Does a Stay at Home Mom Need Life Insurance?
What is your worth as a stay at home mom?
I recently came across an article about why women need to purchase life insurance. It was staggering to read that 43% of working women do not have life insurance. While they didn’t give statistics, I can only imagine the rate of uninsured stay at home mothers.
Women bring a value into the home, working or not. Even if you are bringing in a small percentage of income, what would happen to your family if the inevitable should happen and all a sudden that income was not there?
Life insurance is a security net, and when purchased at a young age it can be very affordable to have. So why not have it? Why put that financial stress on your family to take care of your school loans, childcare, debt, etc. if you could no longer help to support your family?
I am a stay at home mother and while most would think that a stay at home mother doesn’t need Life Insurance, they are wrong. Every day I wake up to my children, take care of the house, their needs, and help to raise my children. While I may not be able to put a dollar amount on my services, my family would not be able to get the help needed should something happen to me and there was no Life Insurance to help.
Think about it…
As a stay at home mom, I’m saving my family $500 + a month in child care expenses, I’m cleaning the house, running the kids to their appointments and keeping the family afloat. If I did not have a Life Insurance policy and something happened, my husband would then have to come up with the extra income to pay for these services that I have been providing.
That in itself is invaluable.
The recommended Life Insurance policy is to be 7-10 times your annual income. So while I don’t need a Life Insurance Policy as large as my husbands, a smaller policy has been set up to help my family stay afloat in an emergency.
If you aren’t sure what kind of policy you would need, check out the Genworth Financial website for helpful information about different types of policies. Also, check with your friends to see if they can recommend an agent that you can talk to. Life Insurance is so affordable and even the smallest policy would help your family if needed.
*Disclosure | This post was brought to you by Genworth Financial. All thoughts are my own.
I think Life Insurance is a must. I was lucky that my parents thought so as well. They bought some when we were young. The rates were low and now I have that safety net. Thank you Mom and dad.
I think it’s prudent to have it
It’s always a good idea with a family.
childcare is so very expensive and how women who have to work outside the home make it is beyond me
I think that they should carry it. Especially if they have kids. One never knows what might happen.
Yes each parent should be insurred regardless of their work status.
I work full time so I would have never thought whether a SAHM needs life insurance but it makes complete sense! This also reminded me I need to get it for myself!
I hadn’t thought being a SAHM that I need life insurance but it’s true that if something would happen to me my husband would need to hire someone to watch our children and clean the house. The money would also pay for my funeral.
Definitely yes – the worth of a Mom is not only measured in love and support but in how much it would cost to hire someone to do the many things a Mom does for the family. Everyone should be prepared for any eventuality
Yes and SO important to get that insurance RIGHT away when you are young. I was a young mom who had minimal insurance and then had back issues with many surgeries and then some situational depression issues twice when going through a divorce and abuse. It got used against me as far as getting more life insurance and I have such minimal now. All young women should start it as a late teen or early 20’s if you can even start with a small policy and build on it. It is your children or future children’s “life” also that is in that balance.
I went to their site and learned a lot about the different types of life insurance that I didn’t know. It was quite interesting.
I totally agree. As a SAHM myself, I am the provider for my children when it comes to the childcare and taking care of others around the house! If something were to happen to me, my husnad would have many extra finances driving and taking them to daycare. And it is NOT cheap!!
I was widowed when I was in my 20’s, when my son was 15 months old. I have first hand experience with the value of life insurance. You mentioned $500 per month for childcare, but the real cost will be much more unless the husband has very flexible work hours and there is family close enough to help. More likely it would require a full time nanny who also keeps house and is open to extended hours which would cost along the lines of $1200 per month. Even if the kids are in school, the nanny must remain available in case of illness and school holidays. God help the family who loses a SAHM!