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Parents often question the wisdom of purchasing life insurance for children. As children are generally not contributors to a family's financial well-being, many wonder if life insurance is really necessary. Financial experts will often argue that money spent on life insurance for children could be better spent by investing in college plans or other accounts. These perspectives paint purchasing life insurance for a child as a foolhardy financial investment.
These viewpoints, at first glance, make a great deal of sense. There is generally no compelling reason to obtain insurance policies with large payouts for youngsters. However, there are at least three reasons why life insurance for children can make sound financial sense.
Final Expenses
In the event of child's early death, a pre-existing life insurance policy can provide sufficient proceeds to cover funeral and burial expenses. For many families, the prospect of paying these expenses out-of-pocket in the event of catastrophe would be quite problematic. The relatively low cost of life insurance for children can be a sensible way of providing peace of mind regarding these expenses.
Medical Debts
The proceeds of a child's life insurance policy can be used to cover medical debts that may exist subsequent to a youngster's death. Considering the high costs of medical care and likely expenses in excess of what may be covered by health insurance plans in the case of serious illness, a juvenile life insurance policy's proceeds could provide a family with significant financial relief in the case of fatal illness.
Insuring Coverage
Purchasing life insurance for a healthy child is relatively inexpensive. Should the child develop a serious medical condition while uninsured, however, parents may suddenly find premium costs to be very expensive. As such, many companies offering juvenile insurance policies argue that getting coverage early may result in significant cost-savings down the road in the even that a medical condition or illness should develop later.
Often, the idea of a life insurance policy for a younger child is quickly dismissed as a poor investment. Many look at the issue of life insurance for children through the same lens they use to approach life insurance in adults. They argue that life insurance's primary purpose is to protect loved ones and family members financially in the event of the policyholder's death. They see life insurance simply as a means of income replacement. Since children do not significantly contribute to family income, they maintain that the purchase of a life insurance makes little or no sense in the case of children.
However, a more comprehensive look at the nature of life insurance and its benefits reveals that purchasing some life insurance for a child can make good financial sense under certain circumstances. It can provide for final expenses, serve as a means to pay for medical debts, and can allow some life insurance coverage to begin at a relatively low cost in cases where a later-developing illness or medical condition may make obtaining life insurance for the child too expensive.