an investment for the child (ie, the Gerber plan talks about being worth a certain amount to cash in later). But in my opinion, a better investment for my child’s future is a college 529 plan.
Yes, each of my children have two life insurance policies both of which can be later used for college if desired.
Yes, we have small policies on each of our kids. They are connected to our policies. I think it is like $5 - $10 per month. Our agent recommended them when we changed ours after the kids were born. At first I didnt want to do it, because the thought of even having something happen to one of them was disturbing, but as she pointed out things do happen and the last thing we would want to worry about is how we would pay for it, ect. because when a parent loses a child they are devestated in alot of times don’t return to work for a long period of time. Thus they lose income. So in essence the policy helps out financially. Hope what I am trying to say makes sense, my brain is working backwards today. 
I have and have had life insurance policies on each of my children since I got divorced and they were very young.
Now they’re all adults and I still carry the policies. It’s not that much of an expense and it does give me peace of mind in the horrid idea that anything were to happen to them, I’d at least be able to give them a proper funeral/burial. Same as if they were children and even if they have insurance through their jobs/workplaces - the money would go to paying off debts or caring for loved ones.
Life Insurance is a must, in my opinion at least.
Yes. I am able to carry a small life insurance through my employer. I have $10k in coverage for 3 kids for about $2 a month.
Yes.
We have (and have had for years) a policy on me (SAHM) because my husband would need to hire someone to do everything I do, if I were not here. A full time nanny, basically. My husband works shift work and weekends, and sometimes overnight. Not M-F, 9-5.
We have a more recent policy on my husband (we switched some things and took out a newer policy in him replacing an older one). When we took out this policy, we dropped the one that included coverage on dependent children. So we added a rider for each of the kids on the newer policy.
I think it is for around $15k on each child.
Enough to cover funeral costs and possible some residual medical costs if there were a tragedy.
These are NOT through Gerber. I think you can get better coverage, more cheaply than through them. If you currently have a policy on yourself or your spouse, ask about adding a rider for your kids.
Yes, just a small 10,000 policy , plus I think 2 thousand from the life insurance my job offers at no cost.
Yes we have a small one if God forbid something should happen, we can give them a nice funeral etc.
You should.
My parents had it on me and my sis.
When my sis died of cancer, well, it helped with all of her med bills.
I didnt have it for my kids.
My kids have it now tho, on their own. I think the army taught them that it would be a good thing for them to do.
You can buy policies for cheap while they are young and they can continue with them when they are older and even use them to borrow money off of if you have the right type, cant remember if it’s term or whole life. But policies are really reasonable when you buy them for youngsters, and it’s a good gift for them as they age and can keep up the premiums on their own.
I was lame and let mine lapse during my divorce from my ex. Wish I could do THAT over.
No…health, dental, vision, but not life.
We have a rider on our policies no matter how many children we have, they are all covered up to 20,000.
Don’t buy whole life policies, they are really a waste of money.
ETA: I believe the cost of adding this rider to our life policies was about $26.00 a year. Look into adding them onto your existing life insurance policies (if you have them.) Also, the reason we added this rider instead of planning to “afford” our children’s funneral, is because we’d probably use up all of our savings during the mourning process since neither of us would be working after such a heart breaking experience. So, I think the $26.00 a year is worth the peace of mind.
Yes - mine is through work and is about $2 a month. It would provide $10K per child if ever needed so that would cover a funeral. If I didn’t have it through work, I would pay about $5 per month for a similar rider on our own term life policies.
The Gerber plans and other whole life policies are a waste of money. Something to cover funeral expenses for a couple of bucks a month is a good investment but for real investing, there are much better products for children than insurance.
yes, we have life insurance for our kids, through my work. We never did get it anywhere else like Gerber. I think its important, because, God forbid if something were to happen, funerals are very expensive.
No. It’s a waste of money. Invest the amount you would spend in a college savings account instead.
The only reason to have life insurance on a child is, God forbid, s/he dies and you can’t afford a funeral.
Otherwise, invest your money elsewhere!
They sure do! I used to work at an insurance company so I know a lot about the cost of insurance. The thing is, they will need it someday and insurance is never cheaper than it is today. What I mean is it goes up more and more by age. My kids policies are super cheap, we pay quarterly on them, about $50 for each kid. They each have about $25,000 worth of permanent insurance. Our policies are 20 pay policies, which means we pay on them for 20 years, and then they are paid up for life. They are also the kind that build cash value, so when the kids are grown they could eventually cash them out instead of keeping the insurance. I think of it more like an investment than like my kids are going to die or something. I would not go through Gerber personally, call you car insurance company or I went through my old work, Western and Southern. They only sell health and life and have tons of options.
Just ask to see the price on buying for your kids, versus buying the same policy for yourself, and you will understand why its good to buy it now. I have asthma and get rated higher for my policies, I wish my parents had bought me some when I was little.
Yes! They each have $25K whole life policies through USAA. They cost us about $5 a month.
By the time they are 18, the policies will be paying for themselves. This will also allow them to increase or add on to the policy for higher amounts.
There are people who don’t believe in life insurance for the kids or that you should spend your money or invest it elsewhere. Check into policies and get quotes. You need to do what’s right for YOU.
Whole life gives them money they could borrow against in the future as the policy actually starts growing.
Good luck!