Single Parent Life Insurance
When you are a single parent, you always have to worry about the status of your financial situation. It may always seem to you that everything must be put into a strict budget and if you deviate from that budget, everything can be thrown off balance. Budgeting for life insurance is on the minds of many single parents, and it is extremely important to buy a policy before it is too late. The sooner you buy policy, the lower your overall premium will be.
Policy Beneficiaries
Having life insurance as a single parent is more important than you may think, even if you have other support systems in place if something were to happen. When you have one or dependent children, you usually their main source of livelihood, so it is especially important that you have enough coverage to protect them if something were to happen to you. Life insurance coverage should be enough to cover your final bills and debt, as well as pay for your children's cost of living expenses until they are at least eighteen.
When you have dependent children that means they are legally under your care and are your responsibility. When they are under the age where they are considered to be a legal adult, they will need to be provided for by an adult, or caretaker. You can name a caretaker as your beneficiary so your benefits go towards the care of your children.
Older children will still need coverages in the event of your passing. When you do not have a spouse or partner, your children will be left with the responsibility of handling your funeral, bills and estate. If they receive your benefits from your life insurance, they will be able to maintain your estate and not have to worry about your final bills when they are going through such a turbulent time in their lives as to lose a parent. You can also arrange for older children to receive your benefits for collage, or for your grandchildren.
Term vs Whole
Term life insurance is a good idea if you have young children and want to purchase a large amount of coverage. You can purchase a policy to cover you until your children become adults to ensure that you can provide them with the coverage to protect them financially until they become adults. Term policies may carry lower premium payments for large amounts of coverage since you are not covered indefinitely, and your premium will be lower.
Whole life insurance policies cover you from the time you purchase the coverage, until the time of your passing. This is a good option if you want to provide your children with the same amount of benefits regardless of if they are minors or not at the time of your passing. This is also a good option if your children are not minors at the time you purchase the policy. Whole policies may be paid for all at once, or on a monthly basis.
Regardless of which type of policy you go with, single parent life insurance may be somewhat higher than a two parent family, or for a person without dependent children. The same factors are considered for single parents that are considered for anyone, factors such as age, race, how many children you have, and current state of health are considered at the time of purchase of the policy. Either policy will probably be based on the results of a required health exam to asses your current health, and those without preexisting conditions and who are in good health will have more options for coverage.