Hi Mom! Great question! If I understand your question correctly, you are asking how much insurance should I purchase? I'd suggest that you figure out what it would cost to have to pay for your services, should that have to happen. Include the cost of meals, snacks, and whatever else you are providing that a childcare facility would charge you for. Then I would add in the cost of your funeral expenses. Take a good look at your budget - what can you safely afford to spend each month? Take that number, and decide whether you are better off with a term policy or a whole life policy, that you can let grow for awhile. If you would like help with this, please feel free to contact me, I'd be glad to make time for you. I have a ton of respect for stay at home parents, it is a real job. Thanks for asking!
Don't underestimate your value as a stay at home mom or domestic engineer as some call themselves. Insurance companies appreciate the value you provide as long as you can justify the amount of coverage. Follow Jim's advice. What is the cost of each meal, breakfast, lunch & dinner, the value of taking the kids to and from school, activities and other events, thw cost of care ie. what daycare provider's charge.
Don't be surprised if the amount is over $300k or more. If you got paid for what you do, you'd be making $100,000 + per year.
Certainly Mom needs life insurance, I never forget about Mom. I like to ask Dad, if Mom dies today, how much help would you need? Depending on the age of the children expenses could include a nanny, daycare center, housekeeper, cook and an errand service. I have added up expenses with families in more affluent areas north of $80,000 per year. In life insurance the general rule of thumb is ten times that expense or $800,000 face amount. This way the money can be invested and used annually to pay for those ongoing expenses.
When you purchase life insurance as a stay at home mom, most insurance companies will limit your coverage to the amount of life insurance that is on the breadwinner in the home. So start out by making sure that whoever is bringing home the main paycheck has enough life insurance on him/her. Then I would suggest getting the same amount of coverage as he/she has. If the breadwinner would pass away, you would have more expenses because you would have to hire the services you provide. And depending on your circumstances, you may or may not be able to earn as much as he/she does. So take advantage of the opportunity to get the full amount of life insurance that the breadwinner in your home has. You certainly deserve it.
Agency Owner, The Thomas G Sheehan Agency, 27 Glen Road Sandy Hook, CT 06482
When ever I have discussed coverage options for a woman who is a stay at home Mom, we center on the value that her effort and dedication add to the running of that family home and the raising of the children in that home. We talk about the going rate for child care, home maintenance, and all the important things that seem so easily forgotten when one uses that phrase to describe that it means to be a stay at home Mom. We talk about what the impact, financially, it would be if she were to suddenly die. Would her spouse be able to walk into the boss and expect to receive an immediate 6 figure raise? Probably not.
Co-Founder, TermInsuranceBrokers.com, Goldenzweig Financial Group, Las Vegas, Nevada
The maximum amount of coverage carriers generally approve for a stay-at-home spouse (or even if they're just temporarily unemployed) is going to be up to the face amount the working spouse has in place, regardless of whether it's term or permanent coverage.
A good way to figure out how much coverage is appropriate for a non-working spouse is what expenses would be incurred you need is what expenses would be incurred if the stay-at-home spouse passed away. This can be a wide range of things including the cost of daycare (if you have kids), what it would cost to hire someone to do the services the stay-at-home spouse did during the day, funeral expenses, etc.
From there, you'll want to look at how long do you need that coverage for? Til the kids are out of the house? til the house is paid off? til you're retired? longer? Perhaps you need a higher amount of coverage now and less coverage later. Many people often have a hard time finding the right balance point of amount of coverage and length of coverage.
This is where working with an independent insurance agent can come in handy in helping you determine what insurance policy structure will be most suitable to cover the needs at hand. Send me a message if I can be of help.
Business Development Officer, T.D. McNeil Insurance Services, Fresno, California
The mother of children is extremely valuable. There are humorous pieces written describing her 24 hour a day job, and the wide array of “specialties” that she must have. It is enough to say that she is irreplaceable. While that is also true of the breadwinner, it does need a long sober look. Some moms have disabled children, some home-school; others are fabulous supports to their spouses. Buy all the insurance that you can afford and pray that nothing happens to her.
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Don't be surprised if the amount is over $300k or more. If you got paid for what you do, you'd be making $100,000 + per year.
A good way to figure out how much coverage is appropriate for a non-working spouse is what expenses would be incurred you need is what expenses would be incurred if the stay-at-home spouse passed away. This can be a wide range of things including the cost of daycare (if you have kids), what it would cost to hire someone to do the services the stay-at-home spouse did during the day, funeral expenses, etc.
From there, you'll want to look at how long do you need that coverage for? Til the kids are out of the house? til the house is paid off? til you're retired? longer? Perhaps you need a higher amount of coverage now and less coverage later. Many people often have a hard time finding the right balance point of amount of coverage and length of coverage.
This is where working with an independent insurance agent can come in handy in helping you determine what insurance policy structure will be most suitable to cover the needs at hand. Send me a message if I can be of help.