{"id":9041,"date":"2014-05-29T17:06:51","date_gmt":"2014-05-30T00:06:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/?p=9041"},"modified":"2014-05-29T17:06:51","modified_gmt":"2014-05-30T00:06:51","slug":"five-things-every-new-parent-needs-to-know-about-life-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/life-insurance-2\/five-things-every-new-parent-needs-to-know-about-life-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Things Every New Parent Needs to Know About Life Insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is nothing more exciting and frightening than becoming a parent for the first time. From the moment you find out you\u2019re expecting, the parenthood adventure begins. From baby showers to Lamaze class, it\u2019s all part of the preparation game. This is also the time when most new parents prepare financially by purchasing life insurance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When you buy life insurance, you\u2019re basically paying for peace of mind that in the unlikely event of your death, your loved ones will be taken care of financially. Life insurance can ensure that funeral costs, medical bills, mortgage, college, or anything else you plan for can be paid off if you, as the policyholder were to pass away. Sure, it\u2019s not something any of us like to think about, especially if you\u2019re getting ready to welcome your new bundle of joy into the world, but hey, life happens, and if the unexpected happens, you\u2019ll want to make sure your loved ones are taken care of and aren\u2019t left with a pile of bills.<\/p>\n

So, whether you\u2019re a new parent, or preparing to become one, here are five tips to buying life insurance:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Know the difference between term life insurance vs whole life insurance<\/strong>
\nGenerally, life insurance falls under two categories: term life insurance<\/a> and whole life insurance.<\/p>\n

Term life insurance provides coverage at a fixed rate for a limited period of time, usually 10, 20 or 30 years. If you pass away while the policy is active, then your beneficiaries get the amount for which you\u2019re insured. If the policy expires, then you\u2019ll need to renew it again once it does. Term life insurance is usually recommended for younger families with kids because it covers a set period of time with affordable premiums.<\/p>\n

Whole life insurance, or permanent insurance covers the policyholder for as long as they\u2019re alive. The premiums for this type of insurance are higher than term life insurance, but a portion of the funds goes into a tax-deferred savings account which can be accessed by the policyholder if needed, while they\u2019re still alive. However, many experts recommend that younger families avoid whole life insurance because the premiums are very expensive compared to term life insurance, and it can take longer for a whole life policy to accumulate a significant cash value. It\u2019s better for younger families to take advantage of the cheaper rates term life insurance offers them, and have savings left over to invest or use as an emergency fund.<\/p>\n

2. Get your coverage priorities in order<\/strong>
\nOnce you\u2019ve decided what type of life insurance is right for your family<\/a>, the next step is to determine your coverage priorities. You can approach this in one of two ways: by evaluating your family\u2019s key costs in the next couple of year, such as tuition, child care, mortgage, college, etc, or you can purchase.
\nSome financial experts however, recommend that you have a specific goal in mind for each policy: such as paying off your mortgage, paying off your kid\u2019s college tuition, etc. Once you figure out what your priorities are and what you\u2019d like your policy to pay for, then you\u2019ll have a better idea on how much coverage you\u2019ll need.<\/p>\n

3. Buy life insurance while you\u2019re young<\/strong>
\nThe cost of life insurance is determined by your age and health. Buying life insurance in your 20\u2019s is much cheaper than buying it in your 30\u2019s, and buying it in your 30\u2019s is cheaper than in your 40\u2019s, and so on.\u00a0 If you\u2019re young and healthy, then the time to buy life insurance is right now! Your medical situation can change at any time and an unwanted diagnosis can disqualify you from obtaining life insurance later down the line.<\/p>\n

4. Both parents should be insured<\/strong>
\nWhether both spouses work, or one stays home to take care of the kids, both parents should have life insurance. Many couples only insure the spouse with the paying job and that can be a big financial mistake. Families should consider purchasing life insurance for the stay-at-home parent as well. If they were to pass away, the policy can help cover the cost of services they generally provide on a daily basis such as child-care, cleaning the house, cooking, laundry, etc.<\/p>\n

5. Talk to an insurance expert<\/strong>
\nPurchasing life insurance<\/a> is very important in insuring your family\u2019s financial future but it can be confusing at times. This is why it\u2019s recommended to talk to an insurance expert, who can personalize a policy to fit your new family\u2019s needs and provide you with the most competitive rates. If you have any questions or are looking into buying a life insurance policy, talk to one of our Freeway Insurance experts today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is nothing more exciting and frightening than becoming a parent for the first time. From the moment you find out you\u2019re expecting, the parenthood adventure begins. From baby showers to Lamaze class, it\u2019s all part of the preparation game. This is also the time when most new parents prepare financially by purchasing life insurance. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[323],"tags":[126],"importance":[],"type-content":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9041"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9041"},{"taxonomy":"importance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/importance?post=9041"},{"taxonomy":"type-content","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type-content?post=9041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}